Line Up: Jeff Scott Soto - Vocals , Marcel Jacob - Bass , Howie Simon and Freddie Åkesson - Guitars, Jamie Borger - Drums

Talisman celebrate their comeback with a fine live recording in support of their "reunion" record "Cats and Dogs".

Talisman's backbone is the two former Yngwie Malmsteen's Rising Force members; vocalist Jeff Scott Soto and monster bassist Marcel Jacob. On the last record Fredrik Åkesson returned to the band and along with former Treat drummer Jamie Borger Talisman sounds stronger than ever

With a back-catalogue of seven albums and two live albums plus various side projects these guys are experienced musicians and have always been well-known for their abilities on their instruments.

CD 1 features the complete show recorded at Mondo Club, Stockholm. The sound is clear and Talisman plays like a well-oiled machine. The addition of Howie Simon as extra guitarist really puts more body to the songs.

Howie Simon also sings backing vocals and while the backing vocals for Color My XTC are a bit rusty, the guys quickly gets warmed up and the backing for Skin on Skin is superb. In general the new material sounds amazing. Break it Down Again and In Make Believe from "Cats and Dogs" is among the highlights on this disc along with the crowd pleaser I'll Be Waiting .

The setlist from both performances is pretty similar, since all songs from the Sweden Rock festival gig is also played at Club Mondo. That makes the double CD lose a grade. The groovy If Only You Would Be My Friend from Talisman's "Genesis" album is only performed at Club Mondo.

Talisman also celebrates the local heroes Europe by playing one of their heaviest tracks Scream of Anger. Talisman ends the Club Mondo performance with a very odd choice, namely Ozzy Osbourne's I Don't Know. You almost doubt if its Jeff Scott Soto singing? His range is so unbelievable that it's sometimes hard to tell.

CD 2 is Talisman live at Sweden Rock Festival 2003. The sound is a tiny bit weaker on this disc. No need to go into details since RevelationZ Magazine was present at the show - so check out the concert review at this link. Please note that I mention Outta my Way in my live review, which WAS played at Sweden Rock 2003. However, something happened during the recording of the show cutting the encore Outta my way in the middle and therefore it is left out of the live CD.

You can't go wrong with this release if you like Talisman. This is an honest live recording showing talented musicians in their right element. Both performances can be found on Talisman's DVD "World Best kept Secret" as well.