Remastered and rising up again, straight from the vaults of yesterday's classics and into the present, former and future space-age star-riders Montrose, given the latest treatment compliments of the latest version of the Rhino remasters series, and what a rush it is!

First up, the introduction, compliments of Mr. Montrose himself before a dual wandering of our fingers and our quickly honed in listening skills takes us through the golden moments of a band that was both ahead of its time and who time caught up with way too quickly.

In the early seventies, Montrose, led by Ronnie on guitar of course, and one Sammy Hagar, taking the vocals for what many remember as their finest work on the first two records, "Montrose" and "Paper Money," they embodied the earthy texture of the heavy rock groups of the time, yet were always one step ahead.

Opening tunes like "Rock the Nation," "Bad Motor Scooter," and "Space Station #5" still sound as fresh today as when they first came out… and let's face it, digital remastering doesn't hurt but it is escapable if need be.

Montrose as a band, and really more as a solo performer later on did some quality work… and he did some bland work.

Now usually anyone's fondest memories of this band begin and end with the first two records and vanish from there-with the sole exception of those hard-core followers maybe but in truth, not much happened between the late seventies and early eighties anyway.

"Rock Candy" was among the highlights from '74's "Paper Money" release, still as booming as it ever was and then there's "I Got the Fire!"

For anyone new to this band, this release is a rock and roll history lesson-which among the first six or seven songs from the first two records featured here hasn't been covered to the point of exhaustion by many of the future rock heavyweights?

These tunes took on a life of their own and now they live again, in a New World where everything old… is still old, but they still sound cool!

"The Very Best Of…" is certainly all of that, chronologically presented and features a brief look into the bands' history as well as a song for song analysis by Montrose himself!

As with many of the Rhino Reissue series, they left little to the imagination. Toward the end of Montrose's successful seventies run, which for all intents and purposes burned itself out long before, they did something called "Warner Brother's Presents…" in '75, featuring Bob James on vocals and a less Purple-led approach, this time a Zeppelin-inspired mystique that leads a boogie like groove-"Twenty Flight Rock," and softer gentler shades of experimentalism that reared itself with the addition of Keyboardist Jim Alcivar… a band that reinvented the way heavy rock was presented was continually reinventing themselves from album to album.

One of the reasons among many, why a band like Montrose could've only done three or four records in a four or five year span and still be looked at as one for the history books!

Later in life, the band's "Jump On It" came out in '76 and while all systems still went, they would soon be docking for a long period of rest… here's where a sudden return to square one turned out to be a good thing!

"Let's Go" featuring a churning organ during the chorus and "scooter-like" effects blasts off much like their early material and unfortunately, not that commercial appeal was ever their forte, this was an album too few people seemed to know about-including myself!

Eleven years later and whatever became of Ronnie?

In '87, "Mean" came out, and the rock came crashing down again…

But not quite the same as we'd remembered but at the time of its arrival, it fell in perfectly against the grain!

Featuring a new band that saw versatile lead vocalist Johnny Edwards manning the Mic, the album was less about tonal quality and more about returning to the scene at a fever pitch!

"M for Machine" was the standout track here!

Montrose went on to further experiment with the tactical… or technical side of his instrument in later versions but as a full band, these five albums represented on this best of exhibit the forward looking talents of one of rock music's most necessary contributors… hear them again for the first time!

Released by Rhino Records

Review by Vinnie Apicella [va85@columbia.edu]