The Album
Anteater: The self-titled Toto record, at least from my perspective, is a bit of a different beast in some ways from their next couple of records. A lot of critics blasted it at the time for being "style" and "craft" over soul and substance or some other bull****, but the virtuosity these guys were known for makes it one of the best debuts ever IMO.
Unknown Soldier: The 'style' and 'craft' label is a common accusation against that album but as usual the critics got it completely wrong IMO.
Anteater: They had a similar reaction against Boston's first album from a few years before this one now that I think about it, which this self-titled has some similarities too: huge production, guitars way up and out in front, some complex hooks and harmonies, etc.
Unknown Soldier: Boston were of course more groundbreaking, largely because it came first and the virtuosity of Tom Scholz was already heavily regarded by the time Toto issued their debut. I also think there is a certain similarity in the smooth vocal approach from the singing members of Toto to that of Brad Delp of Boston. The hooks and harmonies were there because that was what was expected from the record label as far as Toto were concerned and the band delivered.
Anteater: Oh, the public loved this album even if the critics hated it: three big singles within the span of a year, plus every person in the band was good enough to share lead vocal duties to some extent (bar drummer Jeff Porcaro).
Anteater: And speaking of him, he's the big driving force here creatively along with David Paich, who wrote most of the material on this first album. Which makes it all the more interesting that there's so much variety despite it all coming from the pen of just one or two people.
Unknown Soldier: That was one of the great strengths of the band, in that they had multi-vocalists that really suited different songs and the album laid out the stall for this, and sure David Paich showed fantastic diversity and range in the material that he was writing.
Unknown Soldier: Also of note as well, Journey put out their first album that year with Steve Perry on vocals and saw them change direction as well, 1978 really was for me the true taking off of AOR as a genre.
Anteater: Agreed: Toto have that "post" progressive rock grandeur that Journey mostly had moved away from by the late 70's though.
Side One
Anteater: Those pulsating synth runs in the opening instrumental
"Child's Anthem" isn't what you'd normally start an AOR record with. Kinda orchestral, but it segues beautifully into the megahit 'I'll Supply The Love'.
Unknown Soldier: "Child's Anthem" is bloody epic and right there in just a few minutes the whole structure of the Toto sound is laid down, no other band quite sounded like that and not many bands got their signature sound that quickly either.
Unknown Soldier: That type of segueing was something very contemporary at this time as well.
Anteater: Sharp as a razor, something you'd expect out of older more seasoned musicians maybe. But I think Steve Lukather and most of the other members were only around 21 years old or so at the time Toto came out!
Anteater: People made a big deal about all the young up-and-coming punk bands and musicians around this same period, but the guys in Toto run circles around them even on more straightforward songs.
Unknown Soldier: Yes, but Bobby was quite a bit older than the others and David Paich and Jeff Porcaro just a few years as well.
Unknown Soldier: Well
"I'll Supply the Love" though is a pretty amazing song, as it runs through various styles and there is even some disco on there as well.
Anteater: It’s one of "the" original AOR songs I suppose: set the beat for bands like Foreigner, REO Speedwagon, etc.
Unknown Soldier: And could only really be pulled off by Bobby Kimball, as a vocalist he just has so much power and energy to give.
Anteater: I think for a lot of audiences this was the first exposure anyone had to Bobby Kimball. Hell, for some people, he pretty much MADE the band.
Anteater: But we both know vocalists are only one piece of the puzzle obviously.
Unknown Soldier: Foreigner never put out anything as good as this which was a surprise given the background of some of its members and REO Speedwagon were always one of the more lightweight AOR bands, even though they did have heavier roots.
Unknown Soldier: Hell Bobby was the true star for me on the album, but I've always been a sucker for a great vocalist.
Anteater: Which makes it all the more interesting when we get to second megahit
"Georgy Porgy" and immediately shifts into jazzier territory. It's also one of the only two songs on the album where Steve Lukather takes lead on the mic.
Unknown Soldier: Most reviews of the album in retrospect, tend to pick out Steve Lukather as the pick of the musicians……. sure he only takes the vocals on two cuts here and I've often been surprised by his vocal choices as well, as he tends to go with the so called 'lovey dovey' tracks the kind of things that the women really dig, it's strange as I always saw him as possibly the most rock orientated musician in the band.
Unknown Soldier: "Georgy Porgy" sounds beautiful and crisp as Steve Lukather leads us into it vocally and that jazzy feel just sounds great, lovely lyrics as well.
Anteater: The only slight against it is the chorus for me, because the verses and guitar solo are sublime. Good point about Luke though: he rarely fronted the rock-oriented stuff for a long time, and that might have been part of how the group designated roles when they got started. Lukather started off merely being a great performer, but he later grew into a songwriter.
Unknown Soldier: As I said in the intro for the band, he was more or less the band leader by
Toto IV.
Unknown Soldier: Now strangely enough "Georgy Porgy" goes downhill after its great start largely due to Cheryl Lynn and I don't feel they should have had a female vocalist on the track as Steve Lukather was doing just fine on his own. As for some reason she really makes that track drag, but then again it's one of the most popular on the album.
Anteater: It wasn't quite top 10 from what I know, but it still did pretty well. It's their most well known "ballad" track aside from 'Africa'.
Unknown Soldier: "99" or don't you consider that a true ballad?
Anteater: We'll get to that one for
Hydra, but that one's more of a mid-tempo stomper for me.
Unknown Soldier: It was a tribute to a George Lucas film and it is kind of dreamy.
Unknown Soldier: Anyway onto
"Manuela Run" and the first David Paich vocal.
Anteater: “Manuela Run” is a nice follow up from the snaky Georgy Porgy. And again, I think it’s just fascinating how these guys just turn on a dime from song to song even on the debut. It's pretty much the Paich & Porcaro Show (with friends) at this point in their career, but the shifts manage to work without being jarring.
Unknown Soldier: David Paich as was often the case starts with a piano intro something he often inserted into his tracks.
Anteater: Gotta love those Paich/Lukather harmonies too. On another note, that opening line ('You better watch that sword that's hanging over you') was also the key inspiration for Toto's sword-and-circle logo.
Anteater: I think Jeff Porcaro literally said in an interview I saw once that it was a reference to the Sword of Damocles
Unknown Soldier: .... 'and don't look now' just before it could be a reference to the Nicolas Roeg film.
Unknown Soldier: Sure the sword and circle logo were a big part of the band back then.
Anteater: It's present to some degree in a lot of their album and liner art and there's another meaning to it too. The guy who did a lot of those early Grateful Dead covers, Philip Garris, made the sword double-edged because he felt it represented the band's musical range.
Unknown Soldier: Most definitely and luckily for us Toto never ended up sounding like the Grateful Dead.
Anteater: I'll second that sentiment lmao! Though Toto certainly had jam-band potential.
Anteater: Dunno what all those record executives would have done if Toto had started doing double LPs with 20-30 minute songs though, they had the chops for it
Unknown Soldier: Had they been around as their own band maybe several years earlier they may well have been doing this.
Anteater: Agreed. Interestingly enough, one of my top three songs off the record comes right after “Manuela Run” with a flute I might add!
Unknown Soldier: Yes
"You Are the Flower" really showed that Bobby Kimball could also write as he brought that song with him to the band.
Anteater: Pairing Paich's piano with some wind instrumentation from guest Jim Horn was a really neat idea, one they'd never revisit after this album.
Unknown Soldier: And it's also a great fav of mine and Bobby sounds so good here. Jim Horn just has so many credits to his name according to Wiki and his flute is so subtle but also quite unforgettable.
Anteater: There's a nice brass section in there too: subtle, but classy.
Anteater: We're actually at my favorite set of songs on the album: You Are The Flower through Takin' It Back one of my favorite three songs runs on any album.
Unknown Soldier: Yes just listening to it now, in fact everytime I listen to the album it becomes more 'proggy' by the listen which I guess shows its true depth.
Unknown Soldier: That choice shows you're a true fan, as you've picked out right there what some listeners might regard as three lesser known album tracks.