Jeff Scott Soto - Live At Firefest 2008

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Jeff Scott Soto, best known for his stints singing for Yngwie Malmsteen and filling in for JOURNEY, is at it again with another live album. I guess he is a bigger deal in Europe than America, because for a solo show here, he would be lucky to draw fifty fans. If there’s a market for his live albums in Europe, however, I cannot hold it against the labels for releasing so many live albums from him.

Being unfamiliar with Soto’s solo work or any of his projects (where he participated in writing new material), I had not really heard him aside from the Yngwie albums he sang on. I was struck by how similar he sounds to Doug Pinnick of KING’S X. His voice is soulful and does well in a live setting.

The backing band is solid and I would have loved to hear more opportunities for guitarist Howie Simon to show off his skills. Sadly, a lot of the songs on here are of the AOR variety (no metal to be found here, folks), so the focus is primarily on the vocals. There are a few rockier songs that do include solos. There is clearly an influence of funk present too.

I guess this could serve as a decent enough starting point (or even as a best-of) for those looking for something easily accessible to listen to. Certainly nothing groundbreaking, and I doubt that those who already own one of the recent live albums would need another, but hey, it’s their money. Oh, and considering that the set is only 70 minutes, there was no need for this to be a double-album.