Tag: Again 2 B Found

Jeff Scott Soto – ‘The Duets Collection, Vol. 1’ (2021) – Album Review (The Jeff Scott Soto Series)

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During the Covid Pandemic, Jeff had time on his hands since he wasn’t touring the world. However, that doesn’t mean he sat around twiddling his thumbs. Nope. Instead he decided to revisit some old songs. Now, he wasn’t thinking of doing another album like ‘Revisions’ and thank goodness for that. Instead, he re-recorded a bunch of his classic songs throughout his career and the twist was he invited a bunch of his fellow musical friends that could sing and do the songs as duets. And the line-up he has is second to none. They are some of the most exciting new melodic rock singers in the field and some that are legends in their own right.

He used a bunch of his bandmates and friends also to handle the music. Most of these names you will recognize if you’ve been following along on this series. He had Jorge Salan (guitars), Howie Simon (guitars), Leo Mancini (guitars), Tony Dickinson (bass) and Edu Cominato (drums). And let me tell you, they really brought these songs to life and made them sound fresh and more modern in some cases. These guys are playing songs by Yngwie Malmsteen, Axel Rudi Pell and Marcel Jacobs so they have to step up their game and let me tell you they do just that. The combination of this band, Jeff’s powerhouse vocals and these incredible guest singers actually surprised me with an album that at first I went…”really?”… but by the end I was like…”Hell Yeah!!”. The album came out on October 8, 2021 and continued his run with Frontier Records and what a run it has been. Enough chit chat, let’s get to the music.

The album opens with a high energy, bombastic guitar rocker called “Livin’ the Life” from the Rock Star soundtrack and what a way to open the album. Jeff had his W.E.T. bandmate, Erik Martensson, dueting with him and this one and if you’ve heard the W.E.T. albums, then you know what a lethal combo these two are together. This is not a song Jeff plays a lot, so what a pleasure to have this one covered and a sign of great things to come. If you were expecting an album full of ballads, you’d be so wrong.

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Jeff Scott Soto – ‘Holding On’ E.P. (2002) – Album Review (The Jeff Scott Soto Series)

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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.

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Humanimal – ‘Humanimal’ (2002) – Album Review (The Jeff Scott Soto Series)

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Back in 2001, Talisman guitarist, Pontus Norgren, was working on a side project with Z-Records label boss, Mark Alger. Mark envisioned a Talisman type project that would be very different from the normal Talisman material. It was thought to be a concept album with multiple lead singers including Jeff Scott Soto doing a few tunes as that was all he agreed to do. Pontus recruited Talisman bassist, Marcel Jacob, but the drummer was Thomas Broman who was not from Talisman.

Jeff signed on to do a few songs and said he was not a member of this band and was doing is at as a favor for his friends. Man, that sounds familiar (Takara and most of his early projects). And like normal, the multiple singer aspect didn’t work out and then Jeff agreed to do the whole album. This was basically a Talisman album with three of the four members, but it wasn’t that either. The biggest difference is the sound. This was a guitar driven album and much heavier than normal Talisman. In Talisman, you have Marcel’s bass front and center and the main focus, here, this is Pontus’ project so the guitar is the main focus. There are moments that feel and sound like Talisman, so any Talisman fan will love this album. But it is different.

The Humanimal name was chosen to mark the connection to Talisman, but at the same time to say that this is different, new and exciting. The album saw a release on January 2002, but it would end up being their last album together as this name. There were some shady dealings going on with the label and Marcel and Pontus ended up in a bitter dispute on royalties with Z-Records which led to bitter arguments between the two friends and as a result, the two parted ways. It was so bad, Pontus was now out of Talisman as well. Soto was planning on signing with Z-Records, but the royalty issue is rumored to have stopped him from signing with them as well. He would soon sign with Frontiers Records (which we will discuss on the next review). What started out as promising turned in to a total disaster…such is life in the Music Business!

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