Nantucket Sleighride 1971 Album

Mountain

Leslie West may have not been the dominant personality of the debut album, but he was the more memorable one. Now Felix's dreamy, psychoactive stuff steps to the forefront, which gives the band more credibility from a progressive standpoint. The title track is an adventurous, historical-based epic with heavy psychedelic overtones, and honestly, is more of a showcase for Pappalardi's askew vocal and Knight's majestic keyboard work. It sets the tone for similar exercises like "Tired Angels", "My Lady", and "Traveling in the Dark". Meanwhile, the West-centered tunes are not as impactful second time around, with the best of the lot being the album-ending "Great Train Robbery" where West and Pappalardi share vocal passages. One other item to mention mood-wise is this is in the same dark/guitar rock-meets-keyboards ballpark as early 70's Procol Harum albums like Home and Broken Barricades, just played and executed by bigger personalities - especially in the case of West and Laing.