''Toto XIV'' is the thirteenth studio album by the American rock band Toto (though the band's fourteenth album overall, when one counts either ''

Toto XX ''Toto XX: 1977-1997'' is a compilation album by Toto to celebrate their 20th anniversary. The album features rare original demos, outtakes, previously unreleased recordings and live tracks from the band's 20-year career. The first single releas ...

'' or the ''Dune'' soundtrack). Toto released the album on March 20, 2015. It is the band's first studio album since '' Falling in Between'' in 2006. The album marks the return of Joseph Williams on lead vocals and

Steve Porcaro Steven Maxwell Porcaro (born September 2, 1957) is an American keyboardist, songwriter, and film composer, known as one of the founding members of the rock band Toto and the last surviving Porcaro brother (after the deaths of Jeff in 1992 and M ...

on keyboards and vocals, as well as the only album marking the return of its original bassist

David Hungate William David Hungate (born August 5, 1948) is an American bass guitarist noted as a member of the Los Angeles pop-rock band Toto from 1976 to 1982 and again from 2014 to 2015, and the son of judge William L. Hungate. Along with most of his T ...

(since

Toto IV ''Toto IV'' is the fourth studio album by American rock band Toto released in the spring of 1982 by Columbia Records. The lead single, " Rosanna", peaked at number 2 for five weeks on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 charts, while the album's third s ...

in 1982) before he left the band in September and the only album with drummer

Keith Carlock Keith Carlock (born November 29, 1971) is an American musician who has played drums with Toto, Wayne Krantz, Steely Dan, James Taylor, Donald Fagen, Walter Becker, Tal Wilkenfeld, John Mayer, Sting, and Chris Botti. In ''Modern Drummer's'' 2009 ...

. It is also the first studio album since 1982's ''

'' not to feature longtime bassist

Mike Porcaro Michael Joseph Porcaro (May 29, 1955 – March 15, 2015) was an American bass player known for his work with the rock band Toto. He retired from touring in 2007 as a result of being diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). He was t ...

, who had been inactive since 2007 due to

ALS Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as motor neuron disease (MND) or Lou Gehrig's disease, is a neurodegenerative disease that results in the progressive loss of motor neurons that control voluntary muscles. ALS is the most comm ...

and died shortly before the album's release.

Background

Their final contractual obligation with Frontier Records, Toto made the record understanding that it likely would not make pop radio. With the return of Steve Porcaro and David Hungate, David Paich found the sessions to be "very cyclical", which was further helped by the location of their studio: it was located just a half mile away from where they recorded their eponymous debut. One song, "Chinatown", was actually written for the first album, but never fully developed until the ''Toto XIV'' recording sessions. The name was explained by band member

Steve Lukather Steven Lee Lukather (born October 21, 1957) is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, arranger and record producer, best known as the sole continuous founding member of the rock band Toto. His reputation as a skilled guitarist led to a stea ...

in December 2014: The band counted all the albums with new released music. Because of this, the album ''

'' from 1998, although not a studio album, but a collection of older unreleased songs, was counted as well, making ''Toto XIV'' the 14th album.

Reception

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Music ...

's review ''XIV'' described the album's title as a reference to their platinum-selling 1982 album ''

'', but said that it "doesn't share much with that Yacht Rock classic. Despite the McCartney-esque shimmer of "The Little Things" (not to mention the passing allusions to "99" on "Chinatown"), tunes take a backseat to bombast on Toto XIV, with this Steve Lukather-led incarnation accentuating intricate instrumental interplay." The review also described a "furious first half, containing such plainly evident socio-political protests as "Holy War," "Running Out of Time," "Unknown Soldier," and "21st Century Blues"". It concludes that the band is "not living in the past, nor are they denying it: they're accepting all their indulgences, all the intricacies that come with their virtuosity, and making a record that reflects what these veteran rockers have seen and learned in their 40 years in the business."

Track listing

Personnel

Credits taken from album’s liner notes. Toto *

– guitars , lead vocals , background vocals , bass guitar * Joseph Williams – lead vocals , background vocals , keyboards , hand drumming on leather bench , additional keyboards *

David Paich David Frank Paich (born June 25, 1954) is an American musician, best known as the co-founder, principal songwriter, keyboardist and singer of the rock band Toto since 1977. He wrote or co-wrote much of Toto's original material, including the ba ...

– piano , keyboards , organ , lead vocals , background vocals , upright bass *

– synthesizers , keyboards , lead vocals , samples *

– drums , background vocals Additional musicians *

– bass guitar *

Tal Wilkenfeld Tal Wilkenfeld (born 2 December 1986) is an Australian singer, songwriter, bassist, and guitarist. She has performed with artists including Jeff Beck, Prince, Incubus, Eric Clapton, Herbie Hancock, and Mick Jagger. In 2008, Wilkenfeld was vot ...

– bass guitar *

Leland Sklar Leland Bruce Sklar (born May 28, 1947) is an American bassist and session musician. Sklar rose to prominence as a member of James Taylor's backing band, which coaleced into a group in its own right, The Section. This group of musicians so frequ ...

– bass guitar *

Tim Lefebvre Tim Lefebvre (born February 4, 1968) is an American bass guitarist. Both as a session musician and band member, he has worked with a wide range of musicians, including David Bowie, The Black Crowes, Elvis Costello, Sting, Empire of the Sun, The Sl ...

– bass guitar *

Lenny Castro Lenny or Lennie may refer to: People and fictional characters * Lenny (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Lennie (surname), a list of people * Lenny (singer) (born 1993), Czech songwriter Arts and entertainment Music * ...

– percussion *

Martin Tillman Martin Tillman (born 6 November 1964) is a Swiss cellist and composer. Biography Tillman was born in Zürich, Switzerland, in 1964. He arrived in the US in 1988. He has since performed/composed on numerous films, television shows, commercials and ...

– cello *

CJ Vanston Cj (Jeffrey) Vanston is an American film composer, record producer, songwriter, and keyboardist, based in Hollywood, California. He was born in Denver, Colorado, the son of Bonnie L. Smith and Paul L. Vanston. Film credits * 1996 ''Waiting for Gu ...

– additional synthesizers , additional keyboards , synthesizers , background vocals , end vamp piano * Michael McDonald – background vocals *

Amy Keys Amy Keys (born September 15, 1967) is an American singer and vocal artist. She was signed to the Epic Records label and a solo album and several singles were released in 1989. She worked on Walt Disney movie soundtracks and as backing vocalist on ...

– background vocals *Mabvuto Carpenter – background vocals *Jamie Savko – background vocals *Emma Williams – background vocals * Tom Scott – saxophones , horn arrangement Technical personnel: *Produced by: CJ Vanston, David Paich, Steve Lukather, Joseph Williams (except for tracks 7 & 12, produced by Steve Porcaro and CJ Vaston) *Engineered by: CJ Vanston, Csaba Petrocz, Joseph Williams, Stefan Nordin *Assistant engineers: Steve Genewick, Chandler Harod: *Mixed by: CJ Vanston at The Treehouse, North Hollywood, CA *Mastered by:

Peter Doell Peter Doell is an American recording and mastering engineer known for his work with Miles Davis, Toto, Céline Dion and The Beach Boys. Doell has been a staff engineer at Capitol Studios, Sunset Sound Recorders and Universal Mastering Studios Wes ...

at Universal Mastering, Los Angeles, CA Other: *Photography: Heather Porcaro *Art Direction: Thunderwing *Cover Art: Fred Kim *Production Management: JoAnn Tominaga *Business Management: Ron Remis and Trish Field *Legal Affairs: Gary Gilbert at Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP *Public Relations: Steve Karas and Keith Hagen

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

The single "Burn" reached as high as number 7 on the World Modern Rock Top 30 Singles Chart, where it appeared for 20 consecutive weeks.

References

External links

CJ Vanston strikes again: There's a thirst for real music Interview - By Arend, Jun 3, 2015 7:11 AM
{{Authority control Toto (band) albums 2015 albums Frontiers Records albums Albums recorded at Capitol Studios Blues rock albums by American artists Hard rock albums by American artists Progressive rock albums by American artists