Leslie West - Got Blooze (2005)

Guitar hero Leslie West has issued countless albums over the years, mostly either as a member of Mountain or as a solo artist. But he has never set out to record an album comprised entirely of classic blues rockers. Then 2005's Got Blooze came along. While this sort of thing has been done by countless fellow veteran classic rock acts of late (the best-known of the bunch being Aerosmith's Honkin' on Bobo), it turns out to be custom-made for a player like West. Throughout the 12-track set, West keeps things raw and gritty, as evidenced by such standouts as the extraordinary "Third Degree" and a cover of the oft-overlooked Cream gem, "Politician." West also surrounds himself with a fantastic rhythm section, comprised of Vanilla Fudge's Tim Bogert on bass and session ace Aynsley Dunbar on drums (turns out the pair pulled double duty, as they also backed ex-Ozzy Osbourne guitarist Jake E. Lee on an additional album full of covers, Retraced). While we probably could have done without the umpteenth cover of "Baby Please Don't Go" (AC/DC, Aerosmith, Ted Nugent, and countless others have played it over the years), overall, Got Blooze is a welcome return for West, and easily his strongest, most focused work in quite some time. ~Got Blooze Review by Greg Prato