Both Montrose's first s/t and second album, Paper Money, are both great, but Ronnie Montrose went on to form Gamma which were at least as good, if not even better. I would say Sammy Hagar was well established before Van Halen, but I think he joined through the Ted Templeman connection and for the big money. Ronnie could not put a foot wrong for me, whereas Chickenfoot showed the decline in Sammy's creative output. I was sorry when Ronnie died, particularly because of the tragic circumstances of his illness, but also because he took the prospect of another Gamma album with him.
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