AMG Review of Best of Mountain: Live

Eduardo Rivadavia
All Music Guide

Mountain's meteoric ride through the early '70s was as memorable as it was brief. In retrospect, its easy to understand why the strange chemistry (pun intended) struck between boogie-loving, Clapton-worshiping guitar hero Leslie West and eclectic bassist and Cream producer Felix Pappalardi was fated to be of short duration. But during their brief run, Mountain's adventurous proto-metal did indeed resemble a somewhat twisted but effective American version of the legendary power trio that inspired them. Of course, Mountain would continue to re-form off and on over the years, but seeing as most of their later efforts were disappointingly under par, this live set covers many of the essentials -- including Homer Simpson's favorite song, the immortal "Mississippi Queen."