It goes without saying that Jeff Scott Soto is one of the best hard rock vocalists on the planet. He has an impressive resume, playing with bands like Journey, Talisman, Yngwie Malmsteen and most recently W.E.T., but over the last few years, he has been focussing on his solo career.
Jeff has just released a new live recording (Live at Firefest) from a show he did at the Firefest Festival in the UK back in 2008. This show pre-dates the release of his last solo CD Beautiful Mess. If you recall, his last solo CD was a departure from his melodic hard rock roots, and was more soul and funk oriented. You would not have known that, had you not heard it yet, because on this disk, the songs are heavier and more alive than on the studio recordings.
Live at Firefest is a stellar performance by Jeff and his excellent band. The band is made up of long time partners guitarist Howie Simon and bassist/guitarist Gary Schutt. Simon and Schutt do their best to steal the show at times, but Soto's vocals are so strong that they don't get away with it. The set list is comprised by several songs from the Beautiful Mess record, and that is not a bad thing. Tracks like 21st Century, Testify and Mountain come alive in this recording. The songs sound much heavier and go over really well live. Jeff also re-visits some classics from his solo catalog.
There is not much represented from previous bands, with the exception of the cover of Seal's Crazy that Jeff did with Talisman. It would have been cool to hear him pull out a Talisman tune or even a Soul Sirkus track, but even though they are absent, this CD stil rocks. All in all solid! The best live CD I have heard in quite some time. Essential for JSS fans.
Bottom Line: Jeff Scott Soto proving that he is still one of the best hard rock vocalist out there. Jeff and the badn sound amazing on this one. For any of you that weren't too jazzed about Beautiful Mess, then check this one out, because the songs sound much better in a live setting.
Standout Tracks: 21st Century, Testify, Eyes of Love and Crazy.
-Ragman wishes Jeff would play the states.