Leslie West is returning to the studio this month to start work on the follow up to his Grammy nominated, Unusual Suspects, one of the finest pieces of rocking blues to cross my path in 2011. He's being joined again by producer Fabrizio Grossi, who helped make the last album maybe the finest sounding hard rock record I heard that year.
2013's new release sheet is already shaping up nicely, and after Unusual Suspects raging slab of sound, I'm sure that this new record will go that much further - the combination of West, Grossi, super drummer Kenny Aronoff and a host of great cameos (Joe Bonamassa, Slash, Steve Lukather, Zakk Wylde) made for a great record, and I can't wait to hear what this combo dishes out next. I'm guessing I'll have to drive up to New York and check on them, make sure they don't burn the studio to the ground.
"Lance is a Ferrari, ready to roar. What we have here is very competitive. His live jams for the last two nights at the China Club in LA with this new material put everyone in awe. The cream of who's who LA players - from former members of Guns & Roses to guys who are playing with Jeff Beck. He blew them away." ~ producer Fabrizio Grossi
Tell The Truth is the first sneak peek at Lance Lopez's new record, and if we get an album full of tracks that sound as good as this, we're going to have us a new guitar star from the Lone Star state.
A belligerent, muscle bound riff comes strutting out of nowhere, and Lopez confidently turns its beat over, under, sideways and down before big beat drums, and a slamming Hammond escort the veteran guitar slinger to the song's county line, and a chugging verse riff that suggests the possibility that there was a little bit of Judas Priest stirred into young Lopez's grits.
Lance has had the brand of guitar hero stamped on his hide for some years now, but producer Fabrizio Grossi has captured Lopez's
voice in a way that no one has before. There's power and supple phrasing - a Grossi trademark. The producer made what might have been last year's best sounding record, Leslie West's Grammy nominated Unusual Suspects, and he may be doing it again. This guy is a record or two from being the new superstar producer on the block, and the combination of his studio savvy (he's also playing bass here, and helping with the songs and arrangements) and Lopez's time tested musicianship indicate that this album may be the big one that finally proves what Band of Gypsys drummer and Lopez band mate Buddy Miles suggested when he said:
"When we are onstage together I get chills because Lance reminds me of someone I used to play with a long time ago."
Yesterday I asked Fabrizio Grossi what drew him to Lopez - he answered, "Billy F. Gibbons told me about Lance. How can I not listen to The Reverend?"
Stay tuned - these fellows have a great deal more work to do, but if this tune is any indication, we're in for a great record.
