Montrose "Montrose (Japan Edition, Mini-Replica SHMCD CD)"

Montrose is the debut studio album by American hard rock band Montrose, led by guitarist Ronnie Montrose. It was produced by Ted Templeman and released by Warner Bros in 1973. Montrose marks the recording debut of vocalist Sammy Hagar, who would later achieve international success as a solo artist and as a member of the American hard rock band Van Halen.

Montrose was guitarist Ronnie Montrose's first record leading his own band, after having done session work for various musicians, including Van Morrison, Herbie Hancock and Edgar Winter. The band included Denny Carmassi on drums, Bill Church on bass, and a then-unknown Sammy Hagar (at that time 'Sam Hagar') on vocals. Ronnie Montrose chiefly used a Gibson Les Paul, a Fender Bandmaster amp, and a Big Muff fuzzbox by Electro-Harmonix in recording the album.

The album was not a big seller on release, peaking at No. 133 on the US Billboard 200. "Rock Candy" and "Bad Motor Scooter" were the only tracks to receive much radio airplay. It has been reported that the band's label, Warner Bros., did not know how to market Montrose, and, already having the Doobie Brothers and Deep Purple to cover the rock and hard rock genres, saw the band as something of a redundancy on their roster of artists. In 1974, the album was issued in Europe via Germany under the title Rock the Nation. This release duplicated the track listing of the U.S. album, but had a different front sleeve image, replacing the band's photo with that of a large-busted blonde girl sporting a pink see-through blouse. Montrose eventually proved to be an international sleeper hit, selling in excess of one million copies and attaining platinum status in 1986.

Some critics have arguably labeled it the "first American heavy metal album". Often cited as "America's answer to Led Zeppelin", it is held to be influential among hard rock/heavy metal musicians.

Montrose was voted as the 4th best Metal Album of All Time by Kerrang! magazine in 1989. That same year, Hit Parader named it within the Top 100 Heavy Metal albums of all time.

English heavy metal band Iron Maiden recorded "Space Station #5" as B-side of the single "Be Quick or Be Dead" in 1992.

"Make It Last" was covered by Van Halen in their early club days (available on Van Halen bootlegs).

Track listing

Side one

1. "Rock the Nation" (Ronnie Montrose) 3:03
2. "Bad Motor Scooter" (Sammy Hagar) 3:41
3. "Space Station #5" (Hagar, Montrose) 5:18
4. "I Don't Want It" (Hagar, Montrose) 2:58

Side two

1. "Good Rockin' Tonight" (Roy Brown) 2:59
2. "Rock Candy" (Denny Carmassi, Bill Church, Hagar, Montrose) 5:05
3. "One Thing on My Mind" (Hagar, Montrose, J. Sanchez) 3:41
4. "Make It Last" (Hagar) 5:31