Album Review — Jeff Scott Soto
Jeff Scott Soto — The Duets Collection, Volume 1
Jeff Scott Soto has had a long and distinguished career and he’s still as active as ever. It’s hard to keep up with all of the projects he is involved in. His latest release should help with that. Soto has re-recorded eleven of his greatest hits across all of his projects and has invited a different vocalist to duet with him on each track.
The list of vocalists is super impressive. It’s a who’s who of melodic hard rock. It’s a unique and fun twist on a greatest hits compilation.
Eclipse vocalist/guitarist and W.E.T. bandmate Erik Martensson kicks things off on “Livin’ The Life”. It’s actually one of the tracks that’s a little disappointing. I feel like Martensson would have been a better fit for a different track. But it’s still a good track and it’s always great to hear anything with Martensson on it.
Dirty Shirley vocalist and new Whitesnake keyboard player Dino Jelusick guests on the Yngwie Malmsteen track “Don’t Let It End”. Jelusick is a good fit for the heavier track.
Eric Martin guests on the Talisman track “Mysterious”. The track has a Mr. Big sound to it already so Martin is the perfect selection for this one. It’s one of the better duets as the two trade vocals throughout the track.
Inglorious vocalist Nathan James guests on the JSS solo track “Believe In Me”. It’s a very Journey sounding track which James handles quite well. An album highlight.
Speaking of Journey, former Journey and Soul SirkUS bandmate Deen Castronovo guests on the Soul SirkUS track “Coming Home”. The track has an old school Journey vibe to it so of course Castronovo is a great fit here as well.
Alirio Netto is a vocalist I’m not familiar with. He guests on the Talisman track “I’ll Be Waiting” and sounds good.
It’s good to hear Eyes get some love as Russell Allen gets the call and is a great selection. I’m a big fan of the Eyes record and although there are songs I prefer more on that record, it’s nice to see a track included.
I’m not familiar with the Talisman track “Colour My XTC” or vocalist Renan Zonta but both are pretty good but not my favorite on the record.
Soto’s time with Axel Rudi Pell is represented with another vocalist from the band in Johnny Gioeli as they duet on “Warrior”. I’m sure Gioeli has sung this song a bunch so it’s a natural fit for him.
I’m not very familiar with BJ from SOTO or Mats Leven on the last two tracks but they both do a nice job.
I do like the concept here by not just giving us a greatest hits record but taking the time to both re-record the tracks and bring in some quality vocalists for each track. The top four or five tracks make this package worth picking up.
I’m not going to give this release a rating as there are no new songs here, but any JSS fan should really enjoy this re-imagining of some of his classic songs over his career.
Track Listing
01. Livin’ The Life (ROCK STAR) with Erik Mårtensson (ECLIPSE/W.E.T.)
02. Don’t Let It End (YNGWIE MALMSTEEN) — with Dino Jelusick (TRANS-SIBERIAN ORCHESTRA)
03. Mysterious (TALISMAN) — with Eric Martin (MR. BIG) *
04. Believe In Me (JSS) — with Nathan James (INGLORIOUS) *
05. Coming Home (SOUL SIRKUS) — with Deen Castronovo (REVOLUTION SAINTS, ex-JOURNEY) *
06. I’ll Be Waiting (TALISMAN) — with Alirio Netto (SHAMAN, QUEEN EXTRAVAGANZA)
07. Callin’ All Girls (EYES) — with Russell Allen (SYMPHONY X, ALLEN/LANDE) *
08. Colour My XTC (TALISMAN) — with Renan Zonta (ELECTRIC MOB)
09. Warrior (AXEL RUDI PELL) — with Johnny Gioeli (HARDLINE, AXEL RUDI PELL)
10. Holding On (JSS) — with BJ (SOTO, SPEKTRA)
11. Again 2 B Found (HUMANIMAL) — with Mats Levén (CANDLEMASS, TRANS-SIBERIAN ORCHESTRA)
*Best Songs