=====
"I loved Sammy Hagar on that first Montrose
album; I think it's one of the greatest rock
records ever made."
"I always thought he was a great singer but I
thought his situation in Montrose was the best
thing he ever had. It really is one of the greatest
records ever made."
- Billy Sheehan
=====
"The first album by the original lineup of Montrose
is one of my all-time favorites."
- Paul Stanley (KISS)
=====
"The first Montrose album. A real crucial album for
me in my career. It was a bouncing off point for
American rock n' roll. Van Halen got their whole
sound from that"
- Kevin DuBrow (Quiet Riot)
=====
"It was good for its day but it didn't last. It didn't
stand up. It didn't come close to Van Halen's first
album. It didn't come close to Boston's first album
or the first Montrose album."
- Joe Elliott (Def Leppard)
=====
Phil didn't join Leppard til '82. We'd known each
other for three years before he joined. But we
grew up listening...we actually still have the
argument which one of the two of us bought the
first Montrose album in England..."Bad Motor
Scooter"
- Joe Elliott (Def Leppard)
=====
Q: Figurative gun to your head, what is your favorite
album of all time?
A: Queen II; it's their least popular album. Also, the
first Montrose record.
- Dee Snider (Twisted Sister)
=====
Q: You have only 5 albums you can listen to for
the rest of your life.
What are they? (no greatest hits, box sets or live
albums):
1) Montrose/Montrose
2) Led Zeppelin/ II
3) Billion Dollar Babies/Alice Cooper
4) QUEEN/ QUEEN II
5) BEATLES/ White Album
- Eric Singer (Badlands, KISS, Black Sabbath, Gary
Moore)
=====
"Hagar had Hagar before Van Halen, and Montrose
was probably one of the greatest heavy metal
bands of all time."
- Tommy Victor (Ministry/Prong/Danzig)
=====
"Great live cover (I've Got the Fire). We were all
great Montrose fans at the time - a classic B-side.
This was from the second Montrose album 'Paper
Money'."
- Rod Smallwood (Iron Maiden manager - from the
best of B'Sides album booklet)
=====
"Again a tribute to Montrose (Space Staion No. 5) -
a cracking song from their first album 'Montrose'.
Maiden regarded it as a classic album of all time."
- Rod Smallwood (Iron Maiden manager - from the
best of B'Sides album booklet)
=====
"It was in a pub called the Prince of Wales in
Gravesend, Kent. I was playing with a band called
Shots and we'd been doing pubs for a while and
we were doing a mixture of our own stuff and
covers like old Montrose covers"
- Bruce Dickinson (Iron Maiden)
=====
My 3 all-time favorite albums are: Deep Purple
"Machine Head", Kansas "Song For America" and
the first Montrose album are still dear to me.
- Jeff Watson (Night Ranger)
=====
"Zeppelin was also one of my mentors, as were
Kiss, Montrose, Ted Nugent - all the greats of the
late '70s."
- Dave Mustaine (Megadeth)
=====
Q: What's in your CD player right now?
JSJ: Montrose's first record.
- Jaime St. James (Warrant)
=====
"We will be playing a bunch of old Montrose songs.
One of my favorite all time bands."
- Mark Zonder (Fates Warning)
=====
An enormous Montrose fan, Felix thought it only proper
to name the album after his favorite track off Montrose
self titled platter. "Zebra has been doing 'Rock Candy'
since our bar days," says Felix. "Randy and Guy were
very supportive and we decided to give it a shot and it
came out great!"
- Felix Hanemann (Zebra)
=====
Q: I wanted to ask you about a show you did a long
time ago. It was the first time I saw you guys, at a
show in Eugene, Oregon called Summer Jam. Do
you have any particular memories of that show?
A: Oh right, with Montrose! I remember it rained
and I remember getting really drunk afterward. And
wanting to go up and talk to Ronnie Montrose and
go, 'Dude! Your first album KICKED ASS!!' That
kind of thing, as I was a total fan of those first two
Montrose records.
- Kurdt Vanderhoof (Metal Church)
=====
Q: Did you ever notice any similarities in your first
album and Van Halen's?
Ronnie Montrose: Oh yeah, Eddie is quoted as
saying that he specifically went to Ted Templeman
and told him that they loved the Montrose album,
and that's why they wanted him to produce it. They
loved Ted's ears, and his production chops, and Don
Landee's ears.
Bill Church (Montrose drummer): When Montrose
disbanded, Warner Brothers was really pissed off
at Ted Templeman, so they told Ted to go out and
find another band exactly like Montrose, and he
did...Van Halen! (laughing)
=====
"Montrose's eponymous debut proved equally influential
and important in its day. Released in 1973, the record
also introduced a young Sammy Hagar to the world...A
rock-solid rhythm section featuring drummer Denny
Carmassi and bassist Bill Church certainly didn't hurt,
either, and unstoppable anthems such as "Rock the
Nation" and "Good Rockin' Tonight" would lay the ground
rules for an entire generation of late-'70s California bands,
most notably Van Halen."
- Ed Rivadavia, All Music Guide
=====
"One of the first American-bred hard rock groups to
challenge British supremacy in the early '70s, Montrose
is still remembered as, if not the most successful,
certainly one of the most influential bands of the era.
In fact, many of the personalities responsible for the
group's legendary, self-titled debut (producer Ted
Templeman, engineer Don Landee, vocalist Sammy
Hagar) would later become instrumental players in the
formative and later-day career of the mighty Van Halen.
After cutting his teeth as a session musician with the
likes of Van Morrison and the Edgar Winter Group,
guitarist Ronnie Montrose decided to form his own,
self-named band in 1973. Enlisting the help of fellow
session pros Bill Church (bass), Denny Carmassi
(drums), and a talented, up-and-coming Californian
singer named Sammy Hagar, Montrose soon released
their eponymous first album in November of that year.
Although it never broke the Billboard Top 100, Montrose
eventually went platinum and was arguably the first
full-fledged heavy metal album by an American band
(early proto-metal efforts by Blue Cheer and Steppenwolf
notwithstanding). With classics like "Space Station No.
5" and "Bad Motor Scooter" leading the charge to the
nation's airwaves, it is still considered one of the finest,
most influential releases of the decade, to boot."
SOURCE: LAUNCH Music
=====
"Ronnie Montrose turned down an invitation from Mott
the Hoople and brought together Montrose. The self-titled
debut remains a metal masterpiece, featuring a young
Sammy Hagar belting out sizzlers like "Bad Motor
Scooter," "Space Station No. 5," and "Rock the Nation."
Hardly an overnight success, Montrose subtly set a
standard that many hard rock bands, particularly Van
Halen, would strive to achieve"
- Whitney Z. Gomes - All Music Guide
=====
Music legends aren't born easily. It has to be just the
right band, with just the right sound, coming along at
just the right time. Once, that band was Montrose, and
that sound was heavy, melodic, no-holds-barred rock
and roll.
The critics called them "a scorching outfit..." "incredibly
impressive..." "part [Jeff] Beck, part Led Zeppelin, and
three-fourths nitroglycerin..." "sheer rock and roll
ecstasy."
The original Montrose remains the stuff of rock and roll
legend, the ultimate power trio with vocals. The songs
are a virtual greatest hits of American hard rock: "Rock
the Nation," "Bad Motor Scooter," "Space Station #5,"
"I Got the Fire," "Jump On It," and the immortal "Rock
Candy."
- Artists Worldwide
=====
"Sammy Hagar was around a long time before Van Halen.
In the mid 70's, he fronted Montrose, a band who actually
influenced Van Halen."
SOURCE: Australia's Undercover Music Magazine
=====
"This band and this album (Montrose), heavily influenced
by Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple, in turn influenced
bands from Van Halen (that virtual Montrose tribute band)
to AC/DC."
- Daily Vault
=====
"Albums and groups are touched on as reference points,
and classics are often discussed. The Band and Little
Feat's second records, the first Montrose record"
- Eric Ambel (record producer)
=====
Montrose invented US rock. Without them there would
be no Van Halen, no Randy Rhoads, no nothing. There
first two albums are absolutely essential, especially
the debut, possibly the finest debut set ever.
1. Rock the Nation
2. Bad Motor Scooter
3. Space Station No. 5
4. I Don't Want It
5. Good Rockin' Tonight
6. Rock Candy
7. One Thing on My Mind
8. Make It Last
All classics, no filler.
- Metal UK
=====
Montrose, a guitar-driven band that has been credited
for influencing modern hard rock and heavy metal,
performs March 13 at Harrah's Lake Tahoe.
In particular, the band's 1973 self-titled debut album
is often cited as having a lasting impact on the hard
rock genre.
The San Francisco-based band consisted of founder
Ronnie Montrose on guitar, future Van Halen and solo
star Sammy Hagar as lead vocalist, bassist Bill
Church and drummer Denny Carmassi.
While Montrose still had some success with its
albums and touring because of a loyal fan base,
many music observers believe the band's later work
never matched the quality of the Montrose-Hagar
led albums.
-
RenoTahoe.com
