The Album
Anteater: Interesting enough, Toto's first album with Italian AOR label Frontiers Records also happens to be my favorite album in their whole discography
Unknown Soldier: For me it's their best album since The Seventh One.
Anteater: Most of the lineup from 1999's Mindfields remains intact too, which is a plus
Unknown Soldier: Gregory Phillinganes but we'll call him Phil for short ok?
Anteater: Sounds good to me: Phil is another well seasoned session player from the L.A. scene since the 70's, so he's a natural fit.
Unknown Soldier: worked a lot with Michael Jackson and Eric Clapton
Unknown Soldier: and was brought in to replace David Paich for touring.
Anteater: Phil was on Thriller too if I recall
Unknown Soldier: yes and bunch of others as well.
Anteater: But anyway, just to lay it out there: this is a very strong album. Lots of interesting ideas, and it has a way more focused feel than Mindfields but without any of the weaknesses of Kingdom Of Desire or Tambu.
Unknown Soldier: Now what strikes me about this album, is that it's such a breath of fresh air as an album goes and I think having a newbie like Phil helped give the band a boost and maybe took some of the touring pressures off David Paich.
Unknown Soldier: Also the album reinstalled my faith vin Steve Lukather as I think this is easily one of his best for Toto with his choice of vocals.
Anteater: Well, at this point Lukather isn't having to be the leader in every aspect like he had to be in the early to mid 90's
Anteater: From Mindfields onwards you get the impression that the band dynamic opened up again and the music benefits
Unknown Soldier: It feels like a real band effort which in principal is what Toto started out as being in the early days, before Steve Lukather started calling all the shots.
Anteater: Jeff Porcaro's death was a huge hit against the songwriting dynamic
Anteater: that the band had spent over a decade working with
Anteater: But by Mindfields most of the damage had been mitigated.
Unknown Soldier: sure and a very good point in that respect and the credits are really shared out here.
Unknown Soldier: what's also great is that the album is a refreshing 50 mins and not a 70 mins borefest.
Anteater: Yeah, and it starts off with the odd yet simultaneously heavy and melodic title track
Unknown Soldier: Normally the band don't start off with title tracks and yes it is something of an oddball.
Anteater: The first thing I thought when I listened to it was "Is someone in the group a Dream Theater fan?"
Anteater: Toto can do proggy stuff, but this thing is a different beast entirely.
Unknown Soldier: Yes there is some Dream Theater love there, but of course Toto are one of the inspirations for Dream Theater anyway
Anteater: Indeed indeed. The thing I like most about the title track is that it has a very unconventional structure that culminates in one of Lukather's heaviest guitar performances ever.
Unknown Soldier: It's a pretty stodgy sounding guitar lead but vocally the song really takes on a great dimension with Kimball providing the power and Phil the vocal sounding oddity, it's a great track especially with the spiraling musical blasts.
Anteater: It sounds so unique in Toto's vast canon of material that I'm sure it surprised a lot of fans
Anteater: And it leads in nicely to the very layered 'Dying On My Feet'
Unknown Soldier: me included, in fact I love every track on this album minus 2/3 songs and "Dying on My Feet" is one unfortunately
Unknown Soldier: I think it's big problem is that it's overly long.
Anteater: It has some nice harmonies and a cool Chicago-esque horn breakdown in the second half though!
Anteater: It's pretty much a jazz-fusion jam though, and like a lot of Lukather led material it has a bluesy vibe in places.
Unknown Soldier: A number of Chicago band members played on this album.
Anteater: You are correct, so no wonder then lol
Anteater: This might be the first time since the late 70's that we've heard a horn section in any Toto material
Unknown Soldier: Now I love "Bottom of Your Soul" one of the best Steve L. tracks ever and breezes through its 7 mins.
Anteater: Yeah, and Joseph Williams makes a surprise appearance too: he sounds as good as he did back in his heyday too!
Unknown Soldier: yes it was a good guest vocal and what do you think of "King of the World" which features three of Toto's vocalists minus Phil?
Anteater: It's one of the two or three songs on the album that I'd say has "single" written all over it
Anteater: Very catchy chorus and an interesting staccato-like riff running through it
Anteater: Paich's vocals fit very well on the main verse!
Unknown Soldier: When I said there were 2/3 songs that I didn't like, this was the one that I wasn't sure about and even now I'm not certain what i really think about it.
Anteater: It's a very interesting blend of ideas - like a much jazzier take on The Seventh One's material.
Anteater: Lots of big wooshing synth lines going on behind the main instrumentation which is kinda cool too…
Unknown Soldier: it's very multi-dimensional song.
Anteater: Kimball is even fronting it, and i know he's your favorite of the Toto vocalists
Anteater: That being said, Hooked is next and this one is the only song on the album I'm not completely sold on today.
Unknown Soldier: Now I love that song and one of Kimball's best ever written tracks, even if the song sounds a lot like Jethro Tull in places.
Anteater: Ian Anderson is on flute in the second part of it
Anteater: so I think the Tull-ness is intentional in this case
Anteater: That being said, even my least favorite song on the album still sounds like a million bucks, and I like a lot of things about it.
Unknown Soldier: Should've mentioned earlier that "Bottom of Your Soul" reminded me of a Peter Gabriel song and now we have Jethro Tull here.
Anteater: I'd say that's a big compliment in some ways.
Anteater: What's funny is that we get a Lukather ballad in the form of 'Simple Life' after this. Very short!
Unknown Soldier: "Simple Life" is another great Steve L. song and a surprise at just over 2 mins…
Anteater: Yeah it is surprising...he could have actually made this one longer and it would have been one of the best songs he'd ever written.
Anteater: The chorus and production sound great
Unknown Soldier: The song could've been developed more, but would it have achieved the same magic with a few more minutes added onto it?
Anteater: In this case, probably yeah. Lukather's ballads don't work when the chorus or general progression is too tame...but for this one it might've been fine.
Anteater: In contrast, 'Taint Your World' is a raucous rocker throwing us back into Kingdom Of Desire territory
Unknown Soldier: This is one of the fastest tracks on the album and again shows that Bobby Kimball really was on form for this album.
Anteater: I keep expecting him to belt out "Riddddde, Ride That Gypsy TRAINNNN" somewhere in the song, but it never happens
Anteater: In any case, fun song.
Unknown Soldier: hahaha and then we have the first Phil solo effort "Let it Go" another great song and he's a very good vocalist as well. Kind of makes us realize what the band had been missing since David Paich had taken a back step in the vocal department.
Anteater: 'Let It Go' is fantastic, and I think its the only song on the album where Phil takes lead.
Unknown Soldier: Correct
Anteater: Makes me wish he had gotten more chances to show off…
Anteater: It has the typical L.A. fusion groove sound we've heard, but the arrangement and funkiness of it takes us back a little closer to Toto's prime years.
Unknown Soldier: I agree with that, especially considering that "Spiritual Man" follows it up and imo this is the worst track on the album and could've been substituted for another Phil effort.
Anteater: Features three-part lead vocal work though and a snazzy sax solo though :P
Unknown Soldier: I knew you'd like it musically
Unknown Soldier: and vocally it seems as well
Anteater: Oddly enough, it reminds me a lot of the sound Tears For Fears were going for on The Seeds Of Love back in 1989
Anteater: the gospel backdrop partly, but the feel of the production in general also
Unknown Soldier: well that's a good reason to put me off it, I'm joking here as I think Tears For Fears were quite good based on what I've heard.
Unknown Soldier: "No End in Sight" is the album closer and a great closer!
Unknown Soldier: but there is a short bonus track on some of the versions of the album.
Anteater: Yeah, its a short jazz fusion instrumental called The Reeferman.
Anteater: Features trumpet soloing, which I like, but I see why it didn't make it onto the main U.S. edition :P
Unknown Soldier: Well it's an oddity for sure
Unknown Soldier: The album considering how well we liked it gets a pretty bad rap from critics
Unknown Soldier: Who kind of dismiss it at Toto trying to imitate other artists, apart from the Jethro Tull, Dream Theater and Peter Gabriel comparisons I don't see too many obvious comparisons here.
Unknown Soldier: If there are they do a good job at hiding them, but personally I see no problem when a band does this anyway
Anteater: I've seen some reviews that praise it highly, so i dunno…
Unknown Soldier: maybe I need to read those reviews
Anteater: And on Rate Your Music its one of their top five highest rated albums
Anteater: Along with The Seventh One and the first album
Anteater: So the masses have spoken!
Unknown Soldier: But the album cover is also one of the band's best and that colour scheme works so well.
Anteater: Yeah it’s a striking tiled look
Unknown Soldier: Strangely enough I don't enter in RYM that much maybe I should more.
Unknown Soldier: The band capitalized on this album by putting out a live album the following year as well
Unknown Soldier: that featured that ZZ Top looking hippie with the Nordic name
Anteater: Leland Sklar, yeah
Anteater: that guy's played with everyone lol
Unknown Soldier: I bet his beard's been everywhere as well.
Anteater: Anyway,
Falling In Between remains my overall favorite Toto album musically. It has a little bit of everything I enjoy from the band. It's not a perfect album, but its a powerful statement of intent.
Unknown Soldier: It's not in my top three but certainly top 5, for the simple reason that my first love with Toto will be with those earlier albums. But it's without doubt the best of the modern Toto albums I've heard (minus the latest here).