In Memory of Ronnie MONTROSE (1947-2012)

Ronald Douglas Montrose (November 29, 1947 – March 3, 2012)

On March 3, 2012, the heavy metal world lost the iconic Ronnie Montrose at age 64 following a five-year battle with prostate cancer. Born in Denver, Colorado, Montrose first established his pedigree playing on Van Morrison's 1971 classic Tupelo Honey and the Edgar Winter Group’s 1972 hit They Only Come Out at Night. However, he achieved true immortality in 1973 by forming Montrose alongside a young Sammy Hagar. Their self-titled 1973 debut, Montrose, is a great, great, legendary, high-voltage blueprint for American 1970s heavy metal. Its influence is immeasurable; it served as the primary sonic foundation for Van Halen and has been cited as a major inspiration by heavyweights like Iron Maiden, Def Leppard, and Mötley Crüe. Following the landmark success of that debut and its follow-up Paper Money, Montrose explored diverse musical landscapes through his solo work and his band Gamma, which released four albums between 1979 and 2000. Despite taking time off after his 2007 diagnosis to focus on his health, his status as a guitar pioneer and architect of the stadium-rock sound remains undisputed. One final word about the 1973 album. I may be wrong because I am not an expert, but in my experience this album feels like the first album in which we have a new sound in the 1970s heavy metal guitars. Before this album the heavy metal hard rock sound, whether British, American, German or Canadian, was a type of hard blues, based on the blues. But this album right here, in my experience (which could be inaccurate because I do not know for a fact), the guitar sound no longer sounds like the blues. The blues have, for all practical purposes, been taken out, and you can't really hear it big time anymore. It sounds different. It is the actual sound of what will be the standard sound for heavy metal music later on in the 1970s and the 1980s. If you know of an album with a more heavy metal sound before this one, feel free to name it below, and I will be excited to listen to it! Your recommendation needs to be before October 17, 1973: that's the release date, according to Wikipedia, for the Montrose debut album. Prove me wrong! I do not mind be wrong. I do not mind be wrong. Let's have an argument!

Montrose - Space Station #5

Montrose - Rock the Nation