Toto XIV 2015 (Frontier Records)
A tight tide on the shores we navigate.
The Lowdown
]Nine long years after their previous studio album the acclaimed Falling in Between (at least by us two) the veteran band went into the studio to produce their thirteenth/fourteenth and possibly final studio release. With Toto release since their heydays back in the 1980s being few and far between, it was yet again another change of band members, but luckily this time the and welcomed back a couple of old boys in both Joseph Williams and Steve Porcaro for Bobby Kimball and Greg Phillinganes. Also added was session drummer Keith Carlock for Simon Phillips, it was also good to see original band member David Hungate featuring on the album as well. In fact bassist David Hungate was among a number of bassist to feature on the album along with Tal Wilkenfeld, Tim Lefebvre and Leland Sklar who had already previously worked with the band, these bass additions of course were largely to supplant the gravely ill Mike Porcaro who sadly passed away at the time of the album’s release this year, the whole episode is kind of reminiscent of his brother’s death Jeff Porcaro and the releasing of the Kingdom of Desire album way back in 1992.
The album has that self-indulgent feel about it and will probably go down as one of the great Toto releases, largely because it’s an album that grows more and more on you after each listen, which of course is always the sign of an album with great depth. Toto XIV also offers an album that is probably the most group orientated since their first four albums, as most the band’s vocalists get a good share of the vocals and writing credits with a couple of outside additions are well shared out.
The album cover is highlighted by that special door at the end of an alley, which has a magical light shining through. All this is set within an urban environment and this urban environment kind of gets me thinking, that the band had felt that they had lost their way throughout the 1990s and 2000s with a number of dubious musical decisions and line-up changes, but had now finally found their place once again in the big city and when a band like Toto achieves that, it’s always going to be a special place.