#6 Talisman : Talisman/Humanimal(TIE)
Released 1990/1994I wasn't far off another triple tie here with the s/t, Genesis and Humanimal but I managed to cut it to two. All three albums are very different and influenced me in their own way.
I mentioned in the prior entry that the Rising Force band brought together a couple of guys that would form one of my favourite bands and here they are. I will run a bit of history by you as to the way the band was formed and progressed. After the Marching Out album Marcel Jacob (master bassist) moved on to work with John Norum (Europe)on his debut solo album. During the preparation for the second Norum solo album Jacob left when many of his song ideas were rejected and found himself without a band. Jacob began the process of demoing up his songs with Goran Edman on vocals (spewing he didn't stick around hey Paul ?
) and other well known musicians such as Jason Bieler (Saigon Kick). Eventually Edman left to work on Malmsteens's Eclipse and Jacob made contact with his old bandmate Jeff Scott Soto and the rest is history. Of all the Soto projects , Talisman stands head and shoulders above the rest for me , although I really like most of them. I have a ridiculous collection of his rarer material
I can actually remember they day I bought the Talisman debut - I still recall the great feeling I used to get going into "Metal For Melbourne" buying artists like this back in the early 90's and catching the train home checking out the booklets etc.... and the satisfaction of knowing that I'd just unearthed another gem of an album that almost nobody knew about
So onto the albums themselves which are quite diverse:
Talisman s/t: Although the original demo version of the band included a dedicated drummer Marcel ended up playing rhythm guitar , bass and drums on the debut. Lead guitarist Christopher Stahl did an amazing job and vanished into thin air after this album. This is certainly very different to anything else they released - much more AOR but still pretty heavy in parts. This is really the album that cemented my love for Soto's voice (much smoother here than on Marching Out - the chameleon strikes again) and although it may not have aged as well as some of the others , this was my number one played album for some time.
Genesis: Genesis saw them toughen up their sound and add very slight elements of the funky edge that would become more obvious later. Once again Marcel handled a lot of the rhythm guitar and drums , but we had the addition of long term lead guitar maestro Frederik Akeeson (currently boring himself shitless playing backup guitars in Opeth
) Great album and probably their most straight ahead hard rock effort.
Humanimal: I didn't know what to think the first time I heard this album
Firstly the last piece of the band puzzle was added (Jamie Borger ex-Treat on drums) which made a big difference , but geez - this album is all over the place. Before I scare you off , check out the linked tracks
The rockers on this fuckin rawk
I have no doubt that this album could alienate some with its frequent jumps from one style to another. There's the Chilli Pepper influenced opening track where uber talented bassist Marcel Jacob (RIP) shows off his chops without delay , the ballad All In All brings to mind JSS's love of Terence Trent D'Arby.....and then , as another exercise , let's examine the last four tracks . The acoustic ballad Since You've Gone, the epic rock/metal of Humanimal , the 60's style barbershop quartet?? (I'm not old enough
) sound of Doin' Time and the brutal almost grungy assault of Hypocrite.
Somehow they manage to pull all this off without sounding contrived or messy....to me anyway . It's hard to believe there were another 8 tracks (mostly good)that were recorded in these sessions that didn't make the album. They were released on the very rare (at the time) Humanimal Part 2 which of course I paid a mint for only to see the whole lot released in one package years later at a bargain price.
That's happened more times than I care to remember.
If you like your rock hard ( but with many detours), great musicians and prominent bass lines from one of the best in the biz then this album is worth checking out. Even if you don't like the softer stuff the heavy tracks are
- if there's such a thing as a 5 minute epic then the title track is it. Akeeson's guitar just builds and builds.
If you want something a bit safer try the self titled debut or Genesis first , both of which are also fantastic.
In fact I like all their albums except Cats and Dogs - speaking of which I have a leftover unreleased track from that album called All Wound Up in CD quality direct from the Jeffmeister .......fun song about getting off your face but 10 times better than anything on the album. If any Talisman fans want it (not sure about attachment sizes etc....and how that might work) then let me know. I also have it in 320k if worst comes to worst.
Favourite Tracks (s/t) : Break Your Chains,
Queen ,
Standing On Fire ,I'll Be Waiting, Day By Day, Just Between Us. The outro instrumental
Great Sandwich is also good.
Favourite Tracks (Humanimal): Humanimal, Fabricated War , Seasons , D.O.A.P.S ,Blissful Garden .............it took me a few years to figure out that D.O.A.P.S stands for "diary of a pop star".
Honourable Mention: Fate - Scratch'n'Sniff This may only be of interest to guitar freaks. Fate was an AOR band formed as a side project by Hank Sherman of Mercyful Fate. By the time this was recorded there was only one original member (bass) but on guitar was the crazy man Matthias Eklundh. This guy makes Steve Vai seem normal but if you don't mind the typical bad Scandi accent/lyrics and you like some wild guitar and some nice melodies at times..........this might be worth a listen. The only album Matthias did that was really accessible .
Topic: bl5150's Top 50.........TOP TEN ...#1 (Read 71854 times)
