Riding the wave of his previous solo albums during the late '80s, Ronnie Montrose reached his peak with The Speed of Sound. Not relying so much on drum machines and an overly polished wall of chorused sound, Montrose feels much more relaxed here than on previous outings during the comeback years, loosening up largely due to a rhythm section that is tight but not digitally rigid, particularly the drumming of former Mitch Ryder sideman Johnny Badanjek. The songwriting and arrangements are much more focused and breathe easier than on previous records, and Montrose's soloing and melodic phrasing are in top form. If there were a place for casual listeners to begin exploring Montrose's solo endeavors under his own name, The Speed of Sound would be an ideal place to start.

JDC Records is a retailer, and the barcode suggests this is a standard US LP issue from 1988.

Riding the wave of his previous solo albums during the late '80s, Ronnie Montrose reached his peak with The Speed of Sound. Not relying so much on drum machines and an overly polished wall of chorused sound, Montrose feels much more relaxed here than on previous outings during the comeback years, loosening up largely due to a rhythm section that is tight but not digitally rigid, particularly the drumming of former Mitch Ryder sideman Johnny Badanjek. The songwriting and arrangements are much more focused and breathe easier than on previous records, and Montrose's soloing and melodic phrasing are in top form. If there were a place for casual listeners to begin exploring Montrose's solo endeavors under his own name, The Speed of Sound would be an ideal place to start.

Riding the wave of his previous solo albums during the late '80s, Ronnie Montrose reached his peak with The Speed of Sound. Not relying so much on drum machines and an overly polished wall of chorused sound, Montrose feels much more relaxed here than on previous outings during the comeback years, loosening up largely due to a rhythm section that is tight but not digitally rigid, particularly the drumming of former Mitch Ryder sideman Johnny Badanjek. The songwriting and arrangements are much more focused and breathe easier than on previous records, and Montrose's soloing and melodic phrasing are in top form. If there were a place for casual listeners to begin exploring Montrose's solo endeavors under his own name, The Speed of Sound would be an ideal place to start. Guitarist Ronnie Montrose began his career as a backing musician, playing with Van Morrison, Boz Scaggs, and Edgar Winter. He finally formed his own band in 1973. Named after the guitarist, Montrose also featured vocalist Sammy Hagar, bassist Bill Church, and drummer Denny Carmassi; they released their debut album in 1974, and Church was replaced by Alan Fitzgerald shortly after its release. Released the following year, Paper Money confirmed the band's status as one of the more popular hard rock acts of their era. However, Hagar was fired after completing the Paper Money tour. Bob James replaced him and keyboardist Jim Alcivar joined the band, yet Montrose's next two albums -- 1975's Warner Brothers Presents Montrose and 1976's Jump on It -- were commercial failures. Ronnie Montrose broke up the band after the release of Jump on It and began his own solo career with the all-instrumental Open Fire (1978). Montrose then formed another hard rock group, Gamma. Gamma recorded three albums between 1979 and 1982. After they broke up in 1982, Montrose picked his solo career once again. He released a rather low-key album, Territory, in 1983, following it four years later in 1987 with the hard-rocking and impressive Mean (attributing it to Gamma). The Speed of Sound appeared in 1988, with The Diva Station, a semi-instrumental mesh of soul, pop, metal and jazz, arriving in 1990. Montrose began putting more of his time into production work, but continued to release solo albums, including Mutatis Mutandis (1991), Music from Here (1994), Mr. Bones (1996), Roll Over and Play Live (1999), and Bearings (1999), before reuniting Gamma for a fourth Gamma album in 2000. Montrose continued his production and session work, and would tour regularly over the last dozen years of his life before finally losing his long battle with prostate cancer and passing on March 2, 2012.