Joe Bonamassa may not be pushing the blues genre forward, but his fans don’t care. His latest opus features 75 minutes of blistering blues-rock.

The CD comes with a DVD and features both his acoustic and electric bands. They contain the kind of rootsy imagery that has made Bonamassa a blues-fan’s favorite.

A fleet of Les Pauls through high-end amplifiers offsets the band’s unique chemistry. This top-tier ensemble provides exemplary accompaniment to Bonamassa’s impassioned singing and pitch-perfect vocabulary of licks.

Willy Dixon’s “Hidden Charms” and Muddy Waters’ “I Can’t Be Satisfied” mingle with Bonamassa’s “Dust Bowl,” and “Black Lung Heartache.” Bonamassa sings like an American Idol and plays guitar with the soul of Paul Kossoff – all proving that the blues is many things to many people.

This article originally appeared in VG‘s February ’16 issue. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.