Though New York rockers Mountain were a quartet, they’ll forever be regarded as America’s answer to Cream. The turbo-charged blues-rock riffs and mammoth power chords of guitarist/singer Leslie West were as imposing as his own outsized frame. However, his heavy-rock stompers were offset by the more melodic offerings of bassist Felix Pappalardi, making for a more varied palette than might be expected by those who only know “Mississippi Queen”. This compilation shows that Mountain were not merely among the first hard-rockers, but were among the best.