Artist: Toto
Label: Frontiers Records
Release: 2006
Rating: 5/5
Easily one of the toughest reviews of my life! Not that I didn’t want to write it! Quite the opposite! This album is so perfect that no amount of words can get to the bottom of it! So I gave it over 5 months to somehow settle into my ears and brain, but believe me, you just can’t crack an album like this! Not even after listening to it for an eternity! I hope someone proves me wrong soon, but in the field of melodic hard rock, Toto are perfection that hardly anyone today can match. Honestly, they’re impossible to pin down by genre, and their brilliance speaks for itself, because these guys are flawlessly tight and convincing together in every genre water they wade into. So “Falling In Between” is an exceptionally diverse album when it comes to blending different musical ingredients. It’s diverse in its production too, and in its sudden (unexpected) swerves in mood. As a result, the new album is shot through with high dynamics.
The thrilling thing about Toto is that they’ve got five musicians trading off the lead vocal role on top of playing their regular instruments, and not just from song to song, either, because you can hear up to three different lead vocalists within one and the same track. The astonishing part is how all these vocals fit like pieces in the mosaic of the Toto sound. Every vocal performance sounds completely natural, with no hiding behind effects, with the convincing authority of the band’s own voice, a heaping helping of melody, harmonies and heartfelt feeling!
I hope I’m wrong, but since “The Seventh One” Toto somehow haven’t been able to repeat that famous magic of theirs, the kind that shines unbroken through an entire album written by them, enriching it from start to finish, the kind of album with that special chemistry, where every song bursts with the reality of bringing to life the picture-perfect scenes that the band strings together in their musical expression! Singer and vocalist Steve Lukather has never sounded as mature as a singer in his whole career, and I can’t remember him ever cranking out such heavy guitar riffs, or riffs with such a distinctly progressive scent. It would also be downright unfair to skip over the returning Bobby Kimball, who is as outstanding as ever once he’s in front of the microphone. With the Lukather/Kimball tandem, drummer/percussionist Simon Phillips, newcomer vocalist/keyboardist Greg Phillinganes, bassist Mike Porcaro and vocalist/keyboardist David Paich, the new Toto are in all likelihood in the most potently sparkling lineup of Toto’s career.
Oh, and a word on the cover. It’s one of the best Toto logos in the band’s history. That’s the first and totally superficial observation. But if we want to find out what the illusions have in store when we take a closer look at the logo, we can reach a second, slightly deeper conclusion, which is that the letters form a face. The two “O”s of the new Toto logo are the eyes. The first “T” is the left cheek and brow, while the second “T” in the word Toto plays the part of the nose and right brow. With a bit of innocent imagination, the right edge of the booklet can fill in the missing right cheek.
Given how diverse the album is, I’ve got no choice but an extended walk through the individual songs. It’s kicked off by the title track, which is something Toto have never offered before in their career. It carries a raging metal riff, produced in the style of progressive metal bands. The deliberately jagged rhythm, phase-shifted under Lukather’s riff, is proof of the track’s progressive spirit, and so is the use of a cheeky guitar arpeggio in a few transitions. The keyboards are tailored to match, and right from the start “Falling In Between” has that impetuous, headlong rush of teenage rebellion, as if this weren’t a renowned band with a ton of mileage behind it, and as if Toto, after all these years, still hadn’t outgrown messing around with their instruments. The opener is shocking! It’s a genre swerve toward the progressive metal developed by bands on North American soil. Ahh,.. an intro that sears itself into your ears like it’s nothing!!! An opening that’s going to be an instant hit not only with fans, but especially with younger listeners. The next track brings the listener face to face with a completely different scene! Dying On My Feet opens with a “lazy,” sleepy sway through a “bluesy” motif. The interplay of classical piano and Lukather’s guitar is rewarded with a soul vocal approach, peaking in a melodically polished chorus. The middle instrumental section completely shatters the “blues soul” mood! It’s a witty multi-harmonic motif from the old fox Lukather, boosted with percussion and drums underneath, which blasts the listener into a one-of-a-kind field of the finest AOR elements. An outstanding song! Bottom Of Your Soul is the longest track on the album. It came out as a single in a shortened version. A song that carries the burden of being the hit. How close it will get to the success of Toto hits like Africa, Pamela,… only time will tell. The pre-chorus grows dramatically and spills into a classically polished, pop-flavored chorus, which Toto handle with complete mastery as songwriters. The magical multi-part vocal harmonies of the chorus are built from the vocals of Joseph Williams (a former Toto singer), Jason Scheff and Steve Lukhater. The contrast between percussion and drums on one side and keyboards on the other is the element that gives the song’s mood its magical difference. The percussion shoots you off to black Africa, a land of hunger and poverty, and the lyrics also deal with the absurdity of this alarming situation, which is a disgrace to the entire civilized world. King Of The World “shifts into a higher gear” again. A classic “hard rocker”! We finally got there! On the fourth try. A brand-new experience. Lukather has cranked the potentiometer up another notch and the guitar is dangerously cutting through concrete. A great jump in the record’s dynamics. Next comes another “bluesy funky” stretch, ruled by the vocals, which deliver a straight-up decisive chorus that hits your ear right off the bat. The song is something special again in the instrumental middle section, where, on top of everything else, it’s spiced up by the flute of Ian Anderson (Jethro Tull). Especially in joint play with Steve Lukather’s soloing, it succeeds in bringing a feeling of schizophrenic nervousness into the song! Simple Life calms the scene down. Out front are the band’s acoustic touches, releasing the electrified tension of the first part of the record. The atmosphere builds gradually and the track suddenly starts breaking out in full rock mode. Just as you get goosebumps, the song abruptly ends. You, you naughty Toto! Next is a rowdy “heavy rocking” number called Taint Your World, with the warmth of organs in the background and a “funky beat.” Let It Go carries a distinctly “funky groove,” with Lukather’s guitar pushed back again and the track riding the wave of a melodic bass line that sits at the center of the song. One of the most heartfelt compositions on the album is surely the second-to-last track, Spiritual Man, a tender spiritual song whose vocal harmonies merge into the realm of “gospel.” The percussion adds special magic to a song that explodes through the hot sentiment of Tom Scott’s tenor saxophone. Once again Toto masterfully ratchet up the mood round after round, and the atmosphere keeps growing, with a hint of unpredictability. David Paich, Bobby Kimball and Greg Phillinganes don’t just conjure a grandiose atmosphere with their vocal interplay, the very structure of the song gives them more room to maneuver for “soul” improvisation, which they put to excellent use. A truly great song on the album! The album’s closer, No End In Sight, is seasoned along the classic tracks of melodic “hard rock,” simply put, a real treat for the AOR “rock” lover. That’s especially true of the polished chorus. The song has a touch of melancholy and longing. The innocently gentle opening on piano and Lukather’s guitar melody is followed by a real transformation into punch through the chorus! Toto serve up heavy hard rock pressure right at the end of “Falling In Between.” A decisive attack of rhythmic artillery, an erotic guitar riff and grandiose synthesizer bursts.
Whenever you hear the phrase that it’s impossible to satisfy everybody at once, just think of Toto, who will always prove it wrong. Just like the song No End In Sight says! So there’s still no end to this band’s excellence in sight! At least not with the release of albums like “Falling In Between.” The instrumental middle sections are really the proof of this greatness. They’re bits of improvisation, polished with such a splendor of sophistication that they’re accessible to absolutely everyone, while keeping the songs a perfect “moulin rogue”! Add to that the top-notch melodies lying in harmony, the harmonic interweaving of instruments and vocals that slip into your ear like it’s nothing, the spotless production, the rich rhythm line carefully infused with percussion, and we have to face the fact that “Falling In Between” is yet another perfect Toto record. Without any expectations, they’ve proven the critics wrong with their albums so many times in their career, and in constantly outdoing themselves they’ve surpassed the seemingly unsurpassable, so this text of mine simply leaves too many gaps. Those gaps only prove how much respect Toto have earned with their musical legacy, and that “Falling In Between” is a great album with every potential to grow into a classic monument of rock music. “Falling In Between” is the definitive highlight of the records released in winter 2006, and probably of the whole of 2006 as well. If you’re a fan of melodic “hard rock,” then you absolutely have to have this album in your collection. It’s an album of such greatness that you can listen to it for an eternity and, if you like, write many different reviews while you’re at it.
Lineup
Bobby Kimball – vocals
Steve Lukather – guitar, vocals
David Paich – keyboards, vocals
Greg Phillinganes – keyboards, vocals
Mike Porcaro – bass guitar
Simon Phillips – drums, percussion, programming
Lenny Castro – percussion
GUEST MUSICIANS:
Joseph Williams – vocals
L. Shenkar – vocals
Jason Scheff – vocals
Trevor Lukather – backing vocals
James Torme – backing vocals
Ian Anderson – flute
Steve Porcaro – keyboards
James Pankow – trombone
Lee Thornburg – trumpet
Ray Hermann – tenor saxophone
Tom Scott – tenor saxophone
Production
Toto
Track list
1. Falling In Between
2. Dying On My Feet
3. Bottom Of Your Soul
4. King Of The World
5. Hooked
6. Simple Life
7. Taint Your World
8. Let It Go
9. Spiritual Man
10. No End In Sight
Album length: 49:10
