About Mountain's third album,
I have some good news and
some bad news. The good
news is they have finally
recorded a quality set of live
rock & roll. The bad news here
concerns a type of artsy-fartsy
lyricism that pervades the new
studio-recorded material.
The live set of this new record
strongly resembles Mountain's
midnight set of the Fillmore East
on the night of it's closing and may
indeed have been recorded there
(the liner notes give no historical
information). The tone and fidelity
here are not as good as the usual
live albums recorded at The Fillmore
because the side contains almost
29 minutes of music. An increase
in volume, however, adequately
compensates for the slight tech-
nical deficiency. Mountain's per-
formance is uncommonly thought-
ful and cohesive. Leslie West in
particular plays with restraint and
indulges in few excesses. The flow
from his introductory guitar passage
thru a raucous version of "Roll
Over Beethoven" into an exposition
and variations of "Dreams of Milk
and Honey" is the work of a fine
performing band.
What happened, then, when Mountain
entered the studio to record side one
for "Flowers Of Evil?" All the spirit and
energy present in the live set is absent
from songs like "Pride and Passion"
and "Crossroader." Is this the same
band that recorded "Mississippi Queen"
and "Don't Look Around?" Where are
those effective marraiges of music
and verse that graced "My Lady" and
"Theme For An Imaginary Western?"
No offense to Felix Pappalardi or his
wife and lyricist Gail Collins, but wispy
stuff like "One Last Cold Kiss" belongs
belongs not in Mountain's repertoire. I applaud
these efforts to expand the group's
stylistic range, but I kinda wish Mountain
would stick with that rowdy rock and
roll music for awhile; they are so
much better at it. -
John Koegel
April 13, 1972 Issue 106
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