CD´s Reviews
Release Date: October 20th, 2006
Line Up: Jeff Scott Soto - Vocals; Marcel Jacob - Guitars, Bass; Fredrik Åkesson - Guitars; Jamie Borger - Drums, Percussion
Unbelievable. 16 years into their career and Talisman somehow manage to release one of their best, if not their best album to date. Things sound very fresh here, and you could say they’re almost reborn.
Honestly, I didn’t expect much from this album, but I was certainly happily surprised.
SONGS
Things couldn’t start out better than Falling. First thing that crosses my mind when the vocals kick in is Paul Stanley! But that soon changes as Jeff launches into his own. It’s a great opener, one of the best here. Nowhere Fast is very pop sounding stuff, with a great backing riff.
Rhyme Or Reason is a great mid tempo number, with some heavy grooves and melodic vocals. A mean bass line brings in End Of The Line, great chorus too. I swear Jeff sounds like Stanley again on The 1 I’m Living 4, it’s fairly corny, but they pull it off again. The pop hooks continue with On My Way.
Forevermore however is a lot more heartfelt and meaningful, at times sounding like a Christian band. Succumb To My Desire tries to be rough and sleazy, it’s not so great.
Shed A Tear sounds straight from the 80’s, a little boring. It finishes off in so, so fashion with Troubled Water and Back 2 The Feeling, which has a great solo.
This is a very strong album. Even the songs I don’t rate so well are actually fairly decent, just not compared to the standouts. It starts off really rocking, and just doesn’t really make it back there. They’ve gone for the more chilled-out melodic style. But either way, this is another great modern release.