Artist: Mountian
Title: Eruption (2 CDs Live)
Genre: Rock
Label: Fuel 2000-http://www.fuel2000.com
Website: http://www.mountaintheband.com

Classic Rock is as popular as it ever was. For this listener, it never lost its appeal. Mountain was always one of those bands that were hard to forget with songs like “Mississippi Queen” and “Nantucket Sleighride.” They seemed to maintain their popularity forever. Leslie West, Corky Laing and the late Felix Pappalardi, their great producer and bass player, were a trio comparable to Cream.

Eruption maintains the recognizable time-period band colors and album cover artistry, while presenting several live sets from two different eras. Disc 1 is dedicated to 1985 performances at The Ritz and L’ Amour, while disc two is in Europe (unspecified location) in 2003.

I did not hear a big difference in the way the band sounded between the two timeframes, however, West plays a smokin’ incredibly inspired powerful guitar on all the songs from the 2003 recording, particularly on the track that closes out the set, “Land of Milk and Honey.” You can hear all the Cream and blues influences in Leslie’s playing style to this day and he is as strong and determined as ever to get on stage to give his paying customers a show they never will forget.

As great as this music is to hear, these performances did not have the sound mix to support the efforts of the band. At times Leslie’s guitar and vocals fade away, as if he was walking away from the mike while singing and playing. This happens enough to certainly make mention of, but its not disturbing enough to deter your enjoyment of this 2 CD set; it was not a crucial factor to me listening several times, I can tell you that for certain.

I am glad to see the Mountain remasters are sparking more interest in the band and West and Laing decided to go out back on tour. Rock ‘n’ roll keeps you forever young, just ask these gents, they know.

© Keith "MuzikMan" Hannaleck-http://www.muzikreviews.com

August 4, 2004

Rating-8/10

CD1

1. Hard Times
2. Never In My Life
3. Spark
4. Theme For An Imaginary Western
5. Nantucket Sleighride
6. Mississippi Queen
7. Rocky Mountain Way

Credits:
Leslie West-Guitars/Vocals
Corky Laing-Drums/Vocals
Mark Clarke-Bass/Vocals
The Ritz (6/5/85) & L’ Amour (4/12/85)

CD2

1. Why Dontcha
2. For Yasgur’s Farm
3. Crossroads
4. The Sea
5. Nantucket Slieghride ( To Owen Coffin)
6. House of The Rising Sun
7. Dreams of Milk and Honey

Credits:
Leslie West-Guitar/Vocals
Corky Laing-Drums/Vocals
Ritchie Scarlet-Bass/Vocals
Location: Europe 2003

This brings back a LOT of memories. In the past few years, I wondered what happened to Leslie West...Missisippi Queen ROCKED.

Makes me nostalgic for "Hellbound Train" from Savoy Brown.

dangit.....
just started reading this article and it brought back a memory....
several years ago Mountain came to town and i could NOT get anyone to go with me. not one friend of mine even heard of Mountian. i remember them from when i was younger - (and leslie west was....ummm...heavier) i always liked them. i said "screw-it" and went alone. they played at a small club, it was really.....really good. i thoroughly enjoyed it and was bummed cause i was alone. i swore next time i'd take my friends. anyway.....
i was reading this article on dmusic and noticed the link to Mountain's website. i went there and glanced at their tour dates.
they played here.....

two nights ago.

D'OH!

I can't believe this! We were only listening to Nantucket Sleighride the other day and really enjoying it. I mailed a few friends on this site telling them to listen to it on the web. And here you are! It's such a coincidence!

ps. My other half, Traf saw them in Folkestone, Kent, England in the late 60's early 70's.