Toto - Falling In Between
Frontiers Records file under hardrock / aor
 Eddy: It is kind of scary to let a fan of a band (who happens to work for a magazine) do an album review of a new release of that band. “Yeah, what ever you say about that band is because you love them so much. Are you objective, can we believe you? Isn’t it the same when you tell your wife she is the prettiest woman of the world when she has just woken up, did not brush her teeth yet and with her hair pointing in all directions?” Well, I really cannot answer that but what I know is that I am a real music-lover and the new album ‘Falling In Between’ by Toto is MUSIC how GOD intended it to be when he invented MUSIC.
Last year, six of the best musicians on this globe decide to return to the studio to write and record their new masterpiece. It took them about nine or ten months but this was time well spent. Result is a true and honest product of the hard labour from a bunch of friends. What we have here is a variegated album that will serve a real wide audience from the heavier dudes to the easy listeners. The album title could mean exactly that what it says, ‘Falling In Between’. You cannot place the music on this album in just one genre, Toto brings you world-music.
The album starts of heavier than you ever heard before from these Americans. When I first heard this tune on a radiobroadcast from KGON Radio I fell down from my chair on the back of my head. Did these guys collaborate with bands like Dream Theater and did they hire James Hetfield from Metallica to do some serious riffs? This song, the title-track hits you like a bomb. My thoughts were: “Is this really you guys, this is not the sweet little dog from ‘The Wizard Of Oz’, this is the Mean Wicked Witch”. With an opener like that it is self-evident that the guys would take little time to rest and pull back some gas with the second song called ‘Dying On My Feet’. This one is a smooth listener, the kind that would let you get back on your feet from the heavy opener of this album. What a wise decision from these guys to get Bobby Kimball back in 1990 after some years of absence. His voice did not loose any power over the years; I think it even got stronger. His voice could be compared to a very good wine that was ageing over the years but now got uncorked. This song has an awesome instrumental middle-piece with some great highlights. The next song on this album is the first single for the commercial market, a song that will place them back were they belong, in the top of the chart-lists. The title is ‘Bottom Of Your Soul’ and it’s done in the vein of the recognizable Toto sound. It’s a fine vocal collaboration by Steve Lukather and one of the former vocalists of this band Joseph Williams. This song has some great lyrics concerning world-matters and can be considered as one of my favourites on the new Toto album. I am dying on my feet to hear this song played live in concert. Another one of my favourites is the next tune ‘King Of The World’. It is great to hear David Paich sing a song again. He has a warm voice and in a great way he switches his microphone over to Lukather and Kimball who also do some leads. This song really proofs that these guys are not only excellent instrumentalists, they all can sing as well as they play their gear. ‘Hooked’ will be the arena-rocker, this song will be shouted along by many audiences on the upcoming Toto tour, that is if they will include it to their set. There is a small part for Lukather son Trevor, who is currently working with Bob Marlette (so watch out for him in the future), as a background singer. There is also some input from Ian Anderson from Jethro Tull; he is doing some great stuff on his flute. The next tune on this Toto jewel is a new beautiful Lukather ballad called ‘Simple Life’. Man, this man can really sing. One critical note to Steve from me is that I think this song is way to short. It only takes 2.22 minutes. “Did you run out of tape here, Luke?” Beauty should last a lifetime!
‘Taint Your World’ is a fast and driving song with again some excellent vocals from Bobby and cool background singing. This is also a song that let you enjoy the return of Steve Porcaro. He did some great sound design with his gear to spice up this tune. Absolute one of the best songs on ‘Falling In Between’ is ‘Let It Go’. This is a really groovy song with a leading role for newcomer of the band Greg Phillinganes. I cannot say any other than that I really love the voice of this man. He is an enormous asset to this band. Recently I did an interview with bassist Mike Porcaro and this is what he had to say about his new band-mate: “Gregory Phillinganes is in my band! My band? I've admired this man as a musician for so long…and now to have him as a band-mate…somebody up there must like me! Such an incredible player… then you hear him sing! We're just getting started, a fresh injection of vitamin "G"! I could not have said it better. This song could be a huge hit in the American charts, this is the kind of music America is listening to now! Another song I can put in my list of highlights is ‘Spiritual Man’. This song has it all, great instrumental pieces, awesome vocals done by Paich, Kimball and Phillinganes and some soulful background singing by Monet. ‘No End In Sight’ is actually the end of this incredible new album from Toto. It is a cool rock song with some great collaboration between the voices of Lukather and Kimball. For the European and American listeners this new chapter in the Toto history ends here, the Japanese fans get another track in ‘Reeferman’, an instrumental song. I can sit back and relax now; my favourite band has done it again. They proofed to the world that there still is place for great musicianship.
For a great inside look into this band, please go to my special
Score: 95/100 (details)
http://www.toto99.com
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