Author: Peter Podbrežnik
Artist: Toto
Label: Columbia Records
Release: 2018
Runtime: 79:07
Rating: 4/5
For the fortieth anniversary of American rock legends Toto, a band that has achieved everything there is to achieve in music over a colorful career, the time has come for a fitting new collection of some of their most beloved work. There have of course already been plenty of releases like this in their past, a whole bagful if not a whole warehouse, but »40 Trips Around the Sun« stands apart from most of their ‘best of’ albums because it features three tracks nobody has heard before.
»Alone« is a brand-new composition written by the current lineup of the legendary band, while »Struck By Lightning« is a creation that has so far gone unreleased. The third ‘new’ piece, »Spanish Sea«, has an interesting history: it was originally created during the recording of the album »Isolation« (1984), and in its reworked form it comes with a new chorus. With the help of modern technology, Steve Lukather, David Paich and Steve Porcaro got the chance to ‘step into a time machine’ and join forces with their late bandmates Jeff and Mike Porcaro. All three tracks, še posebno »Spanish Sea«, are up to the expected high standard.
A somewhat less flattering detail of this compilation is that it’s nowhere near a survey of every period of Toto history, but ‘only’ some of the most popular work from the years between 1978 and 1993. The reason there’s not a single track from the era with former drummer Simon Phillips, and nothing from the otherwise excellent »Toto XIV« (2015), which is where the aforementioned »Alone« and »Struck By Lightning«, with Joseph Williams and David Paich on lead vocals, stylistically belong, is clear. The record came out on Columbia, where Toto were at home until 1993. The big shots at the label evidently couldn’t be bothered with clearing the rights to tracks from the later period, when Toto found their home at the Italian label Frontiers Records. As for the rest of the material on this compilation, there are no earth-shattering surprises, since all the Toto evergreens are here, led by »Africa«, »Pamela«, »Hold the Line«, »Rosanna«, »I Won’t Hold You Back«, »Georgy Porgy«, »Stranger In Town«, »I’ll Be Over You«, »Stop Loving You«, »99«, »Leo«, »I’ll Supply the Love«, »Afraid of Love« and »Jake to the Bone«.
Fans of the melodic rock titans will of course want to add this collection of their most beloved evergreens, which Toto put together as a fitting nod to forty years in the game, to their shelves, and the three previously unreleased tracks will surely tip the scales. The latter are also a really lovely send-off toward a possible future studio project.
Lineup
Joseph Williams – lead vocals
Steve Lukather – guitar, vocals
David Paich – keyboards, vocals
Steve Porcaro – keyboards
David Hungate – bass guitar
Mike Porcaro – bass guitar
Jeff Porcaro – drums, percussion
Bobby Kimball – lead vocals
Fergie Frederiksen – lead vocals
Production
Toto
Track List
1. Alone
2. Spanish Sea
3. I’ll Supply the Love
4. I’ll Be Over You
5. Stranger In Town
6. 99
7. Struck By Lightning
8. Pamela
9. Afraid of Love
10. I Won’t Hold You Back
11. Jake to the Bone
12. Stop Loving You
13. Lea
14. Hold the Line
15. Georgy Porgy
16. Rosanna
17. Africa
