Yesterday's post went through a lot of history on the band Toto, a subject I avoided in previous listening sessions of their albums. As such, today, as we reach the end of their 80's discography, there's not much to say about anything pre 1988.
Since their debut, the band kept a steady lineup of founding members. It was only after the release of Toto IV in 1982 that David Hungate would opt to leave, wanting a quieter life. He would be replaced by a third Porcaro brother, Mike. Soon thereafter, singer Bobby Kimball was let go for substance abuse. Though he was replaced by Fergie Frederiksen for their next album, after the subsequent tour, he too was let go and replaced by Joseph Williams. Wanting to pursue a career in film and television scoring, Steve Porcaro, would depart in 1987.
Opting to remain as a five piece, Steve Lukather, Joseph Williams, David Paich, Mike Pocaro, and Jeff Pocaro, would begin work on the 1988 album, The Seventh One, aptly named for being the band's seventh studio album. Stop Loving You, and Pamela would become their last top forty hits.
Though their label, Columbia, felt it was one of their strongest albums in their careers to date, and President Al Teller pushed for promotion of Pamela, when he left the company shortly after its release, support ceased. With the lack of the label pushing for exposure, The Seventh One quickly dropped on the charts, and Toto began to fall into obscurity. Lukather would say it was, "the moment that our star dwindled in America and it would take years for us to recover momentum."
Pamela leads off the album, and while it's a decent song, it's not what I'd call an opening number. Things stay relatively slow paced, and after what feels like an eternity, despite only being track four, when Stop Loving You finally comes around.
The tempo picks up momentarily with side b's Straight For The Heart, and Only The Children. It was at this point that I wasn't hearing what the President of Columbia Records stated was their strongest? It was okay, nothing to really write home about, and definitely nothing as impactful as what came with Toto IV.
To me, this is definitely a band on a downward decline from their peak. Yes, the songs are glossy, crafted to perfection in only a manner that the members of Toto can do, and would accept. Unfortunately, it just doesn't have the hits or hidden gems to really make it pop. At almost fifty-five minutes in length, I think it also suffers from CD Bloat Syndrome (aptly what I call CD-BS). CD-BS is when a band crafts their album around filling the extended time quota a CD provided, versus focusing on delivering solid tracks that deserve to make the cut. Less is more, especially when less is quality over quantity.
Williams would depart after the tour for The Seventh One, citing personal struggles with addictions, and a need to pursue other creative outlets. Additionally, in 1989, Steve Lukather released his first solo album. Though he would go on to release nine in total to date, he never shunned his responsibility to the band.
Jean-Michel Byron would be brought in to record the four new tracks created for the 1990 compilation, Past to Present 1977–1990. However, he was promptly dismissed during their subsequent Planet Earth tour for being a diva, and difficult to work with. Lukather would opt to step in as lead vocalist for Toto from that point on.
Toto released their first album of the 90's, Kingdom Of Desire in 1992, only to be met with tragedy when Jeff Porcaro passed away suddenly in August of that same year, while working in his yard. The cause was deemed to be sudden heart attack from years of cocaine use. The loss was so great that the band discussed disbanding. It would be Pocaro's parents who would persuade them not to, insisting Jeff would want them to carry on.
Simon Phillips was brought in, not only for Lukather having previously worked with him, but because the guys knew Jeff liked him as an artist. The three remaining members, Steve Lukather, David Paich, and Mike Pocaro, along with Phillips, would release 1995's Tambu.
Lukather would continue to handle the majority of the lead vocals until Bobby Kimball would rejoin in 1998. They'd release 1999's Minefield, and 2002's Through The Looking Glass, while continuing to tour in between, with one of their most notable being the 25th Anniversary tour. It would be during this that David Paich would semi-retire, needing to take care of sick family. Greg Phillinganes would be brought in to fill in during this time and ultimately join the band. They'd release 2006's Falling In Between with this lineup of Lukather, Paich, Pocaro, Phillips, Kimball, and Phillinganes.
In 2008, Toto would announce its disbanding, but this wouldn't last long. By 2010, the band reformed, and between 2013 and 2014 embarked on a 35th Anniversary tour. Though many returning members partook in the shows, some would also depart. In 2015, a new lineup consisting of Steve Lukather, David Paich, Steve Pocaro, David Hungate, Joseph Williams, and Keith Carlock, were back int he studio to release Toto XIV.
Lukather, Paich, Pocaro, Hungate, and Williams would return to the studio between 2016 and 2017 to add new material to tracks previously recorded between 1981 and 1984, and release 2018's Old Is New. The album would feature previous Pocaro brothers, Jeff and Mike, a fitting tribute to the brothers who had previously passed away. Toto continues on, touring frequently to date.
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