Slowing the pace is a beautiful rendition of ‘you are my sunshine’ (featuring Peter Frampton) which exposes the very human heart at the centre of this rock ‘n’ roll whirlwind. This is good time rock ‘n’ roll in excelsis – “ I’ve been waiting all week just to have a good time” moans Leslie over a riff that threatens to leave a trail of discarded, semi-clad groupies in its wake. Better still is the gritty hard rock of ‘give me one reason’ which has all the hunger of a band just stepping out on the road for the first time. ![]() ‘Give me one reason’ (originally a Tracy Chapman hit) opens with the warm tones of a grand piano and some emotive lead before devolving into a late-night blues track that draws comparisons with the stunning Wilko Johnson / Roger Daltry album ‘Going back home’. It’s a hell of an opening track and, as the cover implies, Leslie’s only just getting started. This is blues, but with a nitro-glycerine charge at its heart and as Leslie’s gritty slide slithers across the mix you’d have to be dead not to sit up and take note. Putting his best foot forward, Leslie West opens with the gnarled blues of ‘left by the roadside to die’, a blistering workout that sees acoustic guitar and a throbbing synth line give way to some heavy-ass blues that blaze with a power that recalls Led Zeppelin in their pomp. Teamed up with Peter Frampton, Brian May, Max Middleton (ex-Jeff Beck), Bonnie Bramlett and the late, great Jack Bruce (Cream), this is a meeting of some of rock’s greatest talents and the result is an album of tracks that spark with livid rock ‘n’ roll fury. ![]() A VU meter pegged in the red, well, so what? Surely the Velvet Underground have already done that? Yet what initially seems uninspired is, in fact, prophetic, because red is exactly where the needle stays on this unexpectedly rambunctious outing from the legendary guitarist. ![]() Soundcheck is co-produced and engineered by West's collaborator Mike "Metal" Goldberg, who he shared, "helped me get my sound down on 'Tape' as they used to say, and did an amazing job as he always does."Leslie West - Soundcheck is now available on vinyl again and for the first time on colored vinyl in transparent red.The picture on the cover of Leslie West’s ‘soundcheck’ initially seems somewhat uninspired. Back in 1972, Leslie made musical history with Jack when they joined forces to form the super group West, Bruce and Laing. For this new release, Leslie layed down some of his most inspired musical magic to date with the assistance of true rock royalty: the renown British guitarists Peter Frampton and Brian May, ex-Jeff Beck keyboard virtuoso Max Middleton, vocalist extraordinaire Bonnie Bramlett and the late great Cream bassist and longtime friend of Leslie's, Jack Bruce. It followed 2011's critically acclaimed "Unusual Suspects", which featured contributions from such accomplished guitarists and close friends as Billy Gibbons, Slash, Zakk Wylde, Steve Lukather and Joe Bonamassa, and 2013's Still Climbing, which included blistering duets with the late, great Johnny Winter, Jonny Lang and Mark Tremonti. To honor his musical legacy all the Provogue catalogue will be re-issued on special colored vinyl in limited numbers."Soundcheck" is the sixteenth solo album by legendary rock guitarist Leslie West. ![]() Sadly Leslie West passed away in December 2020.
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