Label: Columbia Records (US), CK 52749
Style: Hard Rock
Country: Long Island, New York, U.S.
Time: 50:48
Format: Flac Tracks 16/44,1 kHz
Size: 268 Mb
Charts: US #31, CAN #23, AUS #39, GER #39, NOR 17.
Mountain in the studio is not the same group as Mountain live.
Nothing supports that statement more than Flowers of Evil, their newest album, one side of which was recorded at the Fillmore East before it’s demise, the other in the studio. This juxtaposition makes it all the easier to distinguish the difference.
Side one (studio) opens with the title cut. Reeking of Black Sabbath, Mountain has taken a simple chord change structure and repeated it over and over while Lester West moans a set of lyrics straight from the Grand Funk school of relevance. Oh can you tell me/ how the joy passed from his childhood./ That’s not my boy./ We never dreamed when he was leavin’/ that he would taste the flowers of evil.
The next two songs, "Crossroader" and "One Last Cold Kiss" are of the same feel with little variation in guitar work. The lyrics rival even the title cut for triteness (triteness?). By now it is quite evident that the lyrics are not the most dazzling feature Mountain has to offer, yet, surprisingly enough, the arrangements are built around the lyrics rather than the usual opposite. Verses are piled on top of each other leaving no room for the band to actually work. Not until the final cut of Side One do the inane lyrics magically part for a disappointing solo by West.
Side Two was recorded at the Fillmore East. Leslie West’s dormant studio guitar is finally awakened for a ballsy 25-minute ""Dream Sequence." Included in the medley are "Roll Over Beethoven," "Dreams of Milk and Honey," and "Swan Theme." All are intertwined with fine guitar work.
After the live Mountain material on the Woodstock album, their new stage presence is a welcomed change. The live Mountain is excellent in all aspects, whether just jamming along or really rocking. Their encore is "Mississippi Queen," probably their most famous tune. This version outdoes the much played AM version by a large margin.
The album as a whole, however, fails to produce any definitive style for the group. Mountain’s brand of rock is not unique, it is shared by thousands of other groups. The only reason that they have grown mildly popular is that they are a bit more accomplished musicians than the hoards of others. Obviously the group can’t record live material for the remainder of their existence, something must be done to remedy their sorry studio work. Perhaps if they made their music a little more uncommon, they would achieve real success.
As for Flowers of Evil, it would have been better off as a live album.
(theuncool.com/journalism/mountain-flowers-of-evil-review/)
01. Flowers Of Evil (04:52)
02. King's Chorale (01:04)
03. One Last Cold Kiss (03:54)
04. Crossroader (04:53)
05. Pride And Passion (07:11)
06. Dream Sequence (25:03)
07. Mississippi Queen (03:48)
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