W.E.T. – ‘self-titled’ |
THE BAND:
Jeff Scott Soto - All Lead Vocals
Erik Martensson - Guitars, Bass, Keyboards, Background Vocals
Robert Säll - Lead Guitar on “Running From the Heartache”
With
Robban Back - Drums
Magnus Henriksson - Lead Guitar on “Brothers In Arms”, “One Day At A Time”, “I’ll Be There, “Comes Down Like Rain”, “Just Go”, “If I Fall”
CD:
TRACK FRAGMENTS:
1.) “Invincible” - This intro consist of a Jeff Scott Soto vocal accent over the top of a rhythm guitar riff and bass drum & tom-tom pattern. These accents that Jeff sings gives the intro a very late seventies early eighties Journey sound. There is a very subtle lead guitar lick underneath Jeff’s vocals accent connecting the intro with musical verse. As subtle and laid back as the intro is your really not expecting the musical change of the musical verse. There are two drum fills and a rhythm guitar riff connecting the musical intro with the musical verse. As you could expect there is a drastic up-tempo musical change for the musical verse. For the musical chorus the guys bring the keyboard to the forefront. Jeff wrote a huge vocal hook for the chorus. After the second chorus there is a small breakdown section. There is a minor lead guitar solo over the top of this breakdown section. Jeff sings several vocal lines over the top of this breakdown section. The breakdown section leads into the major lead guitar solo and though the major solo was short the song was so very well structured that it did not need a huge solo section.
2.) “One Love” –This intro opens with Erik playing a chord with his left hand on a synthesizer. Using his right hand Erik is playing a very simple keyboard riff. Underneath the synthesizer of the second measure you can hear a very subtle electric guitar riff begin. This leads into the main musical intro section. For the main musical intro the guys kept the keyboard arrangements the same however added a very intense electric guitar over the top of it. It is also at this time the drum & bass line kick-in. The musical verse consisted of just drums & bass this allows JSS’s vocals to be the main focus of the verse. The rhythm guitar kicks back in for the short pre-chorus. Through the pre-verse you can smell the huge JSS hook of the chorus coming. The guys kept he musical chorus very simple letting Jeff’s vocals carry it. Which it does!!!! One thing I noticed that was different between the first & second verse. It sounded as if there was more bass sound on the second verse. There is a small piano/vocal bridge connecting the second chorus with the major lead guitar solo. This solo was amazing!!!!!
3.) “Brothers In Arms” – This track opens with a synthesized chord before going into a rhythm guitar riff. There are two different rhythm guitar arrangements over the top of this very simple & short intro arrangement. There is a snare drum fill underneath a rhythm guitar riff connecting the intro with the musical verse. The musical verse was done with a sixteenth-note hi-hat pattern. There was a backing vocal underneath the first vocal line of the pre-verse. For the musical chorus the band turn the keyboard arrangement up giving the chorus a very full sound. They hold the last guitar note of the chorus just a little to connect it to the next verse. After the second chorus the band change the arrangement a little to give the breakdown section a more intense feel. After this bridge the band goes into a piano breakdown. There is a small musical breakdown after the piano section that consisted of a small whispered vocal accent. For the last chorus Robban switched to a double bass drum rhythm. Though the track has at least three musical breakdowns where any musician could fit a lead guitar solo. This track doesn’t have one.
4.) “Comes Down Like Rain” -This this track opens with a small electric guitar riff. Either there is some type of echo effect or the electric guitar has a delayed effect because you can hear something underneath it playing the same rhythm (this may be keyboards). Underneath the second measure Robban begins playing a drum pattern on his tom-toms. The verse opens with a JSS vocal accent. The band used the same arrangement for the musical verse as the intro. JSS really shows his vocal ability on the lyric lines of the verse. There is a small echo attached to JSS vocals of the pre-chorus. The guitar arrangement doesn’t actual actually change until after the first chorus. After the first chorus Erik & Robban kick the bass & drum line in. This alters the sound completely. The second chorus had a huge hook attached to it. After the second chorus there is a lead guitar solo. There is a small lead vocal line that was done with a vocal effect connecting the lead guitar solo with the third chorus. After the fourth chorus the outro consisted of just keyboards.
5.) “Running From The Heartache” – There was a small lead vocal line over the top of this classic rock n roll intro arrangement. There is a small snare drum fill connecting the musical intro with the musical verse. The band used the same arrangement for the musical pre-verse as the intro. The band does not change the musical arrangement until the musical verse. There was a huge JSS hook for the vocal chorus. The lead guitar solo connects the second chorus with the third chorus. After the fourth chorus there is a small minor solo that runs underneath the lead vocal lines of the outro.
6.) “I’ll Be There” –This track consisted of a fairly standard intro arrangement. The band kept the same arrangement for the musical verse as the intro. The only change that I can hear was made was hey added a second rhythm guitar arrangement. This second arrangement is different than the first. Jeff’s vocals on this track are some of the best I have heard him do! There is a small arrangement change for the musical pre-chorus. The way the guys arranged the pre-chorus allowed the keyboard to bleed through filled in a lot of the empty spaces of the electric guitar arrangement. The lead guitar solo is after the second chorus and was written perfectly for this track!!!! There is a minor lead guitar solo that runs underneath the outro section.
7.) “Damage Is Done” – The double bass drum pattern of this short intro was very reminiscent to early Lars Ulrich drummer for Metallica. There is a double-bass drum pattern that connects the musical intro with the musical verse. For the musical verse the band changes the arrangement. This also changes the sixteenth-note bass drum pattern. The lyrics flow very nicely over the top of the way the guys arranged the music. This is just one of the few samples of how much talent there is in this band. For the pre-chorus the band sort of arranged it in a breakdown fashion. The tom-tom fill connecting the pre-chorus with the chorus gave the song a progressive feel. However do think because it as a progressive feel that Jeff did not write the hook in such a way that non-progressive fans will like it. The outro consisted of the same musical arrangement as the intro.
8.) “Put Your Money Where The Mouth Is” – This track opens with a one rhythm guitar riff that was repeated over and over. After the first measure the main intro arrangement kicks-in with a JSS vocal accent. The intro was very simply structured in a hard rock fashion. There is a small arrangement change for the musical verse. The main instrumentation through the musical verse was drums and keyboards. The drum line of the musical verse was done with the tom-toms/snare. The song really doesn’t kick-in until the chorus. The lead guitar solo is after the second chorus and runs underneath the first half of the third chorus.
9.) “One Day At A Time” – This track opened with a very simple electric picking guitar arrangement over the top of a second guitar that is mainly just playing chords. The drum lines Robban choose for this track was a percussion drum line. Jeff’s vocals are perfect! As the verse progresses Robban changes from a precussion drun line to a standard drum line. All this builds to an explosive chorus. There is a small lead lick connecting the first chorus with the second verse. THIS BALLAD IS PURE GOLD!!!!!!
10.) “Just Go” – This track opens with a progressive/hard rock intro arrangement. There is a arrangement change for the musical verse. The pre-chorus and chorus was pretty intense. I loved the musical arrangement connecting the first chorus with the second verse. It sounded like there was a small echo attached to Jeff’s vocals on the second verse. The lead solo. for this track was amazing!!!!!
11.) “My Everything” –This track opens with a fairly standard intro arrangement. There is a small lead vocal accent that connects the intro with the musical verse. There is a small musical change for the musical verse. JSS put his signature stamp on the verse of this track! The band kept the choruses very simple. There is a arrangement change after the second chorus that leads to the lead guitar solo. All in All this is another track that is pure gold!!!!
12.) “If I Fall” – Jeff’s vocals just suck you in on this track and to be honest that is really all you hear of the amazing track!!!!!
DVD:
videos
1.) “Comes Down Like Rain”
2.) “One Love”
3.) “Brothers In Arms”
Interview
W.E.T. is an acronym for the bands and its members that comprise this new sensational music project. This includes the band members from Work of Art (Robert Säll), Eclipse (Erik Martensson) and Talisman (Jeff Scott Soto). During the interview portion JSS said that he did not want to make the songs on the CD his. Well…thinking…”He lied!” He lied in the sense that Jeff is one of those rare diamond vocalist were everything he does he owns. Just you tube Journey + Jeff Scott Soto if you don’t believe me!!!! This is nothing against Robert or Erik they equally played equal parts on this release and should be giving credit! From beginning to end this release may be the best I’ve ever heard. The guys hinted they would be very interested in doing another. ONE CAN ONLY HOPE SO!!!!!