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Mountain was formed in Long Island in 1969 by a collaboration with Leslie West (g/v), who had already recorded a solo album entitled "Mountain", and Felix Pappalardi (bass), who had production cred with Cream. Keyboardist Steve Knight and drummer N. D. Smart completed the original line-up; however, Smart left before recording of the first album began and was replaced by Canadian drummer Lawrence "Corky" Liang. Liang would help make Mountain history not only by playing drums on their first hit song "Mississippi Queen" but also by providing lyrics to an original song he had penned while in a previous band that he and West would turn into the lyrics for the classic heavy rocker.
Released in March 1970, "Climbing" features fist-pumpers like "Mississippi Queen", "Never In My Life" (which received praise for its riff from Jimi Hendrix who was in the studio next door), and the country-tinged "Silver Paper" and bluesy groover "Sitting on a Rainbow". The album also includes a variety of slower, melodious songs weighed with organ and heavy guitar but always featuring West's powerful, emotive vocals that oscillate between gruff bellows and soulful howls. The acoustic guitar instrumental "To My Friend" is a beautifully rendered piece that holds its own against Led Zeppelin's "Black Mountainside" or Jefferson Airplane's "Embryonic Journey".
Indicative of the times, "Climbing" features a variety of heavy guitar based music with a couple of acoustic numbers. There's a healthy of variety of moods; it sounds like each song was written with thought and consideration and nothing was intended to simply fill up any remaining space. As for my personal taste, the sometimes strong country/blues sound doesn't appeal 100% and so I find the Cream-Wheels of Fire styling of "The Laird" and the acoustic instrumental to be a pleasant addition. Even still, whether country/blues rocker or soulful heavy organ/guitar number, Mountain debuted with an emphasis on powerful heavy rock. And the production is very well handled, on par with any of the big bands of the day.
It's not an album I feel like listening to often and I'm more likely to put a song or two on a mixed playlist of early seventies heavy rock. But when I listened to it today as I wrote my review, I recognized that it was better as a whole than my impression had been. I often give lower ratings to proto-metal albums because they either lack a sufficient amount of heavy music or the production is sub-standard. This album is above average in both areas. A great heavy rock album from 1970.