| The
Review |
You could be cringing at the name right now, but why.
I mean why. Sure these guys epitomized the 80's recording
studio perfectionism, but hell, the albums that they sold
didn't just magically appear in someone else's record player/CD
player right; plus, you know all the words to all the classic
songs, admit it. Whenever "Rosanna," "Hold the Line" or "Africa"
comes on the radio, you don't change the station, or when
those old videos come on VH1 Classic, your ass sits in the
same place it always was on the couch, right? ***
With a long list of the band members backing up just
about everybody such as Stevie Nicks, Chicago, USA for Africa,
The Tubes, Judas Priest (yes, drummer Simon Phillips played
on a couple records), etc. etc. it's no surprise that the
guys set the standard for studio excess and got away with
it for many hits. But now as critics often pan them as a "dinosaur
act" and "schlock," many will tell you that Toto was simply
a great band, and even if they were despised by many, they
still get respect from musicians and those who love their
classic rock. ***
In their fourth decade, as the band moved away from swooning
mainstream music listeners, albums such as Tambu and Kingdom
of Desire are considered essential AOR/melodic rock records,
especially Kingdom. Now their latest release Falling In Between
is no exception to that. On this record, the band is really
able to spread out and really play some amazing material,
not succumbing to any time limits of a hits song or any pressure;
not to mention that the musicianship is really spread out
with a much more technical approach than before. But don't
get me wrong, the pop endurance is still there with all the
hooks and catchiness that we all know them best for. ***
Typical upbeat songs such as "King of the World" where
you have three vocalists sharing duties, "Taint Your World"
which is the heaviest track on the record, with Steve Lukather
burning his axe, and the title cut offer the edginess to an
often-pop oriented backdrop that has always encompassed the
band's sound. But then again that pop prowess can be found
in more laid back songs such as the Steely Dan-ish "Simple
Life," the moody but crunch laden "No End in Sight," and the
emotional, soulful ballad "Bottom of Your Soul" for which
the latter really has personal lyrics that have deep meaning
the same way songs like "Roses" (RPWL) and "In Your Eyes"
(Peter Gabriel) does. ***
Yes, of course, in a perfect world, many of the tracks
on here would be hits; so don't dismiss these guys as an 80's
has been and don't even think about saying "Are they still
together." With their best album in years, even being better
than 1999's Minefields, Toto returns with another strong offering
of melodic rock, keeping the standard set and the bar raised
high. ***
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