The band W.E.T. consisting of Robert Sall (Work of Art), Erik Martensson (Eclipse) and Jeff Scott Soto (Talisman) was originally going to be a one off project. However, the success of their debut and the fun had by the three main guys has turned in to a band. With two albums under their belt, the band hit the road and for only their second show ever as a band, it was captured in video and released as both a Live Double CD and a beautifully filmed DVD. What we get is ‘One Live – In Stockholm’!!

Recorded on January 17, 2013 at a really small club in Stockholm, Sweden called the Debaser Club and the reason behind the small venue is interesting. The guys only were expecting less than 100 people and so they figured a smaller venue would still look full on camera. What they got was hundreds of people and they had to delay the show by an hour to make sure everyone got in that wanted to (and hopefully legally could for fire codes and all). The band’s second album, ‘Rise Up’, hadn’t been released yet, but it was about too so the band had 2 full albums of material to now draw from plus they few in several surprises along the way. And to top it off, the CD version of the show has two bonus tracks of previously unreleased songs from the last album. Now, there is absolutely no reason a fan of this band wouldn’t want it. A live show on 2 CDs, two bonus studio tracks and a DVD of the show…DAMN!! What is not to like about this release.

The show opens with the “Walk Away” which is the opening track on the debut. A great melodic rock track and the band sounds tight and fresh for the most part. Overall, there are some sloppy moments on the show because remember this is only the 2nd show they’ve ever done and it has been awhile since the last one. But these guys are professionals and have been doing this for years, so they make it work and work well. You get some fanciful guitar playing by Magnus Henriksson on the solo and Robban Back’s drums sound powerful and dangerous. The next track “Learn to Live Again” sees Jeff share vocals with Erik and what a great combo having the two together on the same mic. They band rips through a couple more rockers with the pounding “Invincible” the Journey-esque “I’ll Be There” before hitting their first ballad with “Love Heals” and Jeff really shines on this one. A real crowd pleaser and a great lighter moment (or flashlight moment on your phone).

After the song “Rise UP”, we get our first surprise of the evening. They start throwing in songs from the guys’ bands that make up the name of the band. First up is the “E” for Eclipse and we get Erik Martensson singing the kick ass rocker “Bleed & Scream” which is one of my favorite Eclipse songs. Then they play another screamer with “Bad Boy” who Jeff says is about Magnus and with that guitar playing I would say so. After another couple great melodic tracks we get to the 2nd surprise when Jeff pulls out the “T” portion with Talisman’s big hit “I’ll Be Waiting”. Now I will admit to this one being a little disappointing as it was mostly crowd singing along and Jeff wasn’t on point with this one vocally. To me, the worst part of the evening (but still not too terrible).

The second disc kicks off with another Journey type song called “If I Fall” and Jeff does let Neal Schon know what he was missing by letting him go from Journey. After the song “Shot” the band goes into another ballad and this one is really touching as it was dedicated to the late Talisman bass player Marcel Jacob, who only recently passed. The song was “Comes Down Like Rain” and it really tugs at the heart strings. Another stellar point in the show. Then we get the third surprise of the night as it is time for the “W” in the name as they do a Work of Art song and it isn’t just going to be Robert Sall in the band, they bring out the singer for the band Lars Safsund and they do the catchy as hell song “The Great Fall”. This was a cool surprise.

As we get closer to the end of the night, they bring out the big guns with one of my favorite W.E.T. songs “Brothers In Arms”. The song is melodic rock perfection with some great riffs, a contagious chorus and Jeff’s vocals are perfection. Then for the encore, they whipped out another Talisman classic with “Mysterious” which they did a better job of covering this one. If that wasn’t enough they ended it with what might be the band’s best song “One Love” and damn if they didn’t nail this one. What a way to go out for the evening.

Now, the CD version of the live show has two bonus tracks leftover from the ‘Rise Up’ sessions. First is “Poison (Numbing the Pain)” which totally rocks out with a cool opening riff then more blistering guitars throughout. The drums are powerful and hungry and what a damn freakingly good song. How did this get left off the album? Don’t know, but at least we got it now. Lastly, we get a ballad which the band always does great with. This one is called “Bigger Than Both of Us”. I can see why it was left off only because the ballads on the album are better, but this one is still one most bands would love to have. That chorus is the big payoff and Jeff’s vocals are stellar. Two great bonus tracks for this release.

BONUS DVD:

Now, I have the Deluxe Edition of the album and it comes with the entire show on DVD. Actually, there is a little more here then the CDs as they were edited down omitting a lot of the chatting between songs with Jeff and the crowd and Jeff and the rest of the band. But what is great about this is you get to really see the energy from the band and from the crowd. So many great moments. It was a small stage and a lot of guys up there, but they gave it their all and really delivered a high energy, exciting show. You can see the band is having fun which doesn’t always translate to a CD since you can’t see that. For me, I prefer “seeing” the show over just popping in a CD so for me, this is the real treat of this set. Don’t get me wrong, I love a live show on CD, but if you are going to give me a DVD, I’m pulling that out more so I can really see what the band is doing and what the crowd is feeling. That energy is why this so fun to watch. Lastly, there are two bonus videos on here for songs from the new album. You get “Love Heals” and “Learn to Live Again”.

Overall, another stellar live show from Jeff Scott Soto and especially great since it is with W.E.T. The band shows they were a band and played well of each other. There were a few sloppy moments and I didn’t care for their version of “I’ll Be There” since they didn’t play it as much as have the crowd involved. But those would be my only downfalls on the album. They definitely played the best songs of W.E.T. (so far) and the nice surprises of playing songs from each respective band was a nice touch. Especially when they brought Work of Art’s singer Lars out to do “The Great Fall”, that was really cool. Jeff live is almost as good as Jeff in studio, so live shows are always a must with him and this one is no exception. My Overall Score is a 4.0 out of 5.0 Stars. The Deluxe version is the way to go to get bonus tracks and DVD, all the things you want. Don’t miss out and grab a copy if you see it.

UP NEXT: JEFF SCOTT SOTO – THE AUTHORIZED BIOGRAPHY (2014) – BOOK REVIEW

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. 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 – ‘Believe in Me E.P.’ (2004
43. Jeff Scott Soto – ‘Lost in the Translation’ (2004)
44. Jeff Scott Soto – ‘Live at the Queen Convention 2003’ (2004)
45. Soul SirkUS – ‘World Play’ (2004/2005)
46. Talisman – ‘Five Men Live’ (2005)
47. Talisman – ‘World’s Best Kept Secret DVD (2005)
48. Jeff Scott Soto – ‘Essential Ballads’ (2006)
49. Journey – ‘Live from Atlanta (Bootleg)’ (2006)
50. Talisman – ‘7’ (2006)
51. Talisman – The Albums Ranked Worst to First
52. Jeff Scott Soto – ‘B-Sides’ (2006)
53. Redlist – ‘Ignorance’ (2007)
54. Jeff Scott Soto – LA Rocks Demo / Vinnie Vincent Demo 1988 (2008)
55. Jeff Scott Soto – ‘Beautiful Mess’ (2009)
56. Jeff Scott Soto – “21st Century” / “Gin & Tonic Sky” CD Single (2009) – Bonus Edition
57. Jeff Scott Soto – ‘One Night in Madrid’ (2009)
58. Trans-Siberian Orchestra – ‘Night Castle’ (2009)
59. W.E.T. – ‘W.E.T.’ (2009)
60. Jeff Scott Soto – ‘Live at Firefest 2008’ (2010)
61. Jeff Scott Soto – ‘Damage Control’ (2012)
62. W.E.T. – ‘Rise Up’ (2013)
63. W.E.T. – ‘One Live – In Stockholm’ (2014)
64. Jeff Scott Soto – The Authorized Biography (2014)
65. SOTO – ‘Inside the Vertigo’ (2015)
66. Joel Hoekstra’s 13 – Dying to Live (2015)
67. SOTO – ‘Divak’ (2016)
68. Sons of Apollo – ‘Psychotic Symphony’ (2017)
69. Jeff Scott Soto – ‘Retribution’ (2017)
70. W.E.T. – ‘Earthrage’ (2018)
71. SOTO – ‘Origami’ (2019)
72. Sons of Apollo – ‘Live With the Plovdiv Psychotic Symphony’ (2019)
73. Jeff Scott Soto – ‘Wide Awake (In My Dreamland)’ (2020)
74. Jeff Scott Soto – ‘Live and Loud in Milan 2019’ (2020)
75. Sons of Apollo – ‘MMXX’ (2020)
76. SOTO – ‘Revision’ (2020)
77. Talisman – “Never Say Die (A Song For Marcel)” – 7″ Single (2020)
78. W.E.T. – ‘Retransmission’ (2021)
79. Jeff Scott Soto – ‘The Duets Collection, Vol. 1’ (2021)
80. Jeff Scott Soto – ‘Complicated’ (2022)
81. Ellefson/Soto – ‘Vacation in the Underground’ (2022)
82. Jeff Scott Soto / Jason Bieler – Live In Concert (2022) – Bonus Edition