Complicated

Complicated is the eighth album, tying hard rock's force to an AOR smoothness around Jeff Scott Soto's rich expressiveness. Released on Frontiers in May 2022, with Alessandro Del Vecchio again handling production and co-writing as on the previous record. The lineup of Fabrizio Sgattoni (guitar) and Edu Cominato (drums) carries over too, and the team's confidence comes through directly in the sound. It emerged from a busy stretch that also held Sons of Apollo, W.E.T. and Trans-Siberian Orchestra alongside the solo work. Singing that pushes soulfully, choruses that bring out melody, and guitar that raises the heat at key moments support a different emotion in each song. From the opener “Last to Know” through “Home Again” and “Love Is the Revolution,” the title track, “New Horizon” and the closing “Obsession,” an unforced flow holds. Counting from Yngwie Malmsteen's early records, nearly four decades into his career, the tension in his voice hasn't gone. Rather than parading the breadth of that career, a record that conveys Jeff's appeal as a singer straight.