Talisman is no more since Marcel Jacob passed away in 2009. The former members of Talisman wanted Marcel’s legacy to live on and as a tribute to him and all he did for Talisman, they released a 2 CD compilation called ‘Vaults’. The album features demos from every person Marcel used to record demos for songs that wound up in Talisman. It includes Jeff Scott Soto, of course, but also has demos from Matti Alfonzetti (Jagged Edge, Skin, Skintrade), Thomas Vikstrom (Candelmass, Brazen Abbot, Stormwind), Stefan Berggren (Company Of Snakes) and Goran Edman (Malmsteen, John Norum, Kharma).
As we discussed earlier, Talisman stems from when Marcel was working with John Norum and as Marcel was prepping songs for that album, he had Goran Edman record the demos. Goran was also in John Norum’s band. Norum rejected the songs, Goran was offered a gig with Yngwie Malmsteen and now Marcel was left with all these songs and no singer. That is when Jeff Scott Soto was brought into the picture. Jeff was with the band Eyes and came and did the songs with Talisman as a favor to Marcel. After the album cycle was done, he was back in Eyes.
Then shortly thereafter, Marcel ran in to an old grade school pal, Matti Alfonzetti, who would join as the singer. They wrote and put some demos together for the label. However, there was some management change at the label and they didn’t care about the success of the debut album as it wasn’t their baby so Marcel packed shop and left. They shopped the album around and after six months of nothing, Matti decided to leave and pursue other things. Marcel was not deterred and kept shopping the demo around without a singer. Finally Dino Records was interested in the band with one big catch. They wanted Jeff back on vocals. They knew about the success of their debut with Jeff and they loved that sound. That wasn’t a terrible thing for Marcel. Marcel decided to reach out to Jeff and catch up. And within 3 weeks of that call, the two were together again in the studio to record the next Talisman album.
As far as Thomas Vikstrom goes, Thomas was the keyboard player for Talisman from 1990-1992. I am assuming that during this time, Marcel was working on songs and Thomas do the vocals. These songs never appeared on any Talisman album with any other singer so not sure if they were ever used anywhere else prior to this release.
Yngwie Malmsteen brought back his first three singers for his next album which was a tribute album of all the songs that inspired Yngwie to do what he does. The aptly titled, ‘Inspiration’, is his ninth studio album and was released on October 14, 1996. The album charted in Finland and in Sweden but nowhere else that I can find. It did go Gold in Japan selling over 100,000 copies. It has been reissued a couple times over the years, but my copy is the original Japanese released on Pony Canyon from 1996 with OBI strip and booklet written all in Japanese.
The singers on the album are Joe Lynn Turner, Mark Boals and the reason we are here, Jeff Scott Soto. If you remember after ‘Marching Out’ when Jeff left the band yet again, I told you he would pop back in the Yngwie Universe. Joe and Jeff get 3 songs each while Mark gets 4 on the album. Yngwie even handles the vocals on one song which give us the 11 songs in total. The Japanese Edition that I has a bonus track that gives us 11 tracks in total. The normal release of the album only had 10 tracks.
Surprisingly, there are no instrumentals for Yngwie to show off which I think is pretty mature of him. There isn’t a lot of variety as we get 5 Richie Blackmore songs with 4 from Deep Purple and one from Rainbow. We also are treated to 2 Jimi Hendrix tracks. The remaining 4 tracks are from Kansas, U.K., Scorpions and Rush. But based off these tracks, he was influenced by a lot of guitarists and bands so many others were as well. Who doesn’t love Richie Blackmore or Jimi Hendrix.
The album opens with a cover of Kansas and their hit “Carry On Wayward Son” and wouldn’t you know that Jeff Scott Soto is also first up with the vocals. The song sounds like it should, but the riffs you know from the original are not on here as Yngwie changes them to suit Yngwie. Even the solo is all his own. Jeff handles the vocals with no problem. There are great harmonies and Jeff stuck with how the song should be done. He saves the song from veering too far off the rails.
Joe Lynn Turner handles the reins on “Pictures of Home” which is a Deep Purple cover off ‘Machine Head’. Turner is an impressive vocalist so no issue with the vocals on this one. And this isn’t even his best performance on the album. The guitar riffs are fast, frenzied and frantic as only Yngwie can. If you only heard the guitar, you would never guess this was a Deep Purple track. Now, the Yngwie bass playing on this one is badass and one of my favorite parts. The ending of the song is a crazy keyboard instrumental with some guitar thrown in. Very cool and helped make the song better.
“Gates of Bablyon” has a killer opening with its Indian style sitar work and then when Jeff jumps in, the song is taken up a notch. This might be the best vocal performance on the whole album. He has that raspiness at times that really adds some texture to the song. At the same time, his vocals simply soar. He does Ronnie James Dio proud with this Rainbow cover. Yngwie’s guitar playing is over-the-top for the song, but still really smokes. I actually don’t mind it all. And his picking at the end, sensational. The sum of this songs parts are what makes it one of the best songs on the album.
Yngwie now takes turns on the vocals with The Jimi Hendrix Experience’s own “Manic Depression”. The groove on this one is simply sweet. Wrapped around that groove are little guitar fills that add some layers. Now, Yngwie isn’t the best singer, but neither was Jimi. I think he holds his own here and his guitar parts aren’t too flashy and actually fit the song pretty well. They keep great song is still being great.
I don’t remember the band U.K., but hearing the song, I remember it. “In the Dead of Night” sees Mark Boals get his first vocals on a song. The song opens with some keyboards, guitar fills and then a solid beat that propels the song forward. Mark’s voice sounds great. The higher pitched of the three singers. Very melodic and when he hits the chorus, they hit that sweet spot and sound so good. About half way through the song, we get the guitar solo and it is very tasteful and plays for the song. It is nice to see Yngwie play reservedly sometimes and show us that he isn’t one-dimensional.
“Mistreated” is the final of the three Soto songs and this bluesy treat sees Jeff pull out his best David Coverdale from the Deep Purple years. What I love is that they left the blues aspect of this song as it gets a little down, dirty and nasty with that riff. But Yngwie, being Yngwie, throws in some wild, extra-curricular riffs. And it works. The solo is not as restrained as the last song, but it isn’t over-the-top either. A nice mixture of both that still sounds like the original, simply some extra flair thrown in for good measure. Soto has no missteps on his three songs, even if I’m extremely biased towards him…it is still true.
“The Sails of Charon” is the only Scorpions cover and I the do keep to the feel and vibe of the original with the main groove, but the riffs are all Yngwie. Wild, crazy and blistering fast. Does that hurt the song? Yeah, it does a little as it is a favorite of mine as far as early Scorpions goes. Uli is missed on this one. Mark Boals is back and he is trying his best Klaus Meine and he does a great job. At times, he sounds a little like him. I might have preferred more of sounding like himself, but I’ll take it. The solo here starts off while Mark is letting a long, drawn out scream. Yngwie attacks the frets at break-neck speed. Flashy and wild. Not a bad song, but not the best on the album.
Yet another Deep Purple cover is upon us with “Demon’s Eye”. Joe Lynn Turner is back this time around. Man, what a voice he has. He seems to be the main focus on this one and I love it. The groove on this one is solid, as good as the original. The solo is again, tasteful. I do like it when he shows he can rein it in for the song.
“Anthem” is up next and we are finally to the Rush song. I’ve been waiting for this one. Anders Johansson is the drummer on this one (and all the songs) and let me tell you he does a great job. Not an easy one to play. The guitar playing by Yngwie is as flamboyant as he is at times. Some really cool effects and some pure mastery at times. Mark Boals is back and he is a chameleon with his vocals. He sounds so different then the last track he was on. Might be his best performance on the album here. The guitar solo is wildly entertaining and so Yngwie. The energy around this song is electric and another favorite on the album.
The final track on the original album is a Deep Purple song…go figure. This time it is “Child In Time” and has Mark on the vocals. A great opening on the keyboards by David Rosenthal to open the track. It was nice to see him not try to duplicate Jon Lord (can’t be done). Mark starts off with a reserved vocal before he goes all crazy and delivers the screams that this song requires. It is good, not Ian Gillan good, but Mark does a respectable job. I guess we should mention Yngwie as it is his album. His solo is what you’d expect some resemblance to the original, but lots of dashes of his style thrown in for flavor. The solo is long and explosive and so Yngwie. And sometimes, that is a good thing.
“Spanish Castle Magic” by The Jimi Hendrix Experience is the Japanese Bonus Track. Like “Manic Depression” it captures that Hendrix Experience sound. Joe Lynn is on vocals and does a respectable job. Yngwie keeps to the spirit of the song and throws in his style to make it his own as best he could. To be honest, I’m not a fan of any covers of this song. Ace Frehley tried to do it and I didn’t like that one either. It isn’t a bad cover, the song doesn’t do anything for me. But you’d probably like it as this is not my personal taste.
Track Listing:
Carry On Wayward Son (Kansas Cover) – Keeper
Pictures of Home (Deep Purple Cover) – Keeper
Gates of Babylon (Rainbow Cover) – Keeper
Manic Depression (The Jimi Hendrix Experience Cover) – Keeper
In the Dead of Night (U.K. Cover) – Keeper
Mistreated (Deep Purple Cover) – Keeper
The Sails of Charon (Scorpions Cover – Keeper(1/2 Point)
The Track Score is 9.5 out of 11 Tracks or 86%. I have to say, I liked this way more than I thought I would. I can see how Yngwie’s style can get tiresome, but he did hold back on some songs and let loose on others which kept it interesting. The songs themselves are all awesome so great song choices too. The vocalist? I mean you have Mark Boals, Joe Lynn Turner and Jeff Scott Soto, what is there not to like. They all did a great job. I think Mark has come in to his own, Joe is a legend and the most seasoned of the bunch and Jeff is nothing but sensational as usual. Rarely does he not sound good to my ears. Songs like “Anthem” and “Gates of Babylon” are worth the price of this album alone and the rest of the songs just make it that much better. My Overall Score is a 4.0 out of 5.0 Stars. Again, this one surprised me how much I liked it. And to get three songs from Jeff I didn’t have before, that is just icing on the cake.
2026 is upon us and it is always fun anticipating what new albums will come out in the year. Since today would normally be a Friday New Release post, let’s look at the new releases coming our way in 2026. There are quite a few we already know about, but some haven’t been officially announced or even a date set yet.
Last year, there were a few artist I was hoping would release an album that might have or might not have released one. It is always fun to hope for new music from these bands, but sometimes there are disappointments. Here are the ones I was hoping to get new albums from last year and what actually happened…
Def Leppard – It is time for The Collection Vol. 4!! Come on boys, give it to us!! Or a new album…whichever you want. Well – we didn’t get a new album, but we got a new live album with ‘Diamond Star Heroes’, but honestly their live albums bore me.
Kiss – I will keep this on the list until I die!! Time to start up more Soundboard LPs or another box set…give us something! We got a brand new Soundboard LP as well as 2 Box sets with Dressed to Kill and Alive!! Yes!! That is more like it boys!!
Guns ‘N Roses – Rumors, Rumors, Rumors!! Will we ever get a new album! – Still nothing, but we did get new songs…sort of…they aren’t really new as they are leftover tracks from Chinese Democracy with the current line-up…come on boys…do better!!
Aldo Nova – He keeps talking about a 2CD set for over 3 years and still nothing much, but will he get around to releasing the full Life & Times of Eddie Gage? I hope so. – Nothing at all from him in 2025 but he did mention a new album in 2026!! We will see.
Billy Idol – There are rumors of a new album and even Steve Stevens showed a test pressing..could it be??!! We got one!! Yeah!! ‘Dream Into It’ came out in 2026…I didn’t care for it too much so that is disappointing.
Okay, are there albums I want to see this year from some of my favorite bands that haven’t been announced or in some cases even rumored? Of course there are. These are the bands I want new albums from this year…but it might not happen.
Def Leppard – It is time for The Collection Vol. 4!! Come on boys, give it to us!! Or a new album…whichever you want. The new album has been hinted at so fingers crossed
Kiss – I will keep this on the list until I die!! Will we get another soundboard or any more box sets??? I hope so!
Aldo Nova – He keeps talking about a 2CD set for over 4 years and still nothing much, but will he get around to releasing the full Life & Times of Eddie Gage? I hope so. He has now mentioned something coming in 2026…I will believe it when I see it.
Creed – Will there be new music in 2026? Oh, please say it will be so! There have been rumblings and rumors…I think they will at least work on a new album in 2026.
Poison – We need a new album, but I don’t expect one. What I do hope we get is a 40th Anniversary Deluxe Edition of their debut, “Look What the Cat Dragged In”. That would be cool.
Guns N Roses – Will we get a full album. You know what, I don’t think I really care. The older I get, the more overrated this band really is!! Only one great album in their minuscule catalog.
Jeff Scott Soto – Now, Soto puts out a ton of albums every year. I would love a new solo album as it has been years. At the very least, a SOTO band album. But please, NO MORE ART OF ANARCHY! That was awful.
From what I have gathered around the internet, here are the bands that should have new albums out in 2025 or are rumored, but no dates announced yet. The ones I would give a try will be highlighted in Blue. The ones with Dates Announced are at the bottom of this post. The list is building up nicely!!
Some things Jeff has done that is so extremely rare, it is near impossible to find a copy. This is one of those for me. I would count this one as an official release as Jeff released this independently and sold them exclusively during his 2004 Tour for ‘Lost in Translation’. That is my belief anyway. Discogs has this listed as a 2003 release date. I’m not sure the 2003 date is correct as there are songs on here from the Queen Convention that was held in 2003 and not released on CD or DVD until 2004. I would be surprised if they were included prior to their release. With that being said, Jeff did do at least two shows in Eloyes, France as Nicolas Muller organized those two shows and supplied the pictures to this album as I don’t have it.
There are 9 songs on here and as you can guess from the title, they are all Queen songs Jeff has done over the years. You get live songs and studio versions. What you don’t get are anything that is exclusive to this disc. All these songs have been released previously so the only thing cool about it is that it is like a tribute album of Jeff to Queen. It is nice having all the songs in one place. And as a collector, it would still be cool to have.
“Let Me Entertain You” is the opening track and off the Talisman album from 1998 called ‘Truth’. It was Jeff’s idea at the time to cover a Queen song. He thought this song would be great to kick off a live show so why not record their own version. Well, they ended up letting it kick off the album. And let me tell you, it kicks off the album with a massive bang. They stay true to the Queen vibe, but it is all Talisman with Marcel’s thumping bass leading the charge. Soto does his best Freddie Mercury and kills it. A fun song to start it all off.
This week on The Collection, we are going to go through the favorites things I found during 2025. We will discuss my Top 10 Favorite New Albums, my Favorite Box Sets, my Favorite CD Finds and my Favorite Vinyl finds. We will also talk about two of my things that happened to me, music related that is. My favorite thing that happened my daughter getting engaged. Join me as we walk through some really cool finds…at least I think they are cool. Let’s get to it!
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.
During the early 2000’s, Marcel Jacob came forward and revealed he was suffering from chronic rheumatism and it would limit his live shows. By 2003, he must have felt up to it because the band played several festivals during that Summer and thankfully for us, a lot of those were recorded. ‘Live in Stockholm’ is the 4th live recording released by the Swedish-American band Talisman. The show was recorded at Club Mondo in Stockholm, Sweden back to August 4th, 2003. You have heard most of this show before as it was previously released as ‘Five Men Live’ back in 2005 which we talked about previously. It was also on the Talisman DVD called ‘The World’s Best Kept Secret.
This reissue was first released only on Digital back on August 17, 2015 and then during 2016, the CD was finally released. What is different about this release is that it was remastered and now include all 18 tracks. A full set and for the very first time the show includes ‘Here 2day Gone 2day’ which was left off the original due to time constraints. The CD set also includes the show on DVD which is also a nice plus if you don’t have ‘The World’s Best Kept Secret’.
The Club Mondo show kicks off with no introduction, just a killer guitar riff…a pause…and the same riff. The band goes straight in to “Break your Chains”. They rock it out and to keep it going they go in to “Color My XTC” which is a massive bass heavy track thanks to Marcel Jacobs. You get a great guitar solo, but that bass is thumping the whole time. It is a massive song. Jeff is in his element and sounds great (although backing vocals are a little weak). And no time for a break, “Fabricated War” comes roaring in and the heavy continues as they totally rock it out. More Marcel high in the mix and you know, he has to be as the Talisman sound is that bass!! And again, no break, no talking to the crowd as the belt out “Mysterious”. It is one banger after another and as a fan, just give me music, no talking necessary.
Jeff Scott Soto has played with some incredible musicians throughout his career, and this album sees some players that are beyond description. Octavision is the brainchild of Armenian guitar virtuoso, Hovak Alaverdyan, who wanted to put together music with Middle Eastern and Armenian folk musical sounds and styles into a heavy metal, progressive rock sound. I would say he achieved his goal with the release of ‘Co-Exist’. The album came out on December 29, 2020 in the States and in Japan was released on March 24, 2021 which is the copy I have complete with the precious OBI Strip.
How was Hovak able to create such a worldly sounding record? It was the amazing musicians he surrounded himself. And it is an impressive list to say the least. He had not one, but two bassists including Victor Wooten who is a master-class Jazz/Fusion bassist who has played with the likes of Bela Fleck and then rock & roll bassists extraordinaire, Billy Sheehan who has played with Jeff in Sons of Apollo along with Mr. Big and David Lee Roth. On keyboards, he brought in Murzo (aka…Ara Torosyan) who is an Armenian born cinematic music arranger.
Those guys are great, but he needed people to help capture that particular sound he was looking to achieve. For that, he brought in Avo Margaryan on the blul (which is an open-ended shepherd’s flute if you didn’t know…I didn’t) and Artyom Manukyan on cello. Not pictured in the album sleeve is another musician to help with the sound and that was Anahit Artushyan on kanun (I know what you are thinking..what is kanun…it is a horizontal harp, similar to a zither or dulcimer, I’m sure that helped a lot). And lastly, we need a drummer. For that task, he recruited Czechian, Roman Lomtadze, who is more than up for the task of beating the skins to make sure the rock & roll part of this band shined through.
I haven’t mentioned what Jeff does yet. Jeff, obviously, is on vocals. However, out of the 7 tracks, only 2 have vocals. So like his work with Yngwie, Jeff is here to add flavor to the music and although he isn’t on all the tracks, he is the only singer which is why I included this in the review series. If ‘Rising Force’ can be included, so can this one. And when you hear it, you will thank me for it as well.
October draws to a close, so it is time for the monthly wrap-up so lets see what 2 Loud 2 Old Music added to the collection this month. This is the October 2025 Wrap-Up and we have a little vinyl, a whole lot of CDs and even a book. Plus, I visited a record store…twice, ordered from Discogs, ordered from another record store online and went thrifting. So much to go through including a couple new Rock Candy CDs in the collection, Kiss and a Box Set rolled into one. Lots of great new and old stuff to go through and show for this month so I hope you enjoy the show!!
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Eyes only recorded two albums with Jeff Scott Soto…well..one studio album and the other was a collection of demos but we will count it. Jeff had departed the band due to creative differences, however, his popularity in Europe was growing. As like the ‘Windows of the Soul’ album, this too was probably released to capitalize on that popularity. This is an interesting release as it is a two disc set with the first being called ‘November Mass’ (basically a greatest hits compilation for the debut and ‘Windows of the Soul’) and the second disc is called ‘Full Moon’ that is a complete album for Eyes with a different singer, Mark Weitz that was recorded in 1992/1993. The 2CD set was released in 1994 on Bulletproof Records and it was only released in Germany & Switzerland yet thanks to the internet, I obtained a copy.
The first disc is ‘November Mass’ and is supposed to be a greatest hits compilation of the first two albums. Well, it isn’t…sorry. It is really only the debut Eyes album on a shuffle with a different track listing. There is not one song off ‘Windows of the Soul’. Yes, three songs appear on that album that are on the debut, but as demo versions of those songs. And those songs are not used here. These are the same tracks as the debut album. A nice thought to think it a compilation, however, that would be false. Does it make this album no good…not in the least. The songs are still great no matter the order.
The second disc is called ‘Full Moon’ and I think there is a misconception with this album. Jeff Scott Soto does not sing on this album except he does appear merely as a background singer. Jeff did record a handful of these demos as the were preparing for a new album. Jeff left the band before the album was finished so Aldy Damian removed Jeff’s lead vocals, while leaving the backing vocals, and brought in a new singer to record the album…in full. The new singer was Mark Weitz and he does an amazing job turning the final Eyes album into a very underrated classic. The band for this album was Aldy Damian on drums, Mark Weitz on vocals, Steve Dougherty on guitar, Jamie Sheriff on keyboards and Bobby Fraga on bass.
‘NOVEMBER MASS’ Songs:
The song opens with Jeff calling out Stevie who lays down so riffs and has Soto screaming when the band kicks in . “Walkin’ Fire” sees Soto change up his deliver a little on the lyrics as he gets a little more gritty. However, the song is a little generic and I would say probably filler. When you compare it to some of the early stuff, not as solid and developed. But still not too bad.
Next is the balls-to-the wall rock anthem, “Callin’ All Girls”. It is a great party song full of bluesy guitar licks, great harmonies, head banging drums and full on sleazy lyrics that wouldn’t do well in the #MeToo movement of today. Jeff’s vocals soar and is right in his wheelhouse of vocal capabilities. When he sings this type of music, he could sing the phone book and I would be on board. The production layers tons of backing vocals (all sound like Jeff) and the sound is immense. You get your typical guitar solo break and the catchy choruses, everything you want in a melodic rock song.
After Takara’s third album, The label decided to release a greatest hits compilation of those first three albums. Jeff Scott Soto was no longer a member of the band…okay…he was never an “official” member of the band even though he sang on three albums with them. Now that the band needed to search for a new singer, the label wanted to release this to hold fans over until that process was done. Neal Grusky’s search for a replacement would take a little while as their follow-up album didn’t come out until 2001 with Michael James Flatters as their new singer.
This compilation had 16 tracks and was released on November 18, 1998. If you have the Japanese Edition, you get two additional acoustic tracks as well which is always a plus. However, I think you get those two acoustic tracks on every edition so it isn’t that special…although I don’t think they were ever previously released. You also get the ever cherished OBI Strip along with a booklet with lyrics in both English and Japanese. As far as a breakout between albums you get 5 tracks from the debut, ‘Eternal Faith’, 6 from the follow-up ‘Taste of Heaven’ and 5 from the final Soto album, ‘Blind in Paradise’. The songs are in chronological order and even in the same order they were on the album so not much thought was put in to sequencing for this release. But it is a money grab, so what do you expect.
“Spotlight” kicks it all off and is the first of five tracks from ‘Eternal Faith’. It sounds like you are right back in 1985 with the keyboards and heavy guitar riffs. It is Bon Jovi meets Europe. The album sounds so dated in the 80’s which is not where the music scene was going in 1993!! It has the obligatory guitar solo and Jeff’s vocals have that higher register tone which was key for 80’s rock. The biggest problem is the keyboards are high in the mix and sound like crap. They have this crisp, clink, clink sound to them which I find rather annoying. But not too much that I don’t enjoy the song…more a production note.
2 Loud 2 Old Music 