Customer Reviews

Best of Mountain

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Who knew back in the late'60's and early '70s that today's music would be this bad? Mountain was always a rip-roaring rocking band and Leslie has some serious guitar-soul. he plays just right-doesn't over-play like many of his contemporaries. Compared to toady's hard rock this is a masterpiece.

OK - First off, you're better buying all the mountain CDs than going for this; after all, there's more to a band then just their hits!

Failing that (if you just want the stuff from the radio), there's some really good music on here. Of course there's the guitar rock classic, Mississipi Queen (if you know what I mean ;)). Then there's what's arguably their best two cuts, Nantucket Sleighride and Theme for an Imaginary Western, PLUS the live Roll Over Beethoven - great stuff! You won't be dissappointed.

One of the other reviewers asked why the two short pieces - because they're thematically related to other music on the CD so thats why they're included, even tho they're separate tracks.

At any rate, there's some great Rock'n'Roll in power trio and power quartet mode (altho you really can't hear the keyboard player, poor guy ;)), and you shouldn't miss picking this up, it's worth it! That is, if you're just looking for the "hits"...

If anything, Mountain was a more coherent "power trio" than Cream. Yes, Felix could sound a lot like Jack Bruce in both his voice and his lyrics, but no one, contemporary or since, could riff like Leslie, or sacrifice sticks like Corky! Tight, powerful rock n roll.

Sure, some my say Mountain is a Cream "rip-off" but I for one disagree. Leslie West is an excellent guitarist who names his inspirations as Eric Clapton and Keith Richards--how can you go wrong? Mountain created some of the best, though under played, hits of the late 60s. This CD has them all! If you want a true reminder of the good old days, this is it! Kick back, close your eyes, put on "Nantucket Sleigh Ride" and dream on...

Despite what the critics say this band is not a "cruder and lesser-talented version of Cream",but more like a cruder,just-as-talented mix of Black Sabbath and Lynrd Skynrd. This is a band with good lyrics and great instrumental talent,and this album is truly the best of them.

Mountain Rocked I don't care what anyone says. They filled a void that Cream left and in my opinion extended it even more. So much in fact that Jack Bruce even saw fit to join Leslie West in West Bruce and Lainge to take it a step further. I saw Leslie in Buffalo NY in 1989 with Tim Bogart from Vanilla Fudge, Cactus and Beck Bogart and Appice. I had a buzz in my in my ears for two days. That's the only time that ever happened in all the concerts and club gigs I saw. I was even in a band and never had that happen. Leslie is the Greatest. ROCK ON MOUNTIAN. Listen to it LOUD or don't listen at all.

The music on this CD is great. Mountain was a great hard rock band in the vein of Cream, Led Zeppelin, ZZ Top and Aerosmith. Leslie West's riffs and killer tone are the highlight of this CD. The Best moments are the opening hard-rocker "Never In My Life", Chuck Berry's "Roll Over Beethoven" (Leslie's guitar work on this one is particularly impressive), the FM classic "Mississippi Queen", and the slower "Theme For An Imaginary Western".

However, the CD itself could be better. There are only 12 songs, so the whole disc is only 41 minutes. Only about about half the disc is actually used, so Columbia could have fleshed it out a bit and put at least 20 songs on the disc. Also two of the songs, "Taunta (Sammy's Tune) and "King's Chorale", are very, very short instrumentals (about 1 minute) with no guitar playing even. Why did they even put these songs on the CD?? They sound like album filler. So really there's only 10 good songs on the CD. Last, the sound isn't too great. The sound quality is kind of weak, so you'll have to turn it up louder. But that's okay, because Mountain should always be played loud anyway.

I bought this cd in hoping I would get a idea what the group Mountain sounded like. The music is good but the sound quality of this cd is horrible. I would not recommend this paticular cd to anybody.Try the others that Mountain has recorded, this group is good, and deserves any classic rocker fan's attention.

This album is perhaps my favorite. The song : " theme for an imaginary western" is an unbelievable classic, if you like Cream, Led Zeppelin, or Johnny Winter, you will love mountain!

Saw Leslie West at Life, the old Village Gate in the Village and he still has it! Great performance, a great gift for all the loyal Mountain fans. I wish we could hear more of Mountain on the classic rocks stations, the albums still are a great tribute to Classic Rock and Roll! Great show Lesllie!