JSS: Beautiful Mess
Journeyman lead singer Jeff Scott Solo’s latest release is monikered with a simple JSS. It's meant to reflect all the stages of this man’s career have become one in the same, or something like that, not quite sure. For those who don’t know JSS, he has fronted Journey (most recently), Soul Sirkus, Yngwie Malmsteen’s Rising Force (where he got his start), Talisman and even the Christmas rock extravaganza Trans-Siberian Orchestra. Oh yeah and he was the voice of “Rock Star” in the bloody awful Mark Wahlberg movie that might or might not have been based on Judas Priest’s relationship with Ripper Owen.
This album does not really sound like any of the above bands and is far more in line with Seal, Lenny Kravitz, and a touch of Prince. It’s a very soulful rock pop that would have been huge in the 80s and even the early 90s in various places around the world. It's quite good stuff that veers in disco or that awful twee soul music of the 70s. There is still quite a bit of backbone in this music, it's just a bit mellow at times.
You gotta understand that JSS can pretty much sing anything he wants to, the bastard (that’s no fair because I met him in the UK at a Firefest gig and he was a damn nice bloke), so you can expect a certain level of quality with every release. It all sounds like it's so easy for him, just check out “Hey”. He even makes the phrase “walk through the valley of the shadow of death” sound sexy and sultry. If you need something not so heavy with a bit of soul to listen to with your significant other then this is the release you should seek out.
Book Review
Classic Rock Revisited: from the Vault Series 1: Stadium Rock
By Jew Wright
The man behind the long-serving classic rock site Classic Rock Revisited has decided on the 10th anniversary of his site, to put together several collection of his interviews with bands over the years, This is the first of such releases focusing on the “stadium” bands of the 70s, 80s, and 90s. He has a nice selection of artists in this collection with a few forgotten bands thrown in for good measure, remember Foghat.
Article comments