In 2011, Leslie West, erstwhile guitar god of Mountain fame, underwent surgery to have his lower right leg amputated after diabetes got the best of him. Rather than give up, West doubled down on his music, returning to the stage and the studio in no time flat. Still Climbing is the follow-up to that year’s Unusual Suspects and it’s nothing less than one of the most powerful records that West has ever recorded. Armed with new material (some co-written by his new wife), a remake of Mountain’s “Long Red” and a more than credible cover of Percy Sledge’s iconic soul ballad “When a Man Loves a Woman,” West has found his way back. Guests include Johnny Winter, Dee Snider, Mark Tremonti and Jonny Lang, but there’s no mistaking who the star is here.