8 out of 10

When most bands release a live album, it feels like a stopgap, sounds like a bootleg and sinks like a stone. When New York blues guitarist Joe Bonamassa releases one - and you might even call it two, given the double - disc format of Live From Nowhere in Particular - it feels right and proper, like a bona fide journeyman reporting back from the front line. Written in blood, sweat and tears, and documenting a decade on the road, the sleeve notes bolster this impression. Live is where Bonamassa comes alive.

The first thing that hits you is the sound, with the full-bodied blues of Bridge To Better Days bearing little resemblance to the watery retreads that fill lesser live collections. This is no accident ; rather, it’s partly down to Bonamassa’s recruitment of Kevin Shirley , whose sound wizardry brought 2003’s Led Zeppelin DVD so thrillingly to life, and who is equally adept here on the bombast of Another Kinda Love as emotive ballads like Sloe Gin and One Of These Days (the guitarist concurs these last two “came out awesome”). Sonically, it has the fireworks of Alive - and none of the cheating.

But let’s not give Shirley too much credit. He has merely bottled the power of Bonamassa’s best touring band to date, and a setlist of songs that lend further credibility to the Stevie Ray Vaughan comparisons, At just 31 Bonamassa is old enough to tip his hat to the blues masters - he cites such legends as BB King, Robert Johnson and Muddy Walters - but still young enough to drag all of their influences in a contemporary direction. “Let’s have some fun, shall we?” he shouts before launching the mental acoustic workout of Woke Up Dreaming - and it’s typical of his scattershot musicianship, which moves seamlessly from chunky rock riffing (principally on Disc One) to stripped back Disc Two highlights like High Water Everywhere and Ball Peen Hammer. Unifying this split personality is Bonamassa’s sandblasted vocal delivery and those unbelievable guitar chops.

They’re calling him the future of blues, but they’re wrong - Joe Banamassa is the present; so fresh and of this time that he almost defines it. And if you can’t catch him live, then this is the very next best thing.