Leslie West, most famous for being the guy who blasted out both the vocals, and the iconic guitar lick to the Mountain classic “Mississippi Queen” is back with a new album that showcases his one of a kind guitar sound and vocals.

While he may not be a household name, West has been hanging around the world of rock for over 45 years. Guitar players have mondo respect for the man as shown by the names that have showed up to play on this CD. Steve Lukather, Billy F. Gibbons, Joe Bonamassa, Zakk Wylde and Slash all came onboard to help out one of their mentors.

The album is a throwback to when every song on an album was important. Rock n’ roll was fun, rowdy, out of control but also taken seriously by the musicians who made it. West crafted 12 songs, ranging from the hard rocking “Nothing’s Changed” with Wylde to the personal “Legend” to the classic blues tune “Third Degree,” a duet with Joe Bonamassa. “Turn Out the Lights” is a rocker that sees both Slash, Zakk and West tearing up the fret boards. Slash also appears on the hilarious “Mudflap Mama.” “Standing on a Higher Ground” features so much of Reverend Gibbons that one might mistake it for a ZZ Top tune! The most poignant moment comes on the powerful ballad “Love You Forever.” West also throws in the classic Beatles tune, done his style, “I Feel Fine.”

West recently lost one of his legs to diabetes. That is not going to stop him from making new music or hitting the road on tour, though. When one looks up ‘warhorse’ in the dictionary they find a picture of Leslie. His fans would not want it any other way.