Montrose<\/i><\/a> classics\u2014\u201cRock The Nation,\u201d \u201cBad Motor Scooter,\u201d \u201cSpace Station #5\u201d, \u201cGood Rockin\u2019 Tonight,\u201d \u201cRock Candy,\u201d and \u201cMake It Last\u201d among them\u2014faithfully remastered for this edition, and these classic tracks do feel like they benefit from a touch of extra sharpness and separation, though the differences require close listening to detect.<\/p>\nThe second disc of bonus tracks might not seem to offer a lot that\u2019s new at first glance; after all, the band\u2019s early live performance for KSAN radio at the Record Plant in Sausalito in April 1973 is probably one of the most widely bootlegged sets in the history of American hard rock, taking place weeks before the band even had a name, let alone initial recordings of these songs. And how much could a half dozen demos, including just one unreleased song (\u201cShoot Us Down\u201d), really add to the story? But that initial impression doesn\u2019t hold up; in fact, the bonus disc offers multiple thrills and points of interest.<\/p>\n
For one, the live cuts and side chatter captured between and during them underscore even more emphatically how impossible it would be for a single band to contain two larger-than-life alpha-dog personalities like Ronnie Montrose and Sammy Hagar for long\u2014they both simply burned too bright for either to leave the other sufficient oxygen. Hagar yelps and shouts over Montrose\u2019s solos in several places, and the mid-song breakdown that bisects the live version of \u201cRock The Nation\u201d stretches out to the point where even this dedicated fan began to wonder \u201cUh, Ronnie, you ever going to get back to the, y\u2019know, song?\u201d<\/p>\n
Regarding the KSAN performances, while they\u2019ve been bootlegged repeatedly over the years, those recordings all came from secondary sources, meaning they\u2019ve never before been heard with this kind of crisp, professional sound quality. That, too, has its drawbacks, exposing every element and nuance of this raw and sometimes choppy performance (in addition to not having a name yet, the group hadn\u2019t yet figured out the trademark slide guitar intro to \u201cBad Motor Scooter\u201d). But the recordings also capture the band\u2019s essential fire in bold living color, and feature the only performances I\u2019ve ever heard of two unreleased tracks\u2014the chunky, rather Bad Company-flavored \u201cShoot Me Down\u201d and the scorching if somewhat disjointed \u201cYou\u2019re Out Of Time\u201d\u2014not to mention a rip-roaring, almost giddy cover of the Chuck Berry classic \u201cRoll Over Beethoven.\u201d<\/p>\n
Perhaps equally obvious, but also worth noting, is a second conclusion reached after hearing these demos and early performances: Ted Templeman was the absolute perfect choice for producer. The demos and KSAN tracks show abundant potential\u2014fire and flair and a strong will to be heard\u2014but they\u2019re also undercooked and clunky in places, with tempos, transitions and solos not nearly as worked out and dynamic as they would be on the final Montrose<\/i> recordings. \u201cRock Candy,\u201d for example, is a standard mid-tempo rocker on the demo and KSAN versions, in contrast with the grinding greatness of the slowed-down studio version. As for \u201cGood Rockin\u2019 Tonight,\u201d you might think it couldn\u2019t possibly be played any faster than the final recorded version\u2026 but as the Roadrunner-tempoed demo version heard here evidences, you\u2019d be wrong about that. Templeman put a bridle and a saddle on this wild Mustang and channeled Montrose\u2019s manic energy into a final performance that\u2019s all the more powerful for those moments when it exercises a modicum of restraint. <\/p>\n
While the bonus disc performances don\u2019t reach the heights of the finished product, they vividly illustrate the creative arc that led to this landmark album. Those insights along with Mike Mettler\u2019s terrific liner notes and the superb packaging\u2014including a raft of rare shots from the Norman Seeff photo shoot that produced the original cover\u2014ensure that this is a package well worth picking up; it\u2019s hard rock perfection with a fresh new twist.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":33363,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[6790],"rating":[5646],"class_list":["post-45179","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-montrose","rating-rating-a"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/45179","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45179"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/45179\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/33363"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45179"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=45179"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=45179"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}