Montrose - I Got The Fire: Complete Recordings (1973-1976)
Kicking off disc one is their classic eponymous debut album, which was produced by Ted Templeman and marked the recording debut of Hagar. While it’s gotten it’s just due in the years after its release, for some reason it was not very successful at that time, receiving almost no radio airplay and only hitting 133 on the Billboard Top 200. Musically they are at the top of their game here and sound like a seasoned band that has been together for years. Montrose’s guitar work is innovative and shows why he was in demand prior to forming the band, Hagar’s vocals are as powerful and enthusiastic here as they have been throughout his career and the rhythm section of Church and Carmassi are extremely tight. While there are tunes here that are more straight ahead hard rockers like opening track “Rock The Nation” or the Led Zeppelin-ish “Space Station #5”, they often tend to mix in a little something to maintain a sense of diversity and freshness. Tracks like “Rock Candy” and especially “One Thing On My Mind” have a bit of a swagger, while “Bad Motor Scooter” adds a funk groove and really showcases Church’s bass work. The fact that almost fifty years later, Hagar quite frequently still performs three of these eight tunes shows just how solid this album was and still is. Closing out the disc are four bonus tracks consisting of mono and stereo edits of “Rock The Nation” and “Space Station #5”.
Instead of moving on to album number two, the second disc is all bonus tracks, consisting of six demos that were recorded for the debut and a live radio session on KSAN recorded at the Record Plant in Sausalito, California on April 21, 1973. The demos are really good sounding versions that show that the band really had things together before going in to record the debut. In addition to five tracks that made it to the album is “Shoot Us Down”, a good straight-ahead rocker that definitely would have fit right in. The live set is a fascinating glimpse into the early life of the band as it was their first ever live appearance, recorded six months before the release of their debut and before they even had a name or a record contract. Van Morrison had been scheduled to appear at that time, but told the station he felt his band wasn’t “sufficiently rehearsed”, so Montrose was a last minute substitute. While you can hear a little nervous energy in Hagar’s between song banter, it all goes away when he starts singing and the band’s performance shows how good they were from the get-go. Alongside playing all but one track that would be on their debut, they played a couple of non-album tracks, the aforementioned “Shoot Us Down” and “You’re Out Of Time”, a bluesier rocker with some great soloing from Montrose, plus a cover of Chuck Berry’s “Roll Over Beethoven”. Definitely a historic recording and welcome addition to this box
While sophomore effort Paper Money (here kicking off disc three) was again produced by Templeman and ended up being the band’s highest charting release (65 on the Billboard Top 200), critically it was a bit of a mixed bag. Honestly, I don’t really understand that, because it’s a very solid release that found the band taking the rock sound of their debut and expanding it with more diversity. They also had their first membership change with Alan Fitzgerald (later an original member of Night Ranger) replacing Church on bass. They showcased their diversity right out the door with the first two tracks, which oddly were both covers. “Underground”, written by Ilene Rappaport, and originally appearing on an album by the group Chunky, Novi & Ernie, which she was a member of, is a catchy rock tune with some interesting tempo shifts that is a bit on the mellower side. The other cover is a gorgeous acoustic version of The Rolling Stones’ “Connection”. They move back to the heavier side with “The Dreamer”, a really good track that has a bit of a Sabbath-like bottom end and some really great dynamics, and follow it with the instrumental “Starliner”, which really showcases Montrose’s guitar work and his use of some really interesting guitar effects. “I Got The Fire” is a hard-driving, adrenaline fueled rocker, followed by “Spaceage Sacrifice” and “We’re Going Home”, a couple of darker, moodier tunes, the former more of a rocker with some solid everchanging tempos and the latter a ballad with Montrose handling the vocals. The title track closes things out and is a good old straight up rocker that is somewhat reminiscent of Hagar’s earlier solo stuff. There are also three more bonus tracks on this disc with stereo and mono edits of “Paper Money” and a mono edit of “Connection”.
Disc four contains another live radio session from KSAN. Recorded on December 26, 1974, the band now had two albums under their belt, and even though their performance on the earlier show was really good, you can tell they are more experienced here. Hagar’s nervous energy has been replaced by the relaxed confidence that we all know from him. Along with three tracks from their debut (including a killer eleven plus minute version of “Space Station #5”) and two from Paper Money are covers of “Roll Over Beethoven” and Leiber & Stoller’s “Trouble” plus a really pretty acoustic guitar instrumental called “One And A Half”, that would show up on their next album. It is another standout performance and another great addition to this box.
Album number three, Warner Bros. Presents Montrose!, was considered a bit of a reset for the band. Hagar had left the band in February of 1975, less than two months after that live radio session, so they had a new vocalist in Bob James. They also added a fifth member, Jim Alcivar, on keyboards, and Ronnie took over as producer. Musically they shifted things a bit too, especially thanks to now having keyboards in the band. Opening and closing tracks, “Matriarch” and the outstanding hard-driving “Black Train” have some great organ work and a strong Deep Purple vibe. Interestingly, “Black Train” was written and originally recorded by Kendall Kardt as more of a country tune, and Montrose played on that version too, along with Jerry Garcia. Keyboards are also more in the forefront on the bluesy rock ballad “All I Need”, an interesting cover of Alan Price’s “O Lucky Man!” and album standout “Whaler”, an almost seven minute atmospheric track that also makes great use of viola and has a very strong prog sound that is definitely different than anything they had done before. The other tracks here include “Dancin’ Feet”, a rocker with an infectious groove, a hint of funk and some really great guitar riffs, the gorgeous studio version of the acoustic instrumental “One And A Half”, the blues rock of “Clown Woman” and a cover of Eddie Cochran’s “Twenty Flight Rock”, a decent straight-ahead rock track with a little swagger. While it doesn’t quite stand up to it’s predecessors this is still a very solid release. Also included here is a mono edit of “Matriarch”.
Closing out this chapter of the Montrose story and the box set is album number four Jump On It. Bassist Alan Fitzgerald was gone from the band at this point, but instead of replacing him, the album features bassist Randy Jo Hobbs on three cuts and the rest of the bass parts were played by Alcivar on the keyboards (the subsequent tour also had no bassist). Production this time around was handled by Jack Douglas, who had recently finished producing Aerosmith’s Toys In The Attic. The album opens with a couple of rockers that harken back to their earlier releases. “Let’s Go” is a driving cut with great guitar and some nice organ fills and “What Are You Waiting For?”, a high energy track, and the first of two on the album written by Dan Hartman. Next up is “Tuft-Sedge”, an instrumental that meshes Montrose’s acoustic guitar with key and congas to create a mystical sounding, atmospheric track. They slow things down a bit with “Music Man”, a big rock ballad with a string section and over the top guitars before stripping it back with the title track, a no frills rocker with a catchy, driving beat. “Rich Man”, the other Hartman penned tune is a sweeping folky, country-rock flavored tune that really showcases James’ vocals and to me is a little reminiscent of some of the early Rod Stewart stuff. Closing out the disc are “Crazy For You”, a hooky track that ventures a little more in the poppier, classic rock vein and “Merry-Go-Round”, which starts with a quiet acoustic guitar and then shifts into a bluesier rocker with a short visit to a carnival in the middle. While it seems not to get the recognition it deserves and does have a few weak spots, Jump On It is another really strong effort from Montrose and shows a band really trying to stretch out and try new things. Four more bonus tracks are included here with mono and stereo edits of "Music Man" and "Let's Go".
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