Leslie West, legendary guitarist of Mountain, has just released a new solo album entitled Unusual Suspects

The album features contributions from a hand picked line-up all, of which are guitar legends in their own right, including Steve Lukather, Billy Gibbons, Slash, Zakk Wylde and Joe Bonamassa.

The album itself is a mix of originals and covers of blues-rock and ballad songs which showcases West’s earthy vocals and characteristic playing.

The album opens up with One More Drink For The Road a great boogie track that rolls along and features some customary great guitar work from Steve Lukather.

The following track Mud Flap Momma keeps the great hard rocking vibe going with a very cool slide guitar riff based track that features Slash on guest guitar duties. Definitely a fave on the album for me.

Another album favourite is the cover of the blues classic Third Degree which rocks things up a little with West’s gritty vocals and great complimentary guitar work and vocals from Joe Bonamassa.

The song Standing On A Higher Ground was brought into the studio by Billy Gibbons, a long time friend of West’s, who met on ZZ Top’s first major tour when the Top got a big break opening for Mountain. The song was initially incomplete but working with West and producer Fabrizio Grossi they finalised the song and recorded it live together in the same Los Angeles studio.

I’m in total agreement with Leslie West who says “Only Billy Gibbons can come up with am intro that sounds like Hendrix and ZZ Top joined at the hip”. There’s no mistaking the great Billy Gibbons!

Zakk Wylde joins West on the rocking Nothing’s Changed, another album highlight. Zakk Wylde, like Slash, cites West as an influence, even affectionately referring to West as ‘Dad’, so it’s great to hear Zakk’s trademark style come through on this track. It sounds like they had great fun trading licks.

Unusual Suspects should appeal to fans of classic boogie-rock and is an enjoyable listen which shows again how great the marriage of rocking guitars and blues can be!

As West says “As a player, my motto is all about knowing how much to play without playing too much”.

Unusual Suspects is available now Provogue Records.

Album Tracklisting

1. One More Drink for the Road (Featuring: Steve Lukather)
2. Mud Flap Momma (Featuring: Slash)
3. To the Moon
4. Standing on Higher Ground (Featuring: Billy Gibbons)
5. Third Degree (Featuring: Joe Bonamassa)
6. Legend
7. Nothing’s Changed (Featuring: Zakk Wylde)
8. I Feel Fine
9. Love You Forever
10. My Gravity
11. The Party’s Over (Featuring: Slash and Zakk Wylde)
12. I Don’t Know “The Beetlejuice Song” (Featuring: Richard Christy)

For Fans Of: Mountain, ZZ Top, Walter Trout, Black Country Communion, Hard Rocking Blues

Standout tracks: One More Drink For The Road, Mud Flap Momma, Third Degree and Nothing’s Changed

UK Release Date: Monday 19th September.

I’ve been a fan of Derek Sherinian‘s playing for a while now, first being aware of him via Dream Theater then through Planet X and currently with Black Country Communion.

In his new solo album ‘Oceana‘, Sherinian has again teamed up with some outstanding musicians, featuring contributions from Joe Bonamassa, Tony MacAlpine, Simon Phillips, Steve Lukather, Steve Stevens, Doug Aldrich, Jimmy Johnson and Tony Franklin.

The album kicks off with the song Five Elements a modern Prog Fusion rollercoaster with the unmistakable talents of Tony McAlpine on guitar who also features on the following track Mercury 7.

The legendary Steve Lukather returns to collaborate with Sherinian on the tracks Mulholland, Euphoria and Seven Sins. Each track a great slice of rock fusion with stunning keyboard and guitar work though Euphoria stands out as a fave of mine for its laid back feel and great main melody.

Steve Stevens makes his appearance on Ghost Runner and Oceana adding an edgier rock feel to each track with some great melodic interchanges between himself and Sherinian and a ripping solo in Oceana.

Also great to see Black Country Communion band-mate Joe Bonamassa playing on the song I Heard That which changes the pace a little, adding a bluesier tinge to precedings and grooving along nicely. Another favourite player of mine, Doug Aldrich lends his considerable talents on the El Camino Diablo which invokes a fusion era Jeff Beck vibe.

‘Oceana‘ is an album that showcases Sherinian’s energetic prog-fusion music and ability to pick the right musicians to add their own special touch to each composition and should appeal to lovers of both fusion and heavy rock.

Album Tracklisting

1. Five Elements
2. Mercury 7
3. Mulholland
4. Euphoria
5. Ghost Runner
6. El Camino Diablo
7. I Heard That
8. Seven Sins
9. Oceana

Keep an eye out for the ‘Oceana’ solo tour in early 2012!

For Fans Of: Planet X, Dream Theater, Liquid Tension Experiment, Alex Argento

Standout tracks: Five Elements, Euphoria

UK Release Date: Monday 5th September.

I’ve been very lucky to have had a sneak preview of the upcoming album from Beth Hart and Joe Bonamassa entitled ‘Don’t Explain‘.

I’m guessing many readers will be familiar with the guitar maestro Joe Bonamassa but maybe not so much with Beth Hart.

Beth Hart is a Los Angeles based singer-songwriter who is good friends with Joe and is renowned for having a raw and powerful blues-rock voice. Whilst in London in early 2010 Joe was at one of Beth’s shows and was immediately blown away, in fact he thought “It was killer,” and suggested they should do a project together sometime.

To get an idea of what Joe witnessed, here’s Beth Hart in a more rockin mode with Slash:

“I was up late one night, I couldn’t sleep. I was playing songs on my iPod from the reissue of Get Yer Ya-Ya’s Out, which included all the opening acts from that Stones show,” he recalls. “As soon as the Ike & Tina Turner tracks came on, I just said out loud, ‘Beth Hart.’

I emailed Kevin, saying, ‘Let’s do a soul covers record with Beth,’ and he replied back, ‘Actually, that’s a great idea.’”

The Kevin mentioned is Kevin Shirley who has produced Joe’s last five albums and has also produced “Don’t explain“.

The album itself is a collection of classic soul and blues covers:

Album Tracklisting

1. Sinner’s Prayer (Ray Charles w/ B.B. King)
2. Chocolate Jesus (Tom Waits)
3. Your Heart Is As Black As Night (Melody Gardot)
4. For My Friend (Bill Withers)
5. Don’t Explain (Billie Holiday)
6. I’d Rather Go Blind (Etta James)
7. Something’s Got A Hold On Me (Etta James)
8. I’ll Take Care Of You (Gil Scott-Heron)
9. Well, Well (Delaney & Bonnie)
10. Ain’t No Way (Aretha Franklin)

The album kicks off with the classic “Sinner’s Prayer” by Ray Charles and BB King, opening with Joe playing the main riff on slide guitar but when Beth Hart’s sultry blues vocals kicks in you know you are in for a treat!

Somehow I had never heard of Beth Hart before this, I don’t know why because her voice is truly sublime. Like a blend of Janis Joplin and Etta James, her voice ranges from jazzy soulful tones to full on raw anguished screams. You can really connect with the lyrics when a voice is this good.

Her voice perfectly suits the fantastic cover of Tom Wait’s “Chocolate Jesus” (an album highlight for me) and is out of this world on “I’d Rather Go Blind“. This classic is a favourite song of mine anyway, but the version on “Don’t Explain” is pretty special. Between Beth’s otherwordly vocals and Joe’s extended heartfelt guitar solo, it’s 8 mins of musical bliss.

I imagine many Joe Bonamassa fans will snap this album up, as usual his playing is fantastic, but this isn’t just a ‘guitarist’s’ album. Beth Hart’s exceptional vocal performances make this accessible to any music fans who love classic soul and blues.

It’s just sublime, so much so I’ve had it on constant repeat .

For Fans Of: Great Soul and Blues, BB King, Janis Joplin, Etta James, Aretha Franklin

Standout tracks: Chocolate Jesus, I’d Rather Go Blind, Somethings Got A hold On Me

UK Release Date: Monday 26th September.

As another little taster, you can download the track “Well, Well” for free!

The second album from supergroup Black Country Communion will be available to pre-order on April 18th!

Awesome videos from Fret12 with Joe Bonamassa answering fan questions, talking about his rig, touring/favourite guitars, warmups, singing and playing, his signature Gibson, Black Country Communion, baritone doubleneck, sounding like Eric Johnson and his new album Dust Bowl! *phew*: