Jeff Scott Soto was ready to call it quits with The Boogie Nights as doing some solo work was starting to appeal to him as it had been years since his debut solo album. He thought about signing with Z-Records, but due to the problems with his band Humanimal, that was quickly nixed. He wound up with an Italian label called Frontiers Records. The deal included re-releasing his debut solo album ‘Love Parade’ as well as new material which was already in the works and would be released in late 2002.

I am not sure the actual release date of this E.P., but I am guessing it is prior to the album. The E.P. consists of the first single from his upcoming solo album ‘Prism’ called “Holding On”. It also includes a previously unreleased track and 2 live songs plus a re-release of a song from his debut solo album ‘Love Parade’. It is a great E.P. to have.

“Holding On” was the first single off his new album, ‘Prism’. The song shows the softer side of Soto as it opens with keyboards and then he joins in and sings so heartfelt and tenderly. As the full band kicks in the song picks up momentum and turns in to a sort of power ballad. It has some great harmonies, some nice guitar work and overall is a great showcase for his vocals. If there is something he does well and that is a power ballad.

The second track on the E.P. was previously unreleased and is a cover of Journey’s “Send Her My Love”. With this song, you see why Neal Schon worked with Jeff and brought in him to sing with Journey for a brief time. Soto’s range is amazing and there are not too many that can hold their own singing a Steve Perry song, but he does a stellar job. When I heard this song back in 2002, I think it helped cement my passion for his music. His vocals are so smooth and slick and his range is incredible as those high notes are flawless. An amazing job.

The next two tracks were taking from Jeff’s performance at The Gods Festival in 2002. At the time of this release, that performance was yet to be released so these were exclusive for a few short months. The first was the Humanimal song “Again 2 B Found” and live he plays it even heavier than it was on the album. It isn’t as crisp and clean as the studio track and it shouldn’t be as it is live, but Jeff still sounds amazing. He can hit the notes live as well as the studio.

The second track from the Gods Festival is the song from the Rock Star Soundtrack where he sang as the lead singer for Steel Dragon. The song is the rock anthem “Stand Up” and live it is also even heavier and packs a wallop of a punch. It is full on heavy metal. The crowd really freaks out hearing this song as it is a crowd-pleaser. His scream at the beginning it freaking awesome. It is a fist pumping, foot stomping banger of a track. Again, Jeff nails this one.

The fifth song on the album is from his debut solo album ‘Love Parade’. The song is “4 U”. One of Jeff’s idols is Prince and he goes full on Prince-mode with “4 U”. It is a ballad that sounds like an old school R&B track but with the whole thing sang as Prince when he does that falsetto. Jeff also has some sultry speaking lines thrown in to turn it in to a sexy and sultry track and I swear at times it sounds like Prince singing. This is another track from his former band Slam.

The bonus on this CD is if you play it on your computer you get the music video for the song, so let’s put it here for you to see…

And there you have it. I’m not doing a Track Score as it is an E.P. and all is necessary. For an E.P., this is easily a 5.0 out of 5.0 Stars. You can now get the songs in other formats, but the collector needs this one. Thanks for stopping by.

UP NEXT: JEFF SCOTT SOTO – ‘PRISM’ (2002)

THE JEFF SCOTT SOTO SERIES:

1. Panther – ‘Panther’ (1986) – recorded in 1984
2. Yngwie Malmsteen’s Rising Force – ‘Rising Force’ (1984)
3. Yngwie Malmsteen’s Rising Force – ‘Marching Out’ (1985)
4. Kuni – ‘Lookin’ For Action’ (1988)
5. Kryst the Conqueror – ‘Deliver Us From Evil’ (1989) / ‘Soldiers of Light: The Complete Recordings (2019)
6. Eyes – ‘Eyes’ (1990)
7. Eyes – “Nobody Said It Was Easy” (1990) – 7″ Single – Bonus Edition
8. Talisman – ‘Talisman’ (1990)
9. Talisman – “I’ll Be Waiting” (1990) – 7″ Single – Bonus Edition
10. Skrapp Mettle – ‘Sensitive’ (1991)
11. Axel Rudi Pell – ‘Eternal Prisoner’ (1992)
12. Bakteria – ‘Deficate! Suffocate! Mutilate! Masturbate!’ (1992 / 2009)
13. Eyes – ‘Windows of the Soul’ (1993)
14. Talisman – ‘Genesis’ (1993)
15. Axel Rudi Pell – ‘The Ballads’ (1993)
16. Biker Mice From Mars – ‘Biker Mice From Mars (Soundtrack)’ (1993)
17. Takara – ‘Eternal Faith’ (1993)
18. Talisman – ‘5 Out Of 5 (Live in Japan)’ (1994)
19. Talisman – ‘Humanimal’ (1994)
20. Axel Rudi Pell – ‘Between the Walls’ (1994)
21. Gary Schutt – ‘Sentimetal’ (1994)
22. Jeff Scott Soto – ‘Love Parade’ (1994)
23. Axel Rudi Pell – ‘Made in Germany (Live)’ (1995)
24. Takara – ‘Taste of Heaven’ (1995)
25. Talisman – ‘Life’ (1995)
26. Axel Rudi Pell – ‘Black Moon Pyramid’ (1996)
27. Human Clay – ‘Human Clay’ (1996)
28. Talisman – ‘Best of’ (1996)
29. Axel Rudi Pell – ‘Magic’ (1997)
30. Human Clay – ‘U4IA’ (1997)
31. The Boogie Knights – ‘Welcome to the Jungle Boogie’ (1997)
32. Takara – ‘Blind in Paradise’ (1998)
33. Talisman – ‘Truth’ (1998)
34. ‘Rock Star: Music from the Motion Picture (Soundtrack)’ – Various Artists (2001)
35. Humanimal – ‘Humanimal’ (2002)
36. Humanimal – ‘Find My Way Home: Limited Edition E.P.’ (2002)
37. Jeff Scott Soto – ‘Holding On E.P.’ (2002)
38. Jeff Scott Soto – ‘Prism’ (2002)
39. Talisman – ‘Live at Sweden Rock Festival’ (2002)
40. Jeff Scott Soto – ‘JSS Live at the Gods 2002’ (2003)
41. Talisman – ‘Cats & Dogs’ (2003)
42. Jeff Scott Soto – ‘Lost in the Translation’ (2004)
43. Jeff Scott Soto – ‘Live at the Queen Convention 2003’ (2004)
44. Talisman – ‘Five Men Live’ (2005)
45. Soul Sirkus – ‘World Play’ (2005)
46. Jeff Scott Soto – ‘Believe in Me E.P.’ (2006) – Bonus Edition
47. Jeff Scott Soto – ‘Essential Ballads’ (2006)
48. Talisman – ‘7’ (2006)
49. Journey – ‘Live from Atlanta (Bootleg)’ (2006)
50. Jeff Scott Soto – ‘B-Sides’ (2006)
51. Redlist – ‘Ignorance’ (2007)
52. Jeff Scott Soto – ‘Beautiful Mess’ (2009)
53. Jeff Scott Soto – “21st Century” / “Gin & Tonic Sky” CD Single (2009) – Bonus Edition
54. Jeff Scott Soto – ‘One Night in Madrid’ (2009)
55. Trans-Siberian Orchestra – ‘Night Castle’ (2009)
56. W.E.T. – ‘W.E.T.’ (2009)
57. Jeff Scott Soto – ‘Live at Firefest 2008’ (2010)
58. Jeff Scott Soto – ‘Damage Control’ (2012)
59. W.E.T. – ‘Rise’ (2013)
60. W.E.T. – ‘One Live in Stockholm’ (2014)
61. SOTO – ‘Inside the Vertigo’ (2015)
62. SOTO – ‘Divak’ (2016)
63. Jeff Scott Soto – ‘Retribution’ (2017)
64. Sons of Apollo – ‘Psychotic Symphony’ (2017)
65. W.E.T. – ‘Earthrage’ (2018)
66. SOTO – ‘Origami’ (2019)
67. Sons of Apollo – ‘Live With the Plovdiv Psychotic Symphony’ (2019)
68. Jeff Scott Soto – ‘Wide Away (In My Dreamland)’ (2020)
69. Jeff Scott Soto – ‘Live and Loud in Milan 2019’ (2020)
70. Sons of Apollo – ‘MMXX’ (2020)
71. SOTO – ‘Revision’ (2020)
72. W.E.T. – ‘Retransmission’ (2021)
73. Jeff Scott Soto – ‘The Duets Collection, Vol. 1’ (2021)
74. Jeff Scott Soto / Jason Bieler – Live In Concert (2022) – Bonus Edition