Montrose
Studio album by
Montrose
ReleasedOctober 17, 1973 (1973-10-17)
StudioWarner Bros. Recording Studios and Sunset Sound Recorders, Hollywood, California,
Wally Heider Studios, San Francisco, California (guitar overdubs)
GenreHard rock, heavy metal, blues rock
Length32:22
LabelWarner Bros.
ProducerMontrose & Ted Templeman
Montrose chronology
Montrose
(1973) 		Paper Money
(1974)
Ronnie Montrose chronology
They Only Come Out at Night
(1972) 		Montrose
(1973) 		Paper Money
(1974)
Sammy Hagar chronology
Montrose
(1973) 		Paper Money
(1974)
Singles from Montrose
  1. "Rock the Nation"
    Released: January 1974[1]
  2. "Space Station #5"
    Released: March 1974
  3. "Bad Motor Scooter"
    Released: 19 April 1974 (UK)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[2]
Classic Rock[3]
Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal10/10[4]
Record Collector[5]

Montrose is the debut studio album by American hard rock band Montrose, released in October 1973 by Warner Bros. It was produced by Ted Templeman. Montrose marks the career debut of singer-guitarist Sammy Hagar, who would later achieve significant success as a solo artist and as a member of Van Halen.

History

Montrose was guitarist Ronnie Montrose's first record leading his own band, after having done session work for various musicians, including Van Morrison, Herbie Hancock and Edgar Winter. The band included Denny Carmassi (drums), Bill Church (bass), and a then-unknown Sammy Hagar (vocals).[6] Ronnie Montrose mainly used a Gibson Les Paul, a Fender Bandmaster amp, and a Big Muff fuzzbox by Electro-Harmonix in recording the album.[7]

The album was not successful upon release, peaking at No. 133 on the US Billboard 200.[8] "Rock Candy" and "Bad Motor Scooter" were the only tracks to receive radio airplay. It has been reported that the band's label, Warner Bros., did not know how to market Montrose, already having the Doobie Brothers and Deep Purple to cover the rock genres, saw the band as something of a redundancy on their roster of artists. In 1974, the album was issued in Europe via Germany under the title Rock the Nation. This release duplicated the track listing of the U.S. album, but had a different front sleeve image, replacing the band's photo with that of a large-busted blonde girl sporting a pink see-through blouse.[9] Montrose eventually proved to be an international sleeper hit, selling in excess of one million copies and attaining platinum status in 1986.[10]

Some critics have arguably labeled it the "first American heavy metal album".[11] Often being cited as "America's answer to Led Zeppelin", it is held to be influential among hard rock and heavy metal musicians.

Montrose was voted as the 4th best Metal Album of All Time by Kerrang! magazine in 1989.[12] That same year, Hit Parader named it within the Top 100 Heavy Metal albums of all time.[13]

Legacy

Track listing

Credits adapted from the album liner notes.[14]

Side one
No.TitleLength
1."Rock the Nation" (Ronnie Montrose)3:03
2."Bad Motor Scooter" (Sammy Hagar)3:41
3."Space Station #5" (Hagar, Montrose)5:18
4."I Don't Want It" (Hagar, Montrose)2:58
Side two
No.TitleLength
5."Good Rockin' Tonight" (Roy Brown)2:59
6."Rock Candy" (Denny Carmassi, Bill Church, Hagar, Montrose)5:05
7."One Thing on My Mind" (Hagar, Montrose, J. Sanchez)3:41
8."Make It Last" (Hagar)5:31

Montrose (2017 re-release bonus)

On October 13, 2017, Rhino Entertainment released a Deluxe Edition. The first six tracks are demos from the album's recordings. The remaining are from the group's debut performance, a session on KSAN radio from the Record Plant in Sausalito, California on April 21, 1973.

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."One Thing on My Mind" (demo)Hagar, Montrose, Sanchez3:40
2."Shoot Us Down" (demo)Montrose4:32
3."Rock Candy" (demo)Carmassi, Church, Hagar, Montrose3:55
4."Good Rockin' Tonight" (demo)Brown3:20
5."I Don't Want It" (demo)Hagar, Montrose3:07
6."Make It Last" (demo)Hagar4:06
7."Intro by Tom Donahue" 0:54
8."Good Rockin' Tonight"Brown3:55
9."Rock Candy"Carmassi, Church, Hagar, Montrose4:46
10."Bad Motor Scooter"Hagar5:01
11."Shoot Us Down"Montrose4:54
12."One Thing on My Mind"Hagar, Montrose, Sanchez3:27
13."Rock The Nation"Montrose4:55
14."Make It Last"Hagar6:04
15."You're Out of Time"Montrose3:35
16."Roll Over Beethoven"Chuck Berry4:53
17."I Don't Want It"Hagar, Montrose3:55

Personnel

All credits adapted from the original release. Only the mastering credits are from the 2005 Audio Fidelity release.[6]

Montrose

Production

Charts

Chart (1973-1974) Peak
position
UK Albums (OCC)[15] 43
US Billboard 200[16] 133
Chart (2017) Peak
position
UK Rock & Metal Albums (OCC)[17] 28

Certifications

Region Certification Certified units/sales
United States (RIAA)[18] Platinum 1,000,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

  1. ^ "Great Rock discography". p. 559.
  2. ^ Rivadavia, Eduardo. "Montrose - Montrose review". AllMusic. All Media Network. Retrieved 2016-09-02.
  3. ^ Makowski, Pete (February 2010). "Montrose - Montrose". Classic Rock. No. 141. p. 89.
  4. ^ Popoff, Martin (October 2003). The Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal: Volume 1: The Seventies. Burlington, Ontario, Canada: Collector's Guide Publishing. pp. 186–187. ISBN 978-1894959025.
  5. ^ Jones, Tim (February 2010). "Montrose - Montrose". Record Collector. No. 372. Retrieved 2016-09-02.
  6. ^ a b "Montrose - Montrose - Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved 18 November 2017.
  7. ^ "Ronnie Montrose | Vintage Guitar® magazine". Vintageguitar.com. 2002-10-28. Retrieved 2012-03-02.
  8. ^ "Montrose". Billboard. Retrieved 18 November 2017.
  9. ^ "Welcome To The Number One Sammy Hagar Discography". Redrockerdiscography.com. Retrieved 15 November 2022.
  10. ^ "Montrose". RIAA.com. 1986-10-13. Retrieved 2017-11-28.
  11. ^ Montrose (CD liner notes). Montrose. Warner Bros. Records. 2017. R2 557787.((cite AV media notes)): CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  12. ^ "100 Greatest Heavy Metal Albums Of All Time". Kerrang!. Archived from the original on 2022-02-26. Retrieved 28 November 2017.
  13. ^ "Top 100 Metal Albums of All Time". Hit Parader. Retrieved 28 November 2017.
  14. ^ Montrose (1973). Montrose (LP sleeve). Warner Bros. Records. BS 2740.
  15. ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved October 30, 2023.
  16. ^ "Sammy Hagar Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved October 30, 2023.
  17. ^ "Official Rock & Metal Albums Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company. Retrieved October 30, 2023.
  18. ^ "American album certifications – Montrose – Montrose". Recording Industry Association of America.

Further reading

Templeman, Ted; Renoff, Greg (2020). Ted Templeman: A Platinum Producer's Life In Music. Toronto: ECW Press. pp. 162–167. ISBN 9781770414839. OCLC 1121143123.

Categories