talisman

Talisman was a Swedish-American melodic hard rock outfit formed in 1988 by bass player and Rising Force co-founder Marcel Jacob and American vocalist/guitarist Jeff Scott Soto, both of whom were already well established in the hard rock community. Jacob and Soto recruited guitarists Christopher Ståhl and Mats Lindfors, drummer Peter Hermansson, and keyboard player Mats Olausson for the band’s eponymous 1990 debut, which was released via Airplay/Vinylmania. Label woes, lineup changes, and competing projects delayed the release of the group’s sophomore effort, 1993′s Genesis, but by the following year, Talisman was operating at full-strength with a core lineup consisting of Jacob, Soto, guitarist Fredrik Åkesson, and drummer Jamie Borger — that year’s ambitious Humanimal was released as a double LP. 1995′s Life saw the busy group opting for convenience, recording all of the parts separately — the first time the band appeared in the same room together was during mixing. A three-year hiatus preceded the release of 1998′s Truth, which was the first Talisman outing for new guitarist Pontus Norgren, and included covers of songs by Madonna, Prince, and Queen. A concert LP, Live at Sweden Rock Festival, arrived in 2001, and in 2003 the band inked a deal with Frontiers Records and released their sixth studio long-player, Cats and Dogs. The double concert album Five Men Live dropped in 2005, with the full-length studio LP 7 arriving the following year, again via Frontiers. Sadly, on July 21, 2009 Marcel Jacob took his own life at the age of 45, leading to the dissolution of the group. Three years later, the band’s first four albums were reissued in deluxe editions that included previously unreleased music and photos, along with new liner notes featuring personal comments from Soto. ~ James Christopher Monger