SLASH, ZAKK WYLDE Featured On New LESLIE WEST Album

July 6, 2011

Legendary guitarist and MOUNTAIN founder Leslie West will release a brand new solo album entitled "Unusual Suspects" in Europe on Monday, September 19 via Provogue Records. The follow-up to 2006's "Blue Me" features West alongside a hand-picked line-up of the finest guitar players alive today including Slash, blues-rock guitar superstar Joe Bonamassa, BLACK LABEL SOCIETY frontman and ex-OZZY OSBOURNE guitarist Zakk Wylde, ZZ TOP's Billy Gibbons and TOTO's Steve Lukather.

"These guys don't just show up to play on everybody's albums," says West of his special guests and the album's title. "They're all stars in their own right, and fantastic players everyone with their own sound and style, about as far from the usual suspects' as it gets."

"Unusual Suspects" track listing:

01. One More Drink For The Road (ft. Steve Lukather)
02. Mudflap Mama (ft. Slash)
03. To The Moon
04. Standing On A Higher Ground (ft. Billy F. Gibbons)
05. Third Degree (ft. Joe Bonamassa)
06. Legend
07. Nothing's Changed (ft. Zakk Wylde)
08. I Feel Fine
09. Love You Forever
10. You & Me
11. Turn Out The Lights (ft. Slash & Zakk Wylde)
12. Beetle "I Don't Know" (bonus track)

Leslie West has long been a popular personality on "The Howard Stern Show" in America. It was Stern whom he gave an interview in late June 2011, from his hospital bed, mere days after undertaking life-saving surgery which saw his leg amputated above the knee.

On June 17, West (a long-time sufferer of type 2 Diabetes) was aboard a long-haul flight to Mississippi to perform at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, when the limb began to swell. He was rushed to the emergency room and lost consciousness. The decision to proceed with the operation was made by his wife, Jenni, who remarks, "It was his leg or his life."

Such a life-changing ordeal would surely deter other artists, but West is already looking firmly forward, insisting that "Unusual Suspects" release date was not altered because of his condition. "Now I've got to figure out how to play the guitar [while standing] on one leg," he states, under no illusions regarding the size of the task ahead. "The prosthetic ones they have these days are really good, but, of course, I'm used to balancing my weight on two feet. I'm going to have to retrain myself."

Photo credit: Alex Solca

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