-- Mountain - Avalanche | (Audio CD) MSRP $ 14.97 Amazon Price $ 14.97 Savings $ 0.00 | |  Release Date: 05 February, 2002, Collectables
TRACK LISTING - Whole Lotta Shakin` Goin` On
- Sister Justice
- Alisan
- Swamp Boy
- (I Can`t Get No) Satisfaction
- Thumbsucker
- You Better Believe It
- I Love to See You Fly
- Back Where I Belong
- Last of the Sunshine Days
Usually ships in 24 hours | | | Past their peak ... | When I picked up this "new release" up in `74, I couldn`t have been a bigger fan of Mountain. Imagine my excitement as I stared at the album cover, with it`s promise of big, big things ... Leslie flailing away on his axe, Felix at his side, Corky no doubt pounding away in the background. It couldn`t miss! Imagine, then, my dismay and confusion as I plowed through track after track. All the elements were there, but the magic was missing. Huh?
Time gives one perspective. We all know that Mountain went through the familiar arc of rock band rise/success/burnout, with its requisite chemical abuse, ego imbalances, legal/contract hassles, touring fatigue, and general ennui after riding too high for an extended period of time. This band was no exception. AVALANCHE documents a band in the beginning of a death spiral. Sure, there would be more "product" from them under this moniker, with or without any of the original members. But that delicate balance of savagery and poetry that was Leslie and Felix` relationship had soured. After Climbing the Mountain, they tasted too much of the Flowers of Evil ... the Nantucket Sleighride was over. | | | | Mountain Peak | | In my opinion this overlooked work is the best Mountain album. Only Mountain Climbing compares with this - but even then the first album doesn`t come up to the level of Avalanche. "Sister Justice", "Thumbsucker", "Swamp Boy", "You better believe it" - they`re all stand out tracks. Plus you got "Whole lotta shakin goin on" and "Satisfaction" - if you like guitar oriented blues rock it does not get any better than this! | | | | "Satisfaction," indeed | | Who would think that anybody`s cover of the Stones` "Satisfaction" would be worth listening to? Well, Mountain`s is the best track on this underrated album. Leslie West`s harsh bark of a vocal has never sounded better delivering the lines you know so well. But more importantly, the band slows the song down and makes it sound like a tough Southern rock track. This album is worth getting for "Satisfaction" alone, but other songs like "You Better Believe It," "Back Where I Belong," "Sister Justice," and "Swamp Boy" are entertaining too. | | |
-- zzzz
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