When Mountain broke up in 1972, they should have stayed
apart.
They had put together a rather impressive catalog in just two
years, and had fan favorites in numbers like “Mississippi Queen,”
“Theme From An Imaginary Western” and “Nantucket Sleighride”. But
in 1974, Leslie West and Felix Pappalardi put Mountain back
together for
Avalanche, an album that never should have been made, but
for one song.
The “classic” lineup of Mountain was only three-fourths back on
this one; keyboardist Steve Knight was gone, replaced by rhythm
guitarist David Perry. (Drummer Corky Laing, guitarist/vocalist
West and bassist/vocalist Pappalardi made up the remainder of the
band.) Not only were the keyboards sorely missing from this one,
but Perry’s presence is hardly felt at all.
And you know that Mountain was gasping for air when they did not
one, but
two covers on
Avalanche. Their versions of “Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On”
and “Satisfaction” are pitiful; some songs were not meant to have
amps turned up to 11 and vocals screamed into microphones. True,
“Satisfaction” is partially a slow shuffle, but even this doesn’t
work.
Of the original songs, many of them fail on the scale of the
covers. “Back Where I Belong” is a number that sounds like it was a
leftover from the West-Bruce-Laing days, and is a waste of time.
“Swamp Boy,” featuring Pappalardi on vocals, never gets off the
ground, and “Thumbsucker” is a poor attempt to re-capture the
feeling of a group like Cream.
Of the remaining songs, one stands out as being incredible:
“Alisan,” an instrumental performed on acoustic 12-string guitar.
West’s work on this left my jaw dropping the first time I ever
heard it, and over a decade later, even after I’ve been able to
figure out a rough translation of the song on guitar, it still is
one of the prettiest guitar pieces I’ve ever heard.
Some of the other tracks on
Avalanche either work or they don’t, depending on what kind
of a day you’re having. “You Better Believe It,” I seem to
remember, was a minor hit off this release, but the last time I
listened to it, I couldn’t understand why. “Sister Justice” is a
surprisingly good track with Pappalardi on vocals (and the hint of
keyboards in the song – wonder who supplied those). The closing
track, “Last Of The Sunshine Days,” is a poor Dr. John knockoff
that is supposed to be a tribute to the good Doctor.
There are many reasons why
Avalanche didn’t work, but the biggest was the fact that the
bloom was off the rose for Mountain. After two years apart, there
was a musical chasm that had formed, and they weren’t able to fill
it, much less jump over it. What worked in 1971 wasn’t working just
three years later – and it doesn’t translate that well 24 years
later.
Avalanche is worth searching out just for the song “Alisan”;
I don’t know if it was re-released on any compilation album.
Otherwise, this album just served to bury Mountain as people knew
them.
