Jef Scott’s musical education began in the bars and clubs of San Diego during the late 70’s before he moved to Los Angeles in 1979 where he joined Geisha. His big break came in 1984 when he was signed as a solo artist by Epic Records with this album coming out two years later. As well as singing, Jef provided guitar, bass and keyboards with the only other musicians being synth player Jeff Forehan and drummers Jay Schellen and Bryan Hitt (the latter then with Life By Night, now in REO Speedwagon). This remastered version is the first time that it has ever appeared on CD, and is viewed by many within the AOR scene as being quite a rarity. Before anyone asks the question, he is not the same singer as Jeff Scott Soto, who is still very active in the scene, whereas this Jef appears to have only released this one album.
It is very much of its’ time, and anyone playing this for the first time wouldn’t have any problem stating which decade this first made an appearance. Richard Marx has had an obvious impact on the album, and it is somewhat surprising that this appears to have been the end of his solo career as I could have thought that given the right push this would have done very well indeed at the time. He wrote most of the songs, and really he should have written all of them as even more than 25 years on from when this was originally released I don’t think the world is quite ready for an uptempo AOR version of The Beatles’ “I’m Only Sleeping”. But overall this is a fun album and if this type of music is your thing then go to www.yesterrock.com .
