TALISMAN was the pride and joy of talented Marcel Jacob (RIP) who always dreamed with his own band after play and record with the likes of Yngwie and John Norum. With the mighty Jeff Scott Soto they formed this great Melodic Hard Rock / AOR outfit keeping the fire burning during the hardest decade for the genre: the Nineties.
Since last year, the entire Talisman catalog it’s being reissued (many already presented here in this website) by a Swedish label with new artwork, newly remastered audio and previously unreleased material.
Now it’s the time for Talisman’s 5th studio album “Truth“, where the Swedish combo goes for a more commercial sound to reach a wider audience.
The album was not very well received in the press, but that was pure prejudice just because Soto & Jacob decided to include here some atypical cover songs for a Melodic Hard Rock band. Those are; Queen’s classic”Let Me Entertain You”, “Darling Nikki” from Prince’, and “Frozen”, the famous Madonna’s hit.
And what’s wrong with that? All are terrific versions, adapted to the Talisman’s sound. And all are really good.
So, truth is (pun intended), this is another very good album from Talisman. All are.
Marcel and Jeff wrote most of the material in Soto’s new house in Los Angeles, after which the rest of the band (now including guitar wizard Pontus Norgren) joined up for a couple of weeks of rehearsals and recording the whole thing. The mixing took place in Boston, by John Ellis.
Apart from being Marcel Jacob’s child, Talisman has always been Jeff Scott Soto’s flagship band and it is clearly audible on “Truth”, one of his best vocally recordings ever because the man expands his incredible register through the diverse material on offer here. The backing vocals and arranged harmonies are also strong throughout the whole album.
The song sequence has been re-arranged for this reissue / remaster, accordingly to Marcel Jacob original intention.
All starts with the killer “Here 2Day, Gone 2Day”, a catchy hard rocker pumped by Marcel’s thunderous, monster bass lines.
Next we have the dynamic, bouncy melodic rocker rich in harmonies “In The End”, followed by the even more melodious “Until The Morning Comes”. Please note the bass here, it’s out of this world.
Then arrives the controversial (not for me) Madonna cover. “Frozen” is simply awesome. They have turned a dance song into a fantastic modern melodic rocker fueled by awesome keyboards, a moody rhythm section and Soto giving to the main melody his own, unique feel.
We have great more melodic rockers on “Angel/Devil”, “I’ll B There 4 U” (which somehow reminds me of Night Ranger), the anthemic “Heaven’s Got Another Hero” and the vocal layered midtempo “The Man I’ll Never Be”. Terrific stuff.
“Pavilion Of Oblivion” is Talisman rocking hard, while the rockin’ groovy “Madison” (originally a Japanese bonus track) is one of my favorites.
Perhaps what critics hated most on this album is Prince’s cover “Darling Nikki”. To me it’s great: Talisman tries something different adding broken riffs and some electronic percussions, but the rocking vibe obtained is excellent and Jeff Scott Soto rocks big time. Just listen his HUGE vocals here.
“Truth Deluxe Edition” sounds fantastic. I have the original European release, and this remaster simply blows out of the water the previous version (btw, out of print).
Additionally, we have the Japanese bonuses and two previously unreleased tracks; the original demos (excellent sound) of “Here 2day, Gone 2day” and “Heaven’s Got Another Hero”, both rawer than the final takes.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
1 Here 2Day, Gone 2Day - Talisman
2 In The End - Talisman
3 Until The Morning Comes - Talisman
4 Frozen - Talisman
5 Your Man - Talisman
6 Angel/Devil - Talisman
7 The Man I'll Never Be - Talisman
8 Bellabecca - Talisman
9 I'll B There 4 U - Talisman
10 Madison - Talisman
11 Heaven's Got Another Hero - Talisman
12 Pavilion Of Oblivion - Talisman
13 Darling Nikki - Talisman
14 T 4 1 ½ - Talisman
15 Let Me Entertain You - Talisman
16 Heaven's Got Another Hero (Demo) - Talisman
17 Here 2Day, Gone 2Day (Demo) - Talisman
Talisman – Truth (Deluxe Edition) 2013
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