Talisman started life as a studio project assembled by bassist Marcel Jacob in 1988 as Midnight Blues.

For these answer please check it out the Singles and Promo Page, here.

Early Talisman unreleased recordings of high charged Melodic Rock boasted such high ranking Swedish vocalists as Goran Edman, of Yngwie Malmsteen and Madison repute, Thomas Vikström from Candlemass and Chris Lancelot of Grace.

For these answer please check it out the Now and Past Talisman's Line Up page, here.

The original mixing was done by Mats Lindfors but Marcel Jacob was unhappy with the result. The Japanese were hurried, having planned their release date, and opted for the original mix. The European version is therefore a remix.

In an attempt to get Talisman distribution in South America, the track "All + All" (from Humanimal) was recorded in Spanish, and a limited number of CD singles were sent out to Spanish radio stations in Europe and South America. You can read more here.

There was some contractual problems for Talisman, deals that had to run out. Jeff also had the great disco cover band gig, Boogie Knights, which took a lot of his time. So we decided to do something not so serious and try to be progressive, and take a look in the rear view mirror so to speak, use all the inspirations and influences of our past.

It was never meant to be more. But also because the label, Z Records, ripped us off! Add to that, me (Marcel Jacob) and Pontus Norgren, the other principal writer for the band, had a falling out for a while.

It started with an idea Pontus Norgren had. He was sitting in his home studio and called me to ask me if we should make an album together. This was sometime in 2000. I agreed and got in touch with Mark Alger at Z Records in England. "Do you have any songs?", he asked. "No", I replied. "What are you going to do then?" Alger continued. I said "a hard rock album". He agreed and from the beginning it was going to be some sort of concept album with different vocalists like Leif Sundin , Jeff Scott Soto and Mats Levén . In the end Jeff Scott Soto agreed to do the whole album, and then we put the original vision on ice.

The first self titled studio album was recorded primarily as a duo of Marcel Jacob and Jeff Scott Soto and benefited from the inclusion of guitarists Christopher Stahl and Mats Lindfors. Additional musicians included keyboard player Mats Olausson and drummer Peter Hermansson. Although initially financed by Elektra Records the album surfaced through Airplay Records.

In 1992 when Talisman signed with Dino Records (now named Empire Records) they bought the Talisman 1st Record master and released an re-issue with 6 live track. This same issue was released again this time in Japan for Pony Canyon Records.

Also you can find a 2002 re-issued by Frontline Records in Brazil and GMR Music Sweden with a bonus CD with demo and live tracks.