Toto- any fans?

[Rufus]

Toto have confirmed details of their new album XIV, the follow-up to 2006's Falling In Between. It'll be released on March 20, with a world tour starting in Glasgow in May.

"This is opposite of going through the motions," says keyboardist Steve Porcaro. "We are treating this like it is Toto V, our follow-up to TOTO IV. We just want to be the best version of ourselves that we can be. Be true to ourselves and make the best music we can. Entertain people which is what we were put on this Earth for."

"When you put us in a room, and everybody brings in their pieces, the next thing you know it all fits together," adds guitarist Steve Lukather. "Everybody's performances are top notch. We are really bringing our best out, forcing ourselves to make personal best choices, what's best for the music. I'm really excited to hear what people think."

The album was co-produced by CJ Vanston, who has previously worked with the likes of Prince, Ringo Starr, Bob Seger, Richard Marx, Tina Turner, Joe Cocker and Spinal Tap. "There have never been better musicians on the planet, especially in a band together," says Vanston. "This is an amazing record and I am completely thrilled to be a part of it. This is a dream job for me."


Track Listing
Running Out Of Time
Burn
Holy War
21st Century Blues
Orphan
Unknown Soldier (For Jeffrey)
The Little Things
Chinatown
All The Tears That Shine
Fortune
Great Expectations

[Scott Bails]

HUGE Toto fan here, and I know there are a few others here as well. Really looking forward to this one. I'm not crazy about the line "We are treating this like it is Toto V, our follow-up to TOTO IV." - I'd rather they just try to create a good album, but that's quibbling, I suppose. Falling in Between was fantastic, and I very much prefer Joe Williams over Bobby Kimball on vocals. Having Steve Porcaro on board for this one is a plus, too.

Excellent album cover, too, BTW:

[bob_32_116]

What a strange cover. it looks like a photoi of a real location with various things superimposed on it. A 14-hour clock - the number 14 on the door. Can anyone here decipher that Chinese(?) writing on the building?

[ThomasKDye]

Yeah, I loved "Falling In Between" so I'll probably be getting this one, too. Oddly enough I've been sort of "meh" over Luke's solo work that he'd done since FiB, but I'll hope this is definitely more than the sum of its parts.

[Digital_Man]

Scott Bails is a big fan. He should be posting here any second. Oh wait.

[Digital_Man]

[Excellent album cover, too, BTW:]

Well, it's a very unique album cover to say the least.

[Scott Bails]

Scott Bails is a big fan. He should be posting here any second. Oh wait.

[Jimmy Giant]

These guys are just crazy good musicians. If you like them and don't have Live Fields (the live CD after Minefields, Japanese I think), find a copy. It's absolutely amazing.
Or was it just the weed when I first heard it???? Nah. Good stuff indeed!

[No Pride]

The album was co-produced by CJ Vanston, who has previously worked with the likes of Prince, Ringo Starr, Bob Seger, Richard Marx, Tina Turner, Joe Cocker and Spinal Tap.

I heard about this a couple of weeks ago from CJ, who has been a buddy of mine ever since we played together in a 5-night-a-week Top 40 band in the early '80s. Out of the many musicians who have worked in "the trenches" with me, he's been the most successful, at least if you gauge success by annual income. Not that I'm insinuating that he's not a happy guy, he is!

When he told me, my first thought was that Toto had supposedly broken up for good a couple of years ago; Lukather had made a big public announcement about it. I guess you have to take that stuff with a grain of salt when it comes to any band that was big at one time. Anyway, I'll be looking forward to hearing it.

Yeah, I loved "Falling In Between" so I'll probably be getting this one, too. Oddly enough I've been sort of "meh" over Luke's solo work that he'd done since FiB, but I'll hope this is definitely more than the sum of its parts.

I thought "Ever Changing Times" was almost as good as any album Toto made. Seriously!

These guys are just crazy good musicians. If you like them and don't have Live Fields (the live CD after Minefields, Japanese I think), find a copy. It's absolutely amazing.
Or was it just the weed when I first heard it???? Nah. Good stuff indeed!

No doubt, they're a great band to see live! In fact I think folks who don't care for them much would be surprised if they heard a live Toto show. The records barely scratch the surface of how great these guys play. I'm not really a huge fan of their stuff myself; a good portion of it is too commercially oriented for me. But I've heard them live twice and as far as rock bands go, they can definitely bring it!

[Reid]

Never bought their records, but I still get a kick out of Lukather's crazy solo on Hold The Line.

[Scott Bails]

When he told me, my first thought was that Toto had supposedly broken up for good a couple of years ago; Lukather had made a big public announcement about it. I guess you have to take that stuff with a grain of salt when it comes to any band that was big at one time. Anyway, I'll be looking forward to hearing it.

He had said at the time that he didn't feel like it was actually Toto anymore. Jeff Porcaro had passed away, Steve Porcaro had moved on to other things, and then Mike Porcaro contracted ALS. David Paich had reduced his role, for reasons that I don't think were ever made clear. So, Luke said he was on stage one day and thought, "if there's no Paich, and no Porcaros up here, what am I doing here?"

Fast forward a couple years, and they all meet to do a few shows to benefit Mike Porcaro. This included Paich, and Joe Williams, and then they got Steve Porcaro. Suddenly, it looked like Toto again, and they were having fun, so here we are.

[Dan Roth]

I saw this new photo of the band: toto-press-2015-billboard-650.jpg

I recognize Paich with the hat, and Lukather and Steve Porcaro on the right. Who is between Lukather and Paich? I am guessing the bassist or drummer. And who is missing from this pic?

[Sean]

It's probably the singer.

[trurl]

Thrilled that Steve is back. Bummed that Simon Phillips is gone though. Very happy that Joe Williams in. Wiki page says that Paich is still in the band officially- is he on the album or not? He's probably the best writer of the band, with Lukather 2nd.

[progeezer]

For an AOR band that was/is pretty successful, Toto imo sets the chops standard for all the other AOR bands. No one in the band actually needs the band to perpetuate their lucrative session work individually.

"Africa" has been in my top 10 songs ever for years.

[Dan Roth]

Nice EPK from the band:

I am curious why bassist David Hungate and the new drummer are not included in any of the new photos of the band though.

[trurl]

I think Hungate is currently considered a touring member with Mike Porcaro as the official bassist of Toto, even though I don't know if his health allows him to do much of anything. And as mentioned, Dave Paich is still in the band but in a reduced role and it's hard to know how involved he is at the moment. It's a convoluted situation, for sure.

EDIT- sorry, watched the EPK and clearly Dave is very involved. Sweet!

[trurl]

BTW CJ will forever be for me the guy that composed the music for Red, White and Blaine.

[3LockBox]

Does anybody remember a few years ago when a PE'er called them "musos"?

Been a fan since I was a kid. Wore out my tapes of IV and Isolation. Kinda fell off the bandwagon with Fahrenheit. I did wind up getting FiB and liked it. Good to see them alive and kicking.

[No Pride]

BTW CJ will forever be for me the guy that composed the music for Red, White and Blaine.

Had to Google that to be reminded that it was the name of the show in "Waiting For Guffman." His greatest moment in that was his cameo appearance; he was the guy in the orchestra who was playing trumpet with one hand and tympani with the other. It was his idea too. He's rather proud of that!

BTW, Keith Carlock played drums on the upcoming Toto album, but he can't do the tour because he's got a lot of other stuff going on. Simon Phillips is awesome, but Keith is no slouch!

[Digital_Man]

Ok, so how many of you guys knew that Toto were the backup band on some of the tracks on Jon Anderson's "In the City of Angels" album.

[No Pride]

Ok, so how many of you guys knew that Toto were the backup band on some of the tracks on Jon Anderson's "In the City of Angels" album.

I've heard that, though I've never heard that album.

They were also Boz Scagg's band before they were Toto.

[Vic2012]

How many Porcaros are there?

[Digital_Man]

How many Porcaros are there?

I believe 3(Steve, Jeff and one more).

[Digital_Man]

Well I should have said there were three. One of them, Jeff, died in the early 90's. Mike is the other one.