[2017-09-29] Ronnie Montrose "10X10" final album (Rhino)

Linda · **Posted:** Sat Jul 09, 2016 2:10 pm

Description
Before his untimely death in 2012, renowned American rock guitarist Ronnie Montrose began recording an ambitious passion project with bassist Ricky Phillips (Styx, Bad English) and drummer Eric Singer (Kiss, Alice Cooper). The idea was to record 10 songs with 10 different singers and call the album 10X10. Sadly, Montrose was unable to see the album through during his lifetime. Instead, Phillips made it his mission to finish the songs by enlisting a small army of Ronnie’s musician friends to record the vocals and the guitar solos for each song, completing the album in recent years.

Phillips says the songs represent some of Montrose’s best work. “His songs still have the fire and angst of a young rebel, but with some added wisdom and foresight voiced in his own unique language of ‘guitar-speak.’ On 10X10, we hear Ronnie at the top of his game, from the opening crunch guitar of ‘Heavy Traffic,’ all the way to the closing song, ‘I’m Not Lying,’ which was Ronnie’s tip of the hat to his friend Robin Trower.”

10x10 features inspired pairings, like Deep Purple singer Glenn Hughes with Def Leppard guitarist Phil Collen (“Still Singin’ With The Band”) and singer Sammy Hagar with Toto guitarist Steve Lukather (“Color Blind”). Legendary blues guitarist Joe Bonamassa also showcases his guitar talents on the track “The Kingdom’s Come Undone” with Ricky Phillips on vocals. A few artists both sing and play, like Edgar Winter (“Love Is An Art”) and Tommy Shaw (“Strong Enough”).

Tracklist
1. Heavy Traffic (feat. Eric Martin & Dave Meniketti)
2. Love Is An Art (feat. Edgar Winter & Rick Derringer)
3. Color Blind (feat. Sammy Hagar & Steve Lukather)
4. Still Singin' With The Band (feat. Glenn Hughes, Phil Collen & Jimmy "Z" Zavala)
5. Strong Enough (feat. Tommy Shaw)
6. Any Minute (feat. Mark Farner)
7. The Kingdom's Come Undone (feat. Joe Bonamassa)
8. One Good Reason (feat. Bruce Turgon & Brad Whitford)
9. Head On Straight (feat. Davey Pattison & Marc Bonilla)
10. I'm Not Lying (feat. Gregg Rolie, Tom Gimbel & Lawrence Gowan)

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B074HJM7Z5/?tag=imwan-20

Linda · **Posted:** Sat Jul 09, 2016 2:10 pm

Quote:

Sammy Hagar and Glenn Hughes Among All-Star Guests for Final Ronnie Montrose Album

Ronnie Montrose fans can look forward to one last studio album from the guitar legend — and it’ll include a long list of famous names.

Styx bassist Ricky Phillips outlined the history behind the project during a recent interview with Sleaze Roxx, explaining his early involvement as well as the many steps he’s taken to bring it to completion following Montrose’s death in 2012. Although a release date has yet to be announced, Phillips said he hopes to have the album — titled 10 by 10 — in stores by “the beginning of 2017.”

The title, explained Phillips, came from Montrose, and reflected his central idea that the album would feature 10 different guest vocalists. “I said, ‘That’s a great idea, Ronnie, but we can’t even think of one singer we like! How are we going to find 10?!’”

As it turned out, Montrose had a list of contenders — and it sounds like all of them were eager to enlist, including Sammy Hagar, Edgar Winter, Grand Funk Railroad veteran Mark Farner, ex-Gamma member David Pattison, Mr. Big frontman Eric Martin and Gregg Rolie. “I got Tommy Shaw on one of the tracks,” said Phillips. “It became this cool project that had this really cool band.”

Unfortunately, Montrose died before he could track solos for the record, but Phillips filled the void with “guys that Ronnie was into” — and added even more guests to round out the sessions.

“I didn’t get everybody that I went after, but I think all the right guys are on the record,” said Phillips. “There’s a great mix of singers and guitarists on there. I have Glenn Hughes on a track with Phil Collen from Def Leppard playing the solo, Sammy Hagar featuring Steve Lukather … Eric Martin, I paired up with Dave Meniketti (Y&T) and on and on. We have Joe Bonamassa on there too. I also have Brad Whitford, who is the unsung hero to both Ronnie and I in Aerosmith. He’s the dark horse in that band. I called him and he was honored to be a part of it. I can’t wait for you to hear the track with Edgar Winter and Rick Derringer. It sounds like it was lifted right out of the ‘70s.”

Ultimately, while Montrose’s lead playing will definitely be missed, Phillips feels the end result stands as a worthy testament to his legacy. “I think Ronnie will be looking down on us smiling when it’s released,” he added. “It’s pretty special.”

http://www.ultimateclassicrock.com/ronn ... inal-album

Linda · **Posted:** Thu Aug 03, 2017 5:56 am

Bump: Added the pre-order details to the first post.

smokin.joe · 01 Aug 2008

I've always been a strong supporter of Ronnie's music and the listed singers for this album are impressive. But, if I read this correctly, Ronnie is not actually playing on this record: Unfortunately, Montrose died before he could track solos for the record, but Phillips filled the void with “guys that Ronnie was into”.

Not sure if this should be called a Ronnie Montrose album if he only contributed the idea behind the album. Perhaps he wrote the music.

ted262 · 22 Aug 2004

Solos are done after rhythm tracks, so it's possible he recorded everything else. It's kind of ambiguous in that article though.

Linda · **Posted:** Mon Aug 07, 2017 2:44 pm

We now have Rhino's official description in the first post, which clarifies things a little better.

Linda · **Posted:** Tue Nov 07, 2017 4:27 am

A lyric video has been released for the track "Color Blind", which features Sammy Hagar and Steve Lukather:

[2017-09-29] Ronnie Montrose "10X10" final album (Rhino)

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