by Alexandra Mrozowska
— Senior Columnist —
As the old adage goes – be careful what you wish for… When Hardrock Haven had a privilege to catch up with Jeff Scott Soto in January 2021, one of the things we discussed was a future possibility of him recording and releasing a duet album. At the time, it seemed to be a perfect ‘what-if’ kind of question – one of those us pesky journos keep on asking to our guests’ terror. Little did we know that mere months after we’ve vaguely mentioned an idea of JSS sharing the microphone with some fellow artists, the artist’s social media will be flooded with a set of hints and clues that eventually led to the duet album announcement. Talk about the crystal ball vision… It was the first week of October when Jeff Scott Soto’s The Duets Collection, Vol. 1 hit the shelves – a ‘greatest hits’ compilation with a twist, a handful of JSS classics in original arrangements reprised as duets with the likes of Erik Mårtensson (Eclipse, W.E.T.), Dino Jelusick (ex-Animal Drive, Dirty Shirley), Eric Martin (Mr. Big), Johnny Gioeli (Hardline, Axel Rudi Pell), BJ (SOTO, Spektra) and more.
In terms of the tracklist, The Duets Collection it’s less than fifty minutes of the listening experience equal to crate digging in your favorite little record store. With a plethora of musical shades and nuances to JSS career, many are brought up here – from the neoclassical vibe of the early Malmsteen epic (“Don’t Let It End”) through Melodic Rock swagger of Eyes and early Talisman (“Callin’ All Girls”, “I’ll Be Waiting”, “Colour My XTC”, “Mysterious”) to more contemporary Hard Rock cuts (“Again 2 B Found”, “Livin’ the Life”). But there’s one common denominator for them all – the level of songwriting craft of each of the songs was simply top-notch at the time they were conceived, and unsurprisingly, these melodies do stand the test of time.
There’s little chronology and even less philosophy to this album beyond Jeff Scott Soto getting together for a singalong of sorts with a dozen of his fellow singers. Each of the invited does bring his instantly recognizable singing manner to the table, though, tones and styles ranging from fierce and raspy (Dino Jelusick in “Don’t Let It End”, Mats Levén in “Again 2 Be Found”) to mellow and sweet (Deen Castronovo in “Coming Home”). As far as the instrumental performances go, there’s some big shoes to fill – from Yngwie Malmsteen’s and Axel Rudi Pell’s larger-than-life shredding style to musical complexity of Talisman and Humanimal – but the guitarists Jorge Salan (solo, SOTO), Howie Simon and Leo Mancini, as well as the rhythm section of Tony Dickinson (bass) and Edu Cominato (drums) all rise up to the challenge. But once you realize there was even a bigger challenge present here – this of revisiting your entire singing career and putting your voice against those of others, sometimes decades younger – it becomes obvious there’s many impressive vocalists on this album, but only one star singer.
“I’m just keeping all these options open,” said Jeff Scott Soto in January 2021 while interviewed for HRH. “I’m just blessed that I have a career where people wanna see me continue singing and they wanna see me dueting with other people that I love and respect.” The impression of mutual respect among all the artists involved is indeed what shines through the album, each singer given enough space to give a fair showcase of his skills while also staying true to the songs’ original versions. Far more than just a dull ‘best of’ album one could regurgitate with ease, The Duets Collection, Vol. 1 takes you for a journey through almost four decades of Jeff Scott Soto’s music career only to remind you the reasons why many of these songs became cult classics in the first place. And while it leaves you thirsty for a Vol. 2, which might or might not grace our record collection sometime in the future, don’t be fooled into thinking one of the most prolific artists of our time is just about to rest on his laurels. There’s some new solo material in the works – and probably a lot more than just that… After all, there’s nothing certain in this world but three things – death, taxes and quality music from JSS, and in the case of the latter, as they say, sky is the limit.
Genre: Melodic Hard Rock
Band:
Jeff Scott Soto – Vocals and Keys
Edu Cominato – Drums
Tony Dickinson – Bass
Jorge Salan – Guitars
Howie Simon – Guitars
Leo Mancini – Guitars
Additional vocal performances by:
Erik Mårtensson (Eclipse/W.E.T.)
Dino Jelusick (Animal Drive)
Eric Martin (Mr. Big)
Nathan James (Inglorious)
Deen Castronovo (Revolution Saints, Journey)
Alirio Netto (Shaman, Queen Extravaganza)
Russell Allen (Symphony X, Allen/Lande)
Renan Zonta (Electric Mob)
Johnny Gioeli (Hardline, Axel Rudi Pell)
BJ (SOTO, Spektra)
Mats Levén (Candlemass)
Tracklisting:
1. Livin’ The Life (ROCK STAR) feat. Erik Mårtensson
2. Don’t Let It End (YNGWIE MALMSTEEN) feat. Dino Jelusick
3. Mysterious (TALISMAN) feat. Eric Martin
4. Believe in Me (JSS) feat. Nathan James
5. Coming Home (SOUL SIRKUS) feat. Dean Castronovo
6. I’ll Be Waiting (TALISMAN) feat. Alirio Netto
7. Callin’ All Girls (EYES) feat. Russell Allen
8. Colour My XTC (TALISMAN) feat. Renan Zonta
9. Warrior (AXEL RUDI PELL) feat. Johnny Gioeli
10. Holding On (JSS) feat. BJ
11. Again 2 B Found (HUMANIMAL) feat. Mats Levén (Candlemass)
Label: Frontiers Music SRL
Hardrock Haven rating: 9/10
Visit Jeff Scott Soto online: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | YouTube
Watch the official videos off Jeff Scott Soto’s TheDuets Collection, Vol. 1:
“Coming Home” feat. Deen Castronovo
“Don’t Let It End” feat. Dino Jelusick
“I’ll Be Waiting” feat. Alirio
