Montrose Albums Ranked

Montrose Albums

Feature Photo: Keenanrocks, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

Our Montrose Albums Ranked list looks back at a great 70s classic rock band that released a handful of magnificent classic rock albums. The group Montrose featured the extreme guitar talents of guitarist Ronnie Montrose. It also served as the starting point of soon to become legendary red rocker Sammy Hagar’s career. Throughout Sammy Hagar’s magnificent solo career and even his years spent as lead vocalist of Van Halen, Sammy Hagar would often perform songs he wrote when he was in Montrose.

The band Montrose only released five studio albums. Only the first two albums featured Sammy Hagar on lead vocals. Sammy Hagar would eventually be replaced by Bill Church on lead vocals who would himself be eventually replaced by Johnny Edwards on the final Montrose album. Ronnie Montrose would release ten solo albums outside of the Montrose band albums. He also released five albums with his band Gamma that also featured members of the Montrose band.

# 5 – Mean

We open up our Montrose Albums Ranked List with the final Montrose album titled Mean. By all means this is not the final Ronnie Montrose solo album, it’s just the final album released under the band name Montrose. It’s also the only album to feature just Ronnie Montrose from the band’s original lineup. No members from the last Montrose album even appear on the record. It had been over ten years between the group’s last album. The album featured Johnny Edwards on lead vocals who many years later would become the lead singer of Foreigner having replaced Lou Gramm. The album itself is more glam sounding than the 70 classic rock Montrose sound. it was just a sign of the times as the album was released in 1987 right smack in the middle of big hair and overproduced metal music.

CD Track Listings:

1. Stand
2. Pass It On
3. Game Of Love
4. M For Machine
5. Flesh And Blood
6. Man Of The Hour
7. Hard Headed Woman
8. Don’t Damage The Rock
9. Ready Willing And Able

# 4 – Warner Bros. Presents Montrose!

At the number four spot on our Montrose Albums Ranked List we present the album entitled Warner Bros. Presents Montrose! This one definitely wins our choice for the best Montrose album cover. It’s actually one of the best rock ‘n roll album covers ever released. And maybe that’s what the problem was. With an album cover that looks so good we were all expecting an amazing rock and roll record. It’s not a bad album, but it’s not their best. It’s a pretty heavy keyboard oriented album unlike the first couple of Montrose albums and that’s something we weren’t too happy about. It’s also the first Montrose album to not feature Sammy Hagar on lead vocals as he was replaced by Bill Church. The album featured Ronnie Montrose on guitar, Bob Church on vocals Jim Alcivar becoming the newest member of the band on keyboards, Alan Fitzgerald on bass and Denny Carmassi on drums.

CD Track Listing: 

1. Matriarch (4:34)
2. All I Need (4:21)
3. Twenty Flight Rock (2:43)
4. Whaler (6:54)
5. Dancin’ Feet (4:05)
6. O Lucky Man (3:10)
7. One and a Half (1:36)
8. Clown Woman (4:21)
9. Black Train (4:34)

# 3 – Jump on It

Talk about a cover and title that….well on second thought let’s not talk about it. Nonetheless, the cover of this album Jump On It caught everyone eyes in the record stores back in the 1970s. Jump On It was the band’s fourth album. It was the second record to feature vocalist Bob James who had replaced Sammy Hagar on the group’s third record release. “Music Man,” was the album’s standout track. The album Jump On It was released in 1976.

CD Track Listings:

1. Let’s Go (4:14)
2. What Are You Waiting For? (3:46)
3. Tuft-Sedge (2:43)
4. Music Man (4:14)
5. Jump on It (3:36)
6. Rich Man (4:18)
7. Crazy for You (3:25)
8. Merry-Go-Round (5:26)

# 2 – Paper Money

Just of the top spot on our Montrose Albums Ranked List we showcase the album entitled Paper Money. The album Paper Money stands as the follow up album to the group’s stunning debut record. Once again the album featured Ronnie Montrose on guitar, Sammy Hagar on vocals and Denny Carmassi on drums. Bill Church was replaced by Alan Fitzgerald on bass.

Paper Money would be the second and sadly the last Montrose album to feature Sammy Hagar as the group’s lead vocalist. Sammy Hagar’s talents were just too off the charts and it was very obvious that the red rocker was set to soar off on his own. The album was released in 1974. The musical highlight of the album was the Sammy Hagar and Ronnie Montrose penned rocker “Paper Money.” Once again, the album was produced by Ted Templeman.

CD Track Listings:

1. Underground (3:31)
2. Connection (5:37)
3. The Dreamer (4:03)
4. Starliner (3:40)
5. I Got the Fire (3:11)
6. Spaceage Sacrifice (4:48)
7. We’re Going Home (4:53)
8. Paper Money (5:14)

# 1 – Montrose

We wrap up our Montrose Albums Ranked List with the album entitled Montrose. The  Montrose album stands as the band’s debut album. This was a stunner. The group’s debut album introduced the world to the exhilarating guitar talents of Ronnie Montrose and the the soon to become legendary rock and roll virtuoso vocalist Sammy Hagar. On drums would be Denny Carmassi while Bill Church played bass. Both musicians would also wind up working with Sammy Hagar during his solo career and in the band Gamma with Ronnie Montrose. The album featured the classic track “Rock Candy.”

The band’s first album would become their all time most successful record and their only release to go Platinum in sales. None of their other albums even made it to Gold status.  The first Montrose album has been long hailed as one of the truly great classic rock albums ever released. The album featured many classic tracks besides “Rock Candy,” including “Bad Motor Scooter,” “Rock The Nation,”  and “Space Station #5.” The album was produced by Ted Templeman who would go on to produce all the grand classic Van Halen albums.

CD Track Listings:

1. Rock The Nation (2:57)
2. Bad Motor Scooter (3:43)
3. Space Station #5 (5:17)
4. I Don’t Want It (3:02)
5. Good Rockin’ Tonight (2:57)
6. Rock Candy (5:17)
7. One Thing On My Mind (3:40)
8. Make It Last (5:29)

Montrose Albums Ranked article published on Classic RockHistory.com© 2022

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