This week, We are going to talk Harem Scarem. More Specifically, the 2019 release of the Frontiers Records release of the ‘The Ultimate Collection’ Box Set. The Ultimate Collection is a box set that contains 12 of their studio albums plus a collection of songs from early in their career as well as a disc of unreleased tracks. And to top it off, the studio albums include all the bonus tracks from those albums as well. That is a lot of music and there are 175 tracks in this set. It is Incredible!
So go check it out as it is live right now on YouTube. Thanks for stopping by and please click “Like” and hit “Subscribe” as it helps out the site when you do.
Do you know Inglorious? I am not sure enough people do, in my humble opinion. Fronted by powerhouse singer, Nathan James, Inglorious is a hard rock band (borderline metal) out of England that was formed in 2014. Through numerous line-up changes as Nathan cleaned house after the 3rd album was recorded but prior to its release (what, is he David Coverdale??), and again after the fourth, they are now back with a new line-up yet again…sort of. I say sort of because back is original bass player Colin Parkinson and man is he all over this album as he co-wrote the album with Nathan, he was the producer and that bass is the main focus on a lot of songs.
Along for the ride this time on the band’s fifth album, ‘V’, we have Guitarist Richard Shaw and Drummer Henry Rogers. There is also some Keyboard work with Tony Draper, but he isn’t officially a band member, he is actually the engineer and mixer of the album. Though the line-up has changed, Inglorious are still the same incredible band and maybe even a little heavier this time around. The one key element is that voice from Nathan James. There are not many people with his power and range. He is the one thing that sucked me in and kept me coming back for me. And now five albums in, Inglorious is getting better and better still.
I love it when an album opens with a song that is so explosive, so engaging and so freaking killer, that it sets the tone for the album and lets you know what to expect. With “Testify”, Inglorious have checked every box. That wicked bass line that opens things up and then right in to the nastiest guitar riff and powerful drum fills only to be accompanied by the great, powerful vocals is an opening statement that grabs hold and reels you in.
Do you know Inglorious? I am not sure enough people do, in my humble opinion. Fronted by powerhouse singer, Nathan James, Inglorious is a hard rock band (borderline metal) out of England that was formed in 2014. Through numerous line-up changes as Nathan cleaned house after the 3rd album was recorded but prior to its release (what, is he David Coverdale??), and again after the fourth, they are now back with a new line-up yet again…sort of. I say sort of because back is original bass player Colin Parkinson and man is he all over this album as he co-wrote the album with Nathan, he was the producer and that bass is the main focus on a lot of songs.
Tim Durling over at Tim’s Vinyl Confessions had me on his show and we reviewed their latest album ‘V’ which came out on June 6, 2025. So go check it out as it is on right now, July 28, 2025. Thanks for stopping by and please click “Like” and hit “Subscribe” as it helps out the site when you do.
As we now know as we have review five studio albums, W.E.T. is a culmination of some great artist including Robert Sall of the band Work of Art (The “W”); Erik Martensson of the band Eclipses (The “E”) and Jeff Scott Soto of the band Talisman (The “T”). All three bands are Swedish bands and all on Frontiers so it made it easy to bring these three guys together. Rounding out the current band are Magnus Henriksson (Eclipse); Jamie Borger (Talisman) and Andreas Passmark (Work of Art & Royal Hunt). All in some shape, form or fashion have been a small part of one of the three founding bands.
What started as a possible one-off project with Frontiers Records, the first album came out in 2009 and 16 years later we are now through 5 albums and one live album and a ton of great music. There is not a bad album in the bunch as ALL 5 scored a 4.0 out of 5.0 Stars or better. Not many bands can do that in my book. So, which ones are better than the others, let’s take a look.
THE WORST (NOT REALLY) – ‘APEX’ (2025)
I can’t really say this is a bad album at all because it isn’t. If I had any complaint it is the same as I usually give for any Eclipse album. And that is that the songs can be repetitive, the stylings are all similar with little variety, however, the songs are so catchy and hook-laden that you don’t mind in the end. As I said earlier, this is the sweet spot for Jeff’s vocals and my favorite style for him to sing. Erik Martensson’s fine song writing is on full display. How he can write so many great songs is beyond me with this and Eclipse. The guitar playing, the keyboards, the bass and the drums are in perfect harmony on these releases and they don’t know how to make a bad album. My Overall Score is a 4.0 out of 5.0 Stars. This is a brand new album so it could be a grower, but it is here because it doesn’t really offer anything new from the first four.
If it wasn’t for Jeff Scott Soto, I probably would’ve never heard of this band. Jeff isn’t in Eclipse, but he is in a band called W.E.T. which had members from Talisman, Work of Art and Eclipse. Through that connection, I went down the rabbit hole of Eclipse and lead singer Erik Martensson who was in W.E.T. Funny enough, he was the guitarist in W.E.T. and not the singer (well, with the exception of a few songs). And now I am a huge fan of Eclipse as a result of diving in to that said rabbit hole.
I have a number of their albums, but finally got a hold of their 2021 album called ‘Wired’. It was released on October 8, 2021, at least in Japan it was that date as that is the edition I have in my collection. ‘Wired’ was the band’s 9th studio album and has Erik Martensson on vocals, Magnus Henriksson on guitar, Philip Crusner on drums and Victor Crusner on bass. In Japan, the album was released on Avalon Records, but elsewhere around the world, it was on Frontiers Records. If you aren’t familiar with them, Eclipse are a melodic hard rock band out of Sweden and they understand how to deliver heavy rock anthems with gang vocal choruses, ripping solos and catchy, yet simple, lyrics.
Released on May 6, 2022 by Frontiers Records, ‘Complicated’ is Jeff Scott Soto’s 8th studio album. And like his last solo album, he partnered again with Alessandro Del Vecchio to help write and produce the album. He wasn’t the only one to return as Jeff also had his good buddy Edu Cominato back on drums and Fabrizio Sgattoni on guitar who were both on ‘Wide Awake (In My Dreamland)’. With the same basic line-up, you’d expect the same sound and you’d be right. It is more of the same, which in my opinion is not always a great thing. Although at times it feels like Talisman and sometimes W.E.T., it kind of all sounds the same, but there are some great moments. Let’s find out what’s what on the album.
The album kicks off with “Last to Know” opens and all is good. You get a hard rocking song with a great chorus, memorable moments and Jeff’s awesome vocals. Jeff’s delivery is powerful and the chorus is such a big payoff with great backing vocals. Fabrizio throws in some great guitar riffs and lays down a solo that is fast and exciting. An energetic opener that will get you moving and get you anticipating the rest of the album.
“Disbelieving” comes up next and there are some great melodies and harmonies, but I quickly lose interest as it is too cookie cutter and no real surprises. Left me a little bored and my mind started wondering and I’d forget the song was playing…never a good thing.
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.
The boys are back with their third album. The boys, of course, are Paul Laine, Bruno Ravel and Rob Marcello or more properly known as The Defiants. The band was brought together back in 2016 thanks to Frontiers Records. I was worried this was going to be a one and done, but thankfully that wasn’t the case.
I spoke with Paul Laine a couple years ago and I knew he was working on this album. And about 6 months later, when I was exchanging emails with him, he was coming up on his deadline to submit the album to Frontiers. He seemed a little stressed, but in a good way. This was around January 2022. I am not sure what happened, but the album didn’t see the light of day for another 18 months. I hope to talk with him again soon and I will make sure to see what was going on. Regardless, as of June 7, 2023, we have the new Defiants album and I couldn’t be happier.
The guys had worked together before in a band called Danger Danger, you remember them from the late 80’s and 90’s. The Defiants were made to recapture that 80’s rock magic and capture it they did. I will try not to be biased as I am a huge Paul Laine fan and I pretty much love everything he does and there is a reason for that…he is one of the best vocalists in the business and his voice gets stronger as he ages. He does not disappoint here either. In fact no one does. This is my album of the Summer and in fact, could wind up as album of the Year. Yes, I said it! And here’s why…
The album opens with a scorcher in “Hey Life” which is a massive anthemic rocker. And listen to that opening guitar riff…does it not sound like “Rise” by Extreme??? Which is wild as both albums came out on the same day. Paul’s vocals soar as he tells life to get out of his way. The drums are pounding, the guitars are a rip-roaring shredfest and the song makes a massive opening statement.
Jeff Scott Soto keeps cranking out the music whether solo or one of his many projects. This time around we are on Jeff’s 7th Solo album and it as with almost all his solo albums, it is on Frontiers Records. This time around he brought in a staple at Frontiers, Alessandro Del Vecchio, to produce, arrange, mix and master the album. He also helped with the songwriting and instrumentation as well. Wait, is this a Jeff solo album or an Alessandro album with Jeff singing? No, don’t worry, it is a Jeff solo album and that voice is on full display. And if you were around when this came out, you were excited because you were in the midst of the Covid pandemic and happy to get any album as so many bands were constantly delaying their albums in hopes the pandemic would end soon. But not Jeff. He was releasing albums and this one came out on November 6th, 2020.
The rest of the band on this album aside from Jeff and Alessandro was Fabrizio Sgattoni on guitar and damn he can play. Good friend Edu Cominato on drums who is also in Jeff’s band Soto so you know this musicians are top notch. And to make this album even more appealing, there is a bonus disc of Jeff’s digital only release (up to this point) Loud & Live in Milan 2019 which we reviewed last week.
The album opens with a solid rocker called “Someone to Love” and it blasts out of the gate with Soto’s soaring vocals in overdrive. The guitar playing by Frabrizio is to notch and with the accompanying rhythm section that drives the song home, you get a brilliant opener. The song slides in to “Mystified” with Edu slaying the drums and giving us a driving beat throughout. Jeff again sounds great and while the song is another rocker, it is a little forgettable and doesn’t quite go where you think it is. Aside from another killer little guitar solo, the overall song left me a little wanting more as there was no big payoff with the chorus or anything really.
Every year, I believe, Frontiers Records holds a festival with their artists getting up and playing a set. It was the Frontiers Rock Festival VI. It is a brilliant idea because they can take those sets and release albums or bonus material and it is all recorded at the same time so costs are cheaper. And fans are treated to a really great line-up and a great show each and every time. This particular Jeff Scott Soto was recorded at the 2019 show in Milan.
Fast forward to March 2020 and COVID hits. The world basically shuts down. No albums are getting a physical release, no touring is happening…nothing is happening. Frontiers does a brilliant move while waiting for the whole COVID thing to end, they decide to release a Jeff Scott Soto show digitally. And on April 27, 2020, we are greeted with the new album Loud & Live in Milan 2019. That date is signficant because it is the one year anniversary of the show which was April 27, 2019.
I was excited to have something because Amazon wasn’t going to be delivering much of anything as far as physical product, so I got this one. I will admit I was a little disappointed not having a physical product, but by November 6, 2020 that would change. Jeff finished his next solo album, ‘Wide Awake (In My Dreamland)’, and as a bonus disc, we were given this show on DVD, which of course I have. Now, let’s talk about this show since that is why we are here.
Jeff performed only a 10 song, 40 minute set, but what you get is worth every minute of your time. This a Jeff Scott Soto legacy set which is songs from through out his solo career with minor exceptions. The band is quite stellar as well as you get some SOTO regulars with BJ on bass, Edu Cominato on Drums and Leo Mancini on guitar.
2 Loud 2 Old Music 