Customer Reviews

Guitarded

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Leslie West must have gone down to the crossroads and sold his soul to the devil. He's certainly playing and singing like a man possessed. His guitar roars throughout this entire album and his demonic growl is in fine form. Never mind the guest stars, they pale in comparison to the man himself. Leslie West is pure energy, he is the soul of blues and rock and roll and he's putting out stuff equal to or surpassing a lot of his Mountain work. Check out "Cross Cut Saw", "Honky Tonk Woman" and "Stormy Monday". Those are just a few of the delicious side dishes that comprise the feast known as "Guitarded". Bon Appetit!

First of all, let me say that I've been a huge fan of Leslie's since the Woodstock album and his first Mountain album...Leslie and his Gibson guitars...man, he had THE tone. As far as this cd goes, I'm not really sure what's going on here. I already have 10 of the 13 songs on previous Leslie West cd's...and I believe that 9 of the 10 are the exact same versions. The only songs on this release that I didn't already have are "If Heartaches Were Nickels" (a decent song), a cover of Steppenwolf's "Born to Be Wild" (oh, so awful drum machine!) and George Harrison's "Old Brown Shoe" (a good job on this one). If somebody out there close to Leslie reads this, PLEASE hide all of his guitars that have a tremolo unit on it and please hide that guitar processor that he's been using lately. These items are made for people who WISH they could have Leslie's sound, not for Leslie himself. In summation, it's a must-have for Leslie West fans, but I don't know if this is supposed to be a compilation cd or not (the All Music Guide does not list it as a compilation).

There are no liner notes, or anything on the CD or its cover to so indicate, but if you look at these songs as part of Leslie's catalog, they were released in the 10 or so years preceeding this disc.

That being said, it amounts to a post-Mountain "best of". Stormy Monday and Third Degree especially sound fine, but the rest of the album is good too. I would have liked some real liner notes, but the music is tasty.

Lots of jams here from one of the greats. Sound quality and mixing is excellent. The Live cuts are superb ending with a tribute to Felix P. With all the new junk out there this was a real breath of fresh air. Anybody that likes Blues and Rock will want this album.

If you are into 70s rock you will love this album...I am an aspiring guitarist growing up in the 60s .. 70s..Ye..I am old... but if you like pure Rock & Blues some of us "old timers" still can hold our own !!!

Leaving apart four songs composed by West, the other tracks are great classic that Leslie West covers with dignity, but to tell it short, this record is more a Hard Rock-Blues record than a Blues record, with too much hard guitar and a strong voice in several moments similar to John Foggerty's (Credence Clearwater Revival) more suitable for Rock than Blues.The guitar is very good and also the voice but I prefer the subtlety of the original versions.It is considered one of the Best Blues - Rock Album of the 2005 year and it really is a very good record, hard driving Blues-Rock with intense guitar and voice, but most of these tracks have been released on other albums over the years by the great names of the BLUES. If you want to listen to Leslie West, my recommendation is "Blues to die for", a really very good album with some very nice covers as well. Nonetheless, anybody who likes Blues and Rock like I do can enjoy this album. It contains a good cover of "Honky Tonk women" (but I prefer the Rolling Stones original) and very interesting live tracks.

Hard driving blues by a master. I was pleasantly surprised by the intense guitar work and fell that West was really enjoying himself.

I agree with "Joe" in that most of these tracks have been released on other albums over the years. If you want new Leslie West material buy "Blues to die for" which is a really good album.

I found this to be weak. covers are feeble at best. a sign of that current time in music history

It's funny to hear that the old goat is back and he's still alive and kickin'. Lots of guitars as allways. Good sound and it's a typically leslie west album. Good songs and performance. a must for all his fans of course.