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Corky Laing's Mountain

Live In Melle

Review by Gary Hill

Corky Laing was an original member of Mountain. As is so common these days, there have been several versions of the band carrying on their music and traditions. This double CD set was recorded in 2016 on the German Sleighride tour. The sound quality is definitely good, but not great. There is a lot of stage talk, telling stories and the like on this set. Beyond that we get some classic Mountain songs, a couple Cream tunes and more all delivered in style. This is a great live album, really.

This review is available in book format (hardcover and paperback) in Music Street Journal: 2017  Volume 4 at lulu.com/strangesound.

Track by Track Review
CD 1
                     
Introducing

This is just a bit of stage talking.

Silver Paper
They power out with some fierce guitar work. From there it becomes a fairly straight-ahead hard rocker that's classy.
Dreams Of Milk And Honey

Harder rocking, I love the guitar sounds that begin this. This is bluesy. It's also not far removed from heavy metal. It feels a bit like Hendrix to me. It's nothing Earth-shattering, but it's a very solid hard rocker.

Long Red

A lot of this cut lands in the more stripped back territory. It still rocks out at other times. This is a solid tune, but not a standout.

Never In My Life

I love the riff at the heart of this tune. This is one of the strongest cuts on show here. It just rocks out like crazy.

Introducing / Nantucket Sleighride

As you can guess from the title  of this piece, it starts with a bit of an extended spoken introduction. This is a classic tune from Mountain. It starts with a fairly slow moving and tame section and grows gradually from there.

Introducing / Mississippi Queen

There is another extended spoken introduction here. Then they launch into the band's best known number. That riff still shines all those years later. It's a smoking hot hard rocker that still holds up well. This is a bit different than the version I remember. It's still on fire, though.

Introducing / Theme From An Imaginary Western

Here we get another introduction. That gives way to this slow moving, balladic number. It works into more rocking territory as it continues, though. That makes this a tastefully dynamic piece.

Introducing / Like A Rollin' Stone (Drum Solo)

Again we get an introduction to this. Then it's a drum solo with a poetry reading of Dylan's lyrics. I'm not actually a big fan of drum solos, so the poetry aspect brings me something to enjoy a bit more. This one does earn a definite parental advisory.

CD 2
                   

Introducing

This is a short spoken bit.

Don't Look Around

The riff that opens this is so mean. The whole cut just rocks like crazy. There is a spoken part at the end.

Introducing / Sittin' On A Rainbow

They launch out into this one. It's a classy hard rocker with some great bits. It's sort of blues rock based, but there is a bit of a psychedelic rock edge to it.  After the cut ends we get another spoken bit, this one extensive, that introduces the next tune.

For Yasgur's Farm
Here is the song introduced at the end of the last one. It's a killer old school rocker. We get some more spoken stuff at the end that introduces the next piece.
Travellin' In The Dark

I really love this smoking hot rocker. It has some great musical moments. It's a classic rocker for sure. We get some spoken stuff at the end of this one.

Politician

They play a Cream song here. I've always loved the bass line on this, but then again, it was Jack Bruce. What do you expect? These guys put in a stomping hot rendition of this cut.

Sunshine Of Your Love

Forgoing the usual banter, they fire straight into another killer Cream cover. Again, I've always loved this one, but I really like Cream a lot, so that's not saying much. This rendition definitely does it justice. There are a couple sub-headings under the title of this song (a. Bass Solo, b. Goin' Home). We get both of those things here. That said, the bass solo has some vocals over the top and there is short drum solo. The smoking hot "Goin' Home" is a bit messy, but full of fire and passion.

The Doctor

There is definitely a punky edge to this raw and furious rocker. It's another solid stomper. The jam later in the tune includes some more powerhouse bass work.

           

 

 
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