“Guitar Master Walter Trout Unleashes ‘The Outsider’ On Provogue Records” is the promising headline on the press release from this label. This shows us once again how big Walter Trout is these days. A man who spend the last thirty years or more touring the world to let us fans enjoy his music. Also a man who has been “loved and hated, accused and vindicated, packaged and presented for everyone to see” according to the lyrics from the autobiographical song ‘Welcome To The Human Race’. The first of thirteen self written tracks on Outsider. A slow tune with power chords to emphasize the meaning of the lyrics. The next couple of songs are mainly acoustic with some additional electric guitars and they set the trend for the majority of this album. Is there no power blues then? Yes of course, no Trout album without, one would say. Listen to ‘The Love Song Of J. Alfred Bluesrock’ and ‘Can’t Have It All’. This track reminded me of ‘Hoochie Coochie Man’ and specifically Eric Clapton’s version. Last song on this album is the power ballad and title track ‘The Outsider’. Walter still is a phenomenal guitar player and is accompanied by drummer Kenny Aronoff, bassist Hutch Hutchinson and pianist Jon Clearly. There are guest appearances by Skip Edwards en Samuel Avla on a Hammond B3 and harmonica virtuoso Jason Ricci. This is a genuine Walter Trout album and won’t leave any fan disappointed.