The Speed of Sound (album)

The Speed of Sound is a 1988 all-instrumental album by American rock guitarist Ronnie Montrose, who led the bands Montrose (1973-77 & 1987) and Gamma (1979-83 & 2000) and also performed and did session work with a variety of musicians, including Van Morrison (1971–72), Herbie Hancock (1971), Beaver & Krause (1971), Boz Scaggs (1971), Edgar Winter (1972 & 1996), Gary Wright (1975), The Beau Brummels (1975), Dan Hartman (1976), Tony Williams (1978), The Neville Brothers (1987), Marc Bonilla (1991 & 1993), Sammy Hagar (1997), and Johnny Winter. In 1997, Ronnie stated that this album was his favorite instrumental record he had done so far.^[1] The track titles are words and phrases referencing aviation themes.

In 1999, Ronnie Montrose himself re-released a limited edition of 500 compact discs that were each numbered and autographed and came with a certificate of authenticity through his own company RoMoCo. The CD had different artwork on the jewel case as well as the insert which was numbered as well.

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Track listing

1. "Mach 1" (Ronnie Montrose) – 4:27
2. "Black Box" (Montrose) – 4:40
3. "Hyper-Thrust" (Montrose) – 3:25
4. "Monolith" (Montrose) – 3:15
5. "Zero G" (Montrose) – 4:18
6. "Telstar" (Joe Meek / The Tornados cover) – 3:11
7. "Sidewinder" (Montrose) – 3:54
8. "Windshear" (Montrose) – 4:16
9. "VTOL" (Montrose) – 3:05
10. "Outer Marker Inbound" (Montrose) – 4:34

Personnel

• Ronnie Montrose – guitar, percussion, MIDI guitar synthesizer
• Glenn Letsch – bass guitar
• Johnny Badanjek – drums
• Patrick Feehan – synthesizer on "Zero G" and "Outer Marker Inbound"

Production

• Produced by Ronnie Montrose
• Engineered by Ronnie Montrose and Roger Wiersema

References

• Ronnie Montrose; The Speed of Sound liner notes; Enigma Records 1988
• All Music Guide