Jeff Scott Soto is capitalising on his tenure with Journey. Last month I was reviewing the excellent W.E.T. release and this month we have a live CD of a concert in Madrid (a DVD is also available). JSS has been in the music business for more than 25 years. In that time he has fronted bands such as Eyes, Talisman, Yngwie's Malmsteen's Rising Force, Journey & W.E.T. He has also released 4 solo albums - Love Parade, Prism, Lost In Translation and Beautiful Mess.

 

Great as the recent W.E.T. release is, listening to this album has reminded me that what I miss from that album is the funky edge that Talisman had to much of their material. On this live CD that side of JSS gets a welcome airing, especially on the Funky Medley at the end end of the second CD with the medley including We Will Rock You/I Love Rock & Roll/Play That Funky Music/Jungle Boogie/The Roof Is On Fire/Brick House/Shake Your Booty/Kung Fu Fighting/Yo Baby Yo/Macho Man/The Right Stuff/Ice Ice Baby/Stayin’ Alive/Another One Bites The Dust/Walk This Way.

 

Before we get to that track, JSS takes us through an energetic performance of highlights from his career. What comes across is that JSS just loves to sing. This isn't about turning in reproductions of the studio recordings. It isn't even about perfect vocals - occasionally JSS's passion triumphs over vocal control. It is about engaging and entertaining the crowd.

 

The first CD has highlights such as "Our Song", "Testify" (complete with Iron Maiden ending!) and "Broken Man", but it is the second CD where the JSS & the band seem to have warmed up and really flourish. It starts off with the catchy "Hey" and the culminates with that funky medley mentioned earlier. I've talked about the funk and the rock, on the pop side we get covers of Seal's "Crazy" and Madonna's "Frozen". Talisman's version of "Crazy" from their "Life" album is a favourite of mine, but JSS over stretches himself in when he tackles the decidedly average to start with Madonna song. However, it is a very minor blip in a hugely entertaining album. Just listen to the crowd singing along to "I'll Be Waiting" to hear how much the they enjoyed the evening.