Jeff Scott Soto has been busy throughout the lock down with a couple of albums, firstly with ‘Wide Awake (In My Dreamland) in 2020 which was followed by ‘The Duets Collection – Vol.1’ in 2021 and now his new album ‘Complicated’ which has recently been released. Jeff is a legend in his own right having been a front man for 4 decades , having started out with his career with Yngwie Malmsteen recording the 1st 2 albums for him and with such classic songs like ‘I am A Viking’, ‘I’ll See the light Tonight’.
Jeff has been involved with various projects and bands such as: Eyes, Talisman, Axel Rudi Pell, Human Clay, Humanimal, W.E.T., and even Journey as a touring singer and most recent band Sons of Apollo with Mike Portnoy, Billy Sheehan, Derek Sherinian, and Bumblefoot.
No only has Jeff been involved with the above bands he has also appeared on various albums doing guest vocals as well as been backing vocalist for Tran Siberian Orchestra, a very popular band put together by members of Savatage. He is one of the top melodic metal singers that have inspired so many new and up and coming singers.
I have to say besides the Yngiwe material I love the Talisman material, especially the 1st 2 albums which are cult classics. Jeff certainly has the perfect voice for melodic rock and metal as well as the A.O.R. style of Rock and now he’s branched out into the Progressive Metal scene with Sons of Apollo. Born in 1965 originally from Puerto Rico, Jeff moved to the U.S. in the late 70’s, early 80’s.
Jeff’s voice has become stronger throughout the years and this is a fine example of what to expect from a truly fine vocalist that stands out from many of the singers out there. His is more known for his Hard Rock/ Melodic AOR music and this new album is one of those albums.
With over 60 albums under his belt this really does say a lot about such a fine melodic voice, and this album was produced by Alessandro Del Vecchio who also plays the bass and keyboards on the record. Alesssandro is mainly known for his work as a musician working with Hardline, Jorn, Voodoo Circle, Edge of Forever and many more acts. So having Alessandro on bass and keyboards on this record really does help as he is becoming a well known producer these days.
The albums also features guitarist Fabrizio Sgattoni known for his work with Sacred Hell and Battle Ram ( 2 bands I need to check out) as well as his work with previous Soto albums, what a great guitarist, along with drummer Edu Cominato to complete this new album.
The album comes with 11 melodic Hard Rock/ Metal songs that any fan of Jeff’s previous work will certainly love this album. Songs that you need to hear are: Last to Know, Disbelieving, Home Again, Love is the Revolution, Complicated, Don’t look Back, New Horizons, Back to the Beginning, for me are the strongest songs. A great album for any fan of Jeff’s work, nice melodic music and vocals here.