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Mountain Of Power: Volume Three

The heavy rocking, hard hitting, guitar totting, blues boasting brainchild of six string supremo Janne Stark (Locomotive Breath, Constancia, Balls, Grand Design), Mountain Of Power returns with Volume Three of their homage to 70s guitar rock. As ever the cast list is extensive as some obscure and some not so obscure covers are thrashed out, jammed through and generally given new life. An embarrassment of guitar goodness and vocal prowess brought to bare on a selection of songs which previously hit hard, but now positively bulldoze all in their path.

The Neil Merryweather amalgam, "Give It Everything We Got/Kryptonite", introduces proceedings perfectly, Stark and Martin J Andersen sparking wildly as they trade solos with real intensity. That Andersen backs that up with a Conny Bloom like vocal capable of matching the six string histrionics simply seals the deal. Merryweather himself then turns up to deliver vocals on the melodic blues merry-go-round of "Hey Serena/Wheel Of Fortune", as the formula of choosing a pair of a band's best tunes and expertly fusing them together continues with the Walter Rossi/Charlee cuts being expertly handled.

From there highlights come thick and groovetacularly fast, Roger Solander and Peter Harmansson adding the vocal muscle to the guitar hit from Stark and Brett Ellis on "It's A Jungle Out There (Power)" (by Diamond Reo), while Thomas Vikström handles the Stark/Ken Hammer infused "Be My Lover/Little Texas Shaker", with skill and ease in abundance. Songs from two underrated bands shine next, "Raging River Of Fear (Can't Feel Nothing-Frozen Over)" from the criminally unknown Captain Beyond celebrated by Stark, and Andersen once more, while "Silver Dollar" by April Wine is brought to life with a real sense of rejoicing in the good times by the one and only Carl Dixon (Coney Hatch/April Wine) behind the mic.; Craig Erickson excelling with Stark on guitar.

And so it continues, a mix of singers, David Angstrom on "Badside" by Cain, Marc Quee and Amy Douglas (the latter having lost none of her power) on the Mother's Finest belter "All The Way" and the pairing of Chris Catena and Peter Hermansson moulding a mix of smooth and husky-dusty vocals into a potent force on Boomerang's "Cynthia Fever/Juke It". Six string expertise provided by Stark, Angstrom, Mike Onesko, Jay Jesse Johnson and Mr. Grooveyard records himself Joe Romagnola! Unlike most near 80 minute albums, things just keep getting better and better as they head towards their conclusion, the Styx like "She Flew Freely/If Only We Tried" (originally by The Hunt) finding Carl Dixon returning to provide his best Tommy Shaw-esque vocals, while Stark take sole centre stage on guitar in quite blistering fashion. Leaving a four part Rush medley come guitar jam and four part Kansas tribute come six-string weapon of destruction to close the album out magnificently, a whole host of previously mentioned vocal and guitar talent, plus Magnus Ekwall, Pelle Saether, the Mercyful Fate guitar pair, Michael Denner and Hank Shermann, Stefan Lindholm, Jonas Hansson, Jimmy Ryan, Kee Marcello, Micke Nilsson and Mikadl Nord Andersson, making mockery of the idea that all star albums lack for cohesive hard rocking authenticity.

If you like big, fat grooving guitar led anthems from the classic and underrated 70s vaults, Volume Three by Mountain Of Power is the altar at which you should worship. Put simply: fabulous.


Track Listing
1. GIVE IT EVERYTHING WE GOT / KRYPTONITE (NEIL MERRYWEATHER)

2. HEY SERENA / WHEEL OF FORTUNE TURNING (WALTER ROSSI/CHARLEE)

3. IT'S A JUNGLE OUT THERE (POWER) (DIAMOND REO)

4. BE MY LOVER / LITTLE TEXAS SHAKER (TRIUMPH)

5. RAGING RIVER OF FEAR (CAN'T FEEL NOTHING-FROZEN OVER) (CAPTAIN BEYOND)

6. SILVER DOLLAR (APRIL WINE)

7. BADSIDE (CAIN)

8. ALL THE WAY (MOTHER'S FINEST)

9. CYNTHIA FEVER / JUKE IT (BOOMERANG)

10. SHE FLEW FREELY / IF ONLY WE HAD TRIED (THE HUNT)

11. UNDER THE SHADOW (WORKING MAN-WHAT YOU'RE DOING-SOLILOQUY-YYZ) (RUSH)

12. DEATH OF MOTHER NATURE SUITE / CHILD OF INNOCENCE (CARRY ON WAYWARD SON-RELENTLESS-DOWN THE ROAD-CHEYENNE ANTHEM) (KANSAS)

Added: January 31st 2016
Reviewer: Steven Reid
Score:
Related Link: Volume Three at The Grooveyard
Hits: 2805
Language: english

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