MelodicRock.com - Interactive Melodic CD Reviews

Track Listing

· Eyes Of Love
· Heaven Knows
· Don't Come Easy
· Don't Wanna Say Goodbye (2)
· I Want To Take You Higher
· Holding On
· 2 Late 4 Goodbyes (1)
· Till The End Of Time
· How Long
· By Your Side (3)
· Don't Walk Away
+ Eyes Of Love (video)

(*) Best Tracks

Past Projects

· Eyes
· Talisman
· Yngwie Malmsteen
· Takara
· Human Clay
· Humanimal

Buy it if you liked:

Eyes - Eyes
Tyketto - Strength In Numbers
Talisman - Talisman
Jeff Scott Soto - Love Parade

Line Up

· Jeff Scott Soto: Vocals
· Howie Simon, Gary Shutt, Brian Young, Alex Llorens, Jay Michael, Mikos Scarbacci, George Bernhardt, Steve Acosta: Guitar
· Sam Isanogud, JSS: Keyboards
· Alex Papa: Drums
· Micael Scott, Antony Papa, Jay Michael, Doug McRoy, JSS: Bass

JEFF SCOTT SOTO

Prism

Frontiers Records FRCD129

· Produced By: Jeff Scott Soto
· Running Time: 51.22 · Genre: AOR
· Release Date: November 11 · Released: EU
· WebLink: Jeff Scott Soto · LabelLink: Frontiers

95%

Prism is only Jeff Scott Soto's second solo album, following the Prince influenced funk rock of Love Parade several years ago.
It's amazing that a man of Jeff's immense talent hasn't spent longer developing his own name, instead fronting several band projects.
While Jeff will always have Talisman, the time has come for him to develop his name as a solo artist and Prism is his first step.
And what a step to take - this album is classic Soto from track 1 to 11.
Prism sees Jeff return to his roots - AOR and melodic rock. Fans of one of Jeff's first ever bands Eyes, and their classic self titled debut will love this.
This is not a heavy rock record - it's a finely crafted selection of melodic tracks - rock ballads and uptempo AOR tracks, all set in a traditional melodic rock sound - reminiscent of classic late 80's/early 90's melodic rock, but with an updated sound and production.
This is Jeff's chance to show his melodic side. And with a voice perfectly crafted for moody, heartfelt rock, it's a great showcase.
With the exception of the cover of I Wanna Take You Higher, the album is entirely composed of Soto written originals.
It may have a softer sound, but that hasn't limited guitarist Howie Simon and guests to a background role. This is still a guitar dominated record, with plenty of memorable riffs, big solo's and even a few guitar shred moments.
Opening the album is the uptempo rocker Eyes Of Love. With Jeff's trademark howl, and a burst of guitar shred, things are underway.
This swaggering uptempo rocker has guitar all over it, with the verse typical Soto - solid and instantly hummable, surrounded by layered harmony vocals.
The September 11th inspired Heaven Knows is a more mid-tempo melodic track, leading in with piano and that big Tyketto/Heavy Bones style guitar riff flowing in and out of the heartfelt lead vocal. The verse is pure rock ballad, the chorus a big sing along anthem.
The mid-tempo rock ballad Don't Come Easy follows, again featuring a soft passionate vocal, this time supported by acoustic guitar. The track builds, with electric guitar and keyboards joining in. The chorus is straight from the American rock ballad anthem hand book - lots of vocals and instantly memorable.
Don't Wanna Say Goodbye is the album's first real ballad. This one is as hoped, a big piano led power ballad. The chorus is straight from the first Eyes record - lots of layers and harmonies. The song gets bigger and bigger and features quite a tasty guitar solo and some massive Soto vocals. A terrific ballad.
I Want To Take You Higher bring a break in style and proceedings. This heavy groove rocker features Glenn Hughes as a duet lead vocal. The guys sound fantastic together and the song rocks as hard as anything on the album, albeit, with a funky groove.
While the song is great - it certainly doesn't match the same vibe or style of the rest of the album.
Back to the vibe started pre-Take You Higher, Holding On is the lead single and is a big keyboard friendly 80's rocker. Jeff's vocals rule the track, which features some solid guitar shred and a solid harmony filled chorus, although there might have been better choices for first single.
2 Late 4 Goodbyes features an intro befitting an album opening track, with some background guitar soloing giving way to a very commercial uptempo rocker with harmonies all over it. Then the chorus - a huge melodic rock anthem that will see fists in the air and Soto fans wetting themselves. Helped by some classic keyboard parts, the song is very 80's, very commercial and very catchy. The song features some of the album's finest guitar parts and it gets bigger and louder and bigger and louder...love it!
It's ballad time again with the lighter-in-the-air uptempo ballad Till The End Of Time. A raspy, emotional Soto vocal leads the track, which features a load of guitar, plus additional orchestration.
To say the track gets huge is an understatement, towards the end there is a truly epic feel, with piano, guitars, bombastic production and loads of vocal layers. A true power ballad.
Continuing the 'big rock' feel of the last parts of the ballad, How Long keeps going. This is a big rock track that like the opening track is classic hard rock Soto. Another big classic melodic rock chorus.
Time to slow things down again, but with something a little different again.
There's not too many singers that can do these tracks, but Jeff is one of them. By Your Side is a fantastic 100% acoustic ballad that features some of the album's best vocals and harmonies. Using his voice as the main melodic force of the song, and a chorus of backing vocals for a sing a long chorus, this track is bound to be one of the album's most loved tracks.
Not to be confused with the Eyes track; Don't Walk Away is a new song that closes out the album much the way it has sounded throughout - a nice melodic rock ballad. This mid-tempo track starts slow and builds, with another solid heartfelt chorus.
An added bonus (just like the EP) is a pro-shot film clip for the track Eyes Of Love. Edited by Gary Shutt, the video is a worthy addition.

The Bottom Line

An essential release for all fans of Jeff Scott Soto and guitar driven AOR and commercial American melodic rock.
The production is tight and the mix is even. The production is not quite as sharp as this year's Humanimal album, but the layering of instruments and the awesome harmony vocals all but erase that thought.
This is a melodic ballad rock album filled with top notch songs and some great vocal performances.
If you were looking for Jeff to rock harder - there are plenty of alternatives, including a new Talisman early in 2003 and the Humanimal release.
Sundries: The running time is great - no sign of any fillers. I really like the artwork - a nice simple profile of Jeff, with good logo and colors. The track order is almost perfect - I might have chosen to place I Wanna Take You Higher towards the end of the album.

Additional Ratings

Songwriting

96%

Attitude

97%

Production

92%

Sundries

95%

29/05/06: Steve P - spowis@btopenworld.com
Rating: 96
This is a great album !

If ballads are your thing then it doesn't get much better than this.
Great tracks from start to finish, hard to find a stronger first four tracks on an album.....one of the best albums of the year..........tremendous !!

25/06/04: Guillermo - guillerperez@usuariosretecal.es
Rating: 93
Un buen album de aor intimista en el que sobre todo las baladas estan muy bien trabajadas.

17/07/03: Theo - oproglat@hotmail.com
Rating: 86
I am a huge fan of JSS,and i think that he is one of the best hard rock vocalists!!!I adore this album,but there are too many ballads for a hard rock artist..(By your side,'Til the end of time,Heaven knows,Holding on,Don't wanna say goodbye,Don't walk away)..Eyes of love and I want to take you higher are great songs,i didn't expect to hear "Eyes of love" in 2001.it's a hard rock anthem..Anyway my point is,why are so many ballads and only three rockers..JSS prooved that he was the perfect time to write an album full of uptempo rockers and maybe 2-3 ballads,an album that could have stayed in the history of hard rock..Still it's a great album essential for all the fans of melody..Buy it or die!!!

27/03/03: Freddy De Keyzer - freddydekeyzer@hotmail.com
Rating: 81
Finally time to review this. First I thought this was a monster, but now I have to admit it is not that strong as first thought. Still a good CD, no doubt about it, but nothing sensational at all. Jeff has a fantastic voice, but the material is not that srong. I also miss keys. There are keys, but not enough ! The Eyes CD 'Windows of the soul' and the first Talisman ware far better than this, which is a mix between hardrock and AOR. It's not a pure AOR CD. Jeff can better than this !

27/03/03: John Elway - megjimp@ida.net
Rating: 86
Is there a better rock singer than this guy? This is a really solid album with strong songwriting that showcase Jeff's voice. Great band too. I guess the only thing that keeps this from getting an "A" is the fact that there are just a few too many ballads for my taste. Otherwise this is top notch.

21/03/03: Laurent - jazzhard@hotmail.com
Rating: 90
Even though I would have welcome a more innovative approach - such as on "Love Parade" - I consider "Prism" to be a very very very good album.

I anyway like about 99 % of Soto's work. He's a brilliant singer and probably the most underrated vocalist of the last 20 years.

"Till The End Of Time" is a real masterpiece. Soto is a brilliant songwriter whose many influences are perfectly under control. He mixes them with his own vision to give the listener a rather original sound.

This guy should be (or have been) HUGE ! I said many times that if I were Brian May or Eddie Van Halen, I would not waste time to audition singers : I'd call Soto and BEG him to join my band.

11/02/03: koogles - endangeredcds@hotmail.com
Rating: 78
Good, but not essential. "2 Late 4 Goodbyes" is a standout, but I could do without all the R&B influence that is heavily felt throughout and most notably on the Sly & the Family Stone cover.

17/01/03: Daniel - seemann39@hotmail.com
Rating: 99
Great album! Jeff Scott Soto is one of my alltime favourite singers, since Rising Force days.
Mostly I love the stuff he did with Marcel Jacob (Talisman, Human Clay and Humanimal).
"Prism" is a fine album and it shows Jeff's versatility as a singer & songwriter.
If you like strong vocals and melodic rock, get this album.

28/12/02: Jonny B - froloth@hotmail.com
Rating: 97
This is an excellent AOR album from JSS. What surprised me was the music video for "Eyes of Love" which I didn't expect, not from a small-label, small budget album. A pleasant surprise nevertheless. I won't comment any further because I agree with what most others have already said. It would be a waste to repeat the same high praise and comments of others. Excellent album, and highly recommended by me.

26/11/02: Hans Cosyns - hans.cosyns@vt4.net
Rating: 95
It's a very good album. I keep on playing this album time after time. Nice structure, good songs, lyrics : one of the best.
But...Wy not 100% : When does Jeff knows what he wants. Ok, I know that he need to explore all his vocals on all grounds ; but for me it's long enough. So, please Jeff, stay with this band and go on further like this, because now you're on the right way to melodic rock heaven.
Congratulations with this cd and I can't wait for you to tour in Belgium once.
Bey.

21/11/02: Figge - anderssonfigge@hotmail.com
Rating: 90
I had very high expectations on this one. Talisman is one of my favourite bands and Jeff's got a great voice although not everything he has done in the past is great. Jeff does NOT disappoint me, or anyone else who loves AOR or melodic rock for that matter....I'm sure. The album sounds awesome with superb vocal harmonies and guitar playing. The production is very much in the vein of 80's hard rock/AOR but it suites the material.
Jeff Scott Soto's feel for melodies and vocal arrangements is absolutely top notch on "Prism". One minor point: The album could have contained a few more uptempo/harder songs. It's just a little bit too slow for me.

20/11/02: Martin Roberts - martin@mprobwerts.co.uk
Rating: 85
Songs are fantastic. My only problem and it's not a huge one, is the production. If only he had millions of $s to spend on the recording. Production just isn't up with the Mechas Urban tails and Harem Scarem albums over the last year or two. But still, it sound pretty good.

Great stuff!!

31/10/02: Kula - kulius69@hotmail.com
Rating: 82
Eleven great songs from one of the best voices in the genere. "Eyes of love", "2 Late 4 Goodbyes" and "How Long" are just amazing. But my big question is why there isn't more uptempo rockers like these ones? Don't get me wrong, all songs are great, but sometimes it gets a little boring with so many ballads. Can't realy compare this album with the first albums with "Eyes" and "Talisman". "Prism" don't even come close cause thouse are true classics, unfortunatley... But still, a great album!

25/10/02: ANDY COATES - andrew.coates3@ntlworld.co.uk
Rating: 99
AWESOME CD FILLED WITH KILLER TRACKS NOT A FILLER IN SIGHT BUY,BUY,BUY.YOU WONT REGRET A SINGLE PENNY SPENT ON THIS ALBUM OF THE YEAR

11/10/02: Todd S - toadsterama@msn.com
Rating: 100
To paraphrase the Who, Jeff Scott Soto's new album is meaty, beaty, big and bouncy! I've gotta hand it to Jeff, he has really outdone himself. Whereas on a few prior releases there were songs I may have skipped over here and there, every song on this album is a keeper. Jeff deserves all the success in the world. He busts ass, and the proof is in these grooves. This blows away Love Parade. The presence of Glenn Hughes is the icing on the cake. Also cool that one-time fellow Boogie Knight Doug McRoy is helping out on bass!

Cheers to Jeff, and to the fans that are smart enough to bask in the man's music.

10/10/02: Rico - rico@sirius-b.co.uk
Rating: 10
One of the finest albums I've heard in years. Proving Jeff not
only as a very versatile vocalist, but also a very capable
songwriter. There are some real epics here worthy of the highest
praise. "Don't Wanna Say Goodbye" and "Till the End of Time" are
true masterpieces. This album deserves to be heard by the masses,
and is a must for all fans of Melodic Rock.

Can't wait for Jeff to tour.

ADD YOUR OWN REVIEW! (Ratings out of 100)