Paper Money
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Album Summary
Paper Money was the second studio album from Montrose, released in 1974 on Warner Bros. Records — and honey, let me tell you, when this record dropped, it sent shockwaves through the hard rock world like a freight train coming down the mountain. Produced once again by the masterful Ted Templeman, the sessions brought together the fearsome guitar architecture of Ronnie Montrose with the raw, volcanic vocals of Sammy Hagar, all held together by the thunderous rhythm section of Bill Church on bass and Denny Carmassi on drums. Templeman had a gift for capturing electricity in a bottle, and on Paper Money he let these cats stretch out, explore, and burn — delivering a record that felt bigger, bolder, and more adventurous than anything the band had done before.
Reception
- Paper Money charted on the Billboard 200, further cementing Montrose as a legitimate commercial force in the hard rock arena during a fiercely competitive era.
- Rock critics responded warmly to the album's expansive guitar work and the undeniable chemistry between Ronnie Montrose and Sammy Hagar, praising its energy and ambition.
- The album reinforced Montrose's reputation for delivering powerful, guitar-driven performances that connected equally with critics and the record-buying public.
Significance
- Paper Money deepened the West Coast hard rock sound that Montrose had begun to define, pushing the genre into more dynamic and textured territory through tracks like 'Underground' and 'I Got The Fire' — music that breathed and roared in equal measure.
- Ronnie Montrose used this album as a canvas to demonstrate his full range as a guitarist, cementing his place among the elite six-string voices of the 1970s and raising the bar for technical and emotional guitar work in hard rock.
- The album stands as a milestone in Sammy Hagar's rise to prominence, showcasing a vocal ferocity and range that would go on to define an entire era of rock and roll and set the stage for his legendary solo career and beyond.
Tracklist
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A1 Underground 130
3:33
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A2 Connection 123
5:42
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A3 The Dreamer 128
4:05
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A4 Starliner 152
3:36
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B1 I Got The Fire 164
3:06
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B2 Spaceage Sacrifice 110
4:55
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B3 We're Going Home 146
4:52
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B4 Paper Money 133
5:01
Artist Details
Montrose was a hard rock powerhouse that erupted out of San Francisco in 1973, built around the scorching guitar wizardry of Ronnie Montrose and the raw, explosive vocals of a young unknown named Sammy Hagar, and together they laid down a debut album that hit like a freight train and helped forge the blueprint for American hard rock and heavy metal. Their self-titled 1973 record, produced by Ted Templeman, was a lean and mean slab of high-voltage rock that influenced a whole generation of bands coming up behind them, from Van Halen on down the line. Though they burned bright and fast before lineup changes and commercial pressures took their toll, Montrose left behind a legacy that serious rock fans hold sacred, a reminder that some of the most important music never got the mainstream recognition it deserved.
