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Warts and all’ doesn’t even begin to describe the rawness of this collection of six previously unreleased live sets recorded across Mountain’s UK tour of early 2005, with one show from '02. Featuring mainman guitarist/ vocalist Leslie West and drummer Corky Laing, plus Richie Scarlet on bass, this box set of six discs offers the opportunity for total immersion in Mountain’s heavy rocking blues as it sounded back in the noughties – you lucky, lucky people.
Definitely not for Mountain beginners, this is a chance to hear and compare in detail multiple versions of Blood Of The Sun, Mississippi Queen and, of course, Nantucket Sleighride, plus various covers, not least Sunshine Of Your Love, Politician, Crossroads, Blowin’ In The Wind and Why I Sing The Blues.
The real interest for Mountain aficionados is in West’s spiky between-songs banter, adding plenty of colour to the authentically live atmosphere, and the easy jamming chemistry between West and Laing. West appears in fine fettle across the shows, and his sparky and inventive improvisations mesh neatly with Laing’s instinct for power and groove.
While the sound quality is fairly consistent across all the 2005 shows – that is to say clear enough, although pretty rough-and-ready – the 2002 show from Cardiff is disappointing in comparison and comes across like a boomy audience bootleg tape, although that doesn’t entirely diminish the energy of the performance. Definitely one for the collectors and historians only, as the old saying goes.
