Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Artist: Talisman
Label: Frontiers Records
Release: 2006
Runtime: 45:35
Rating: 4/5
Talisman! Six studio albums under their belt, 15 years of hanging out together, and yet…. Talisman! Record number “7”. Is this the new classic melodic hard rock orgasm? Close. And then some! Pure bullseye, actually! The new “Obeliski” feels like a debut, not “just another studio album”. The band chews through the runtime with real hunger, and the guys deliver a convincing new story. It’s fresh, yet the classic, recognizable Talisman beat still sparkles through it, the one they’ve always spoiled their fans with. In short, a new and healthy evolutionary step forward, one that points to the rich experience of the first-rate crew that makes up the Talisman lineup. So let’s see what the hell this thing is packing!
The opener is downright surprising, and it catches the unwary listener, whether they know the band from earlier work or expect a classic hard rock riff, totally “on the wrong foot”. It’s got a punkish opening beat and a riff that shock you on the first listen. The attention-grabbing tactic worked perfectly! Well, then it all quickly falls into place and flows into pure Talisman. Once the album latches onto your ears, you realize it’s a seriously likeable piece of work, wittily and cunningly picked to kick off the record. Nowhere Fast has a particularly deep, mid-tempo atmospheric “groove” that conquers you with ease in an erotic blaze and drops you to your knees in depravity – pure voluptuousness! Watch this! Rhyme Of Reason, the “beat” and production trick of the song – an overdubbed pattern laid over the basic riff. What’s the first thing that comes to mind? Seal and Crazy! The production depth is magnificent! It’s got a contrasting, steely “jangly” riffing! That “steel jangle” comes from a semi-acoustic guitar, added in perfect balance to the “distorted” lines. Put together, it creates that true hard rock erogenous “feel” that sends goosebumps racing across your skin quicker than you can blink. The mood is built up further by Jeff’s vocals, the “funky” jangling bass line and cannon-shot drum hits. These contrasts are each magnified on their own, and combined they paint a sonic picture with just the right amount of liveliness. End Of The Line in particular has a killer rhythm line, a modern “funky riff groove”. This song is proof of Talisman’s first-rate feel for serving up a tasty fusion of modern and classic. The classic Talisman side is adorned above all by the punchy, mid-tempo ballad The 1 I’m Living 4, where Soto gives us a glimpse of his masterful knack for building atmosphere across a song. It starts out calm, then adds a little more power with every round, and suddenly the track explodes before you even realize it. Once again there are artfully added guitar patterns with modern “rock” touches filling out the sound. It’s a fresh song, a departure from the classics that fully works – one of the album’s peaks. On My Way and the first real big ballad of the album, Forevermore, are closer to Jeff Scott Soto’s solo material. Succumb 2 My Desire has the biggest dose of “bluesy funk”, with a semi-acoustic guitar approach and a pinch of James Brown’s raunchy abandon, which the band uses to successfully crank up the album’s dynamics! Shed A Tear Goodbye sounds the most commercial on the whole record, the ideal song for a “hit single” or radio play, especially in the evening hours, but you’d have to go back 17 – 18 years. The chorus draws a few parallels with Joe Lynn Turner’s solo work. Troubled Water is a nice detour on the record. It’s got a “reggae beat” in the pre-chorus, followed by a switch into a classic Talisman chorus! The album closes with another excellent ballad, Back 2 The Feeling, where the guys confirm their first-rate sense for melody, especially with the incredible dynamic leap of a sudden “rock” acceleration after gradually building the mood in the instrumental middle section. The guitar work on this song is outstanding, and the real standout on the record is the solo break!
So Talisman have successfully shocked us and leveled up their rock doctrine! This is no repeat performance, no sailing the same chewed-over waters. Talisman bring freshness. With excellent contrast between the guitar riff and the rhythm line, with a huge bass “groove”! And the whole thing is absolutely elevated by Jeff’s passionate, velvety vocals, which prove that the style of songs on “7” is simply tailor-made for him. The new songs strike a balance between the required compactness, melodicism, carefully chosen embellishments (overdubbed patterns), a shot of “groove” from the current fashionable “rock” fads, the very sequence of colorful tracks on the record, and practically perfect singing from Jeff Scott Soto for the new Talisman. All of that adds up to one of this year’s definitive highlights in melodic rock, one we can slot straight into the top five on the fingers of one hand. An erotic race of passionate melodic hard rock! “7” could even turn out, in the near future, to be real confirmation of the suspicion that Soto isn’t the ideal pick for the new Journey singer! Let’s wait for the new Journey album to get a real answer.
Lineup
Jeff Scott Soto – vocals
Fredrik Akesson – guitar
Marcel Jacob – bass
Jamie Borger – drums
Production
Jeff Scott Soto & Marcel Jacob
Track list
1. Falling
2. Nowhere Fast
3. Rhyme or Reason
4. End of the Line
5. 1 I’m Living 4
6. On My Way
7. Forevermore
8. Succumb 2 My Desire
9. Shed a Tear Goodbye
10. Troubled Water
11. Back 2 the Feeling
