Toto XIV

Toto XIV
Studio album by Toto
Released March 20, 2015
Recorded December 2013–December 2014[1]
Studio The Treehouse, North Hollywood, California
Capitol Studios, Hollywood, California
ATS Studios, Calabasas, California
Porcara Musica, Valley Village, California
Digby Road Studios, Thousand Oaks, California[2]
Genre Hard rock, pop rock, jazz rock, blues rock, progressive rock
Length 55:59
Label Frontiers
Producer C. J. Vanston, Steve Lukather, David Paich, Steve Porcaro, Joseph Williams[3][4]
Toto chronology
The Collection
(2008)The Collection2008		 Toto XIV
(2015)		 Live at Montreux 1991
(2016)Live at Montreux 19912016
Singles from Toto XIV
  1. "Orphan"
    Released: February 5, 2015
  2. "Holy War"
    Released: February 17, 2015
  3. "Burn"
    Released: March 3, 2015

Toto XIV is the 13th studio album (though counted as the 14th album overall) by the American rock band Toto, released on March 20, 2015. It is their first studio album since Falling in Between in 2006.[5]

The album marks the return of Joseph Williams on lead vocals, Steve Porcaro on keyboards, and David Hungate on bass. Toto XIV is the first and only album with Keith Carlock on drums, replacing Simon Phillips, the longstanding successor to original drummer Jeff Porcaro, who died in 1992. It is also the first studio album since 1982's Toto IV not to feature longtime bassist Mike Porcaro, who had been inactive since 2007 due to ALS and died shortly before the album's release.

Background

The name was explained by band member Steve Lukather in December 2014: The band counted all the albums with new released music. Because of this, the album Toto XX from 1998, although not a studio album, but a collection of older unreleased songs, was counted as well, making Toto XIV the 14th album.[6]

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic [7]

AllMusic's review XIV described the album's title as a reference to their platinum-selling 1982 album Toto IV, 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."[7] ClassicRockHistory raved about the album's fifth track entitled "Orphan." "The depth of the song's lyrical content juxtaposed against the always brilliant musicianship of the band resulted in one of the most magnificent pop songs of the 21st century."[8]

Track listing

No.TitleWriter(s)Lead vocalsLength
1."Running Out of Time"Lukather, Paich, WilliamsJoseph Williams4:06
2."Burn"Williams, PaichWilliams4:56
3."Holy War"Lukather, Vanston, WilliamsWilliams & Steve Lukather5:24
4."21st Century Blues"Lukather, VanstonLukather6:08
5."Orphan"Paich, Williams, LukatherWilliams3:55
6."Unknown Soldier (For Jeffrey)"Paich, LukatherLukather5:06
7."The Little Things"Steve Porcaro, Allee WillisSteve Porcaro4:34
8."Chinatown"Paich, Mike SherwoodDavid Paich, Williams & Lukather5:07
9."All the Tears That Shine"Paich, SherwoodPaich5:09
10."Fortune"WilliamsWilliams4:46
11."Great Expectations"Paich, Williams, LukatherPaich & Williams6:48
Total length:55:59

Personnel

  • Steve Lukather – guitars, vocals, bass guitar on tracks 5, 6, 11
  • Joseph Williams – lead vocals, keyboards on tracks 5 and 11, park bench on track 2
  • David Paich – piano, organ, other keyboards, vocals, upright bass on track 9
  • Steve Porcaro – synthesizers, keyboards on track 7, lead vocals on track 7
  • Keith Carlock – drums, background vocals on track 2

Additional musicians

  • David Hungate – bass guitar on tracks 3, 4, 7, 8
  • Tal Wilkenfeld – bass guitar on tracks 9, 10
  • Leland Sklar – bass guitar on track 2
  • Tim Lefebvre – bass guitar on track 1
  • Lenny Castro – percussion on tracks 2, 3, 5-10
  • Martin Tillman – cello on tracks 6, 7, 11
  • C. J. Vanston – additional synths on tracks 1-6, 10, 11, background vocals on track 2, production
  • Michael McDonald – background vocals on track 6, 8, 10
  • Amy Keys – background vocals on tracks 4, 6, 8, 10
  • Mabvuto Carpenter – background vocals on tracks 5, 11
  • Jamie Savko – background vocals on tracks 1, 2, 11
  • Emma Williams – background vocals on track 2
  • Tom Scott – saxophone & horn arrangement on track 4, saxophone on track 8

Technical personnel:[2]

  • CJ Vanston, Csaba Petrocz, Joseph Williams, Stefan Nordin: engineering
  • Steve Genewick, Chandler Harod: assistant engineering
  • CJ Vanston: mixing at The Treehouse, North Hollywood, CA
  • Peter Doell: mastering at Universal Mastering, Los Angeles, CA

Other:[2]

  • Heather Porcaro: photography
  • Fred Kim: cover art
  • Thunderwing: art direction
  • JoAnn Tominaga: production management
  • Ron Remis and Trish Field: business management
  • Gary Gilbert: legal affairs
  • Steve Karas and Keith Hagen: PR

Charts

Chart (2015) Peak
position
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[9] 11
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[10] 28
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[11] 33
Czech Albums (ČNS IFPI)[12] 10
South Korean Albums (Gaon)[13] 12
Danish Albums (Hitlisten)[14] 7
Dutch Albums (MegaCharts)[15] 2
Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)[16] 5
French Albums (SNEP)[17] 17
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[18] 4
Hungarian Albums (MAHASZ)[19] 15
Irish Albums (IRMA)[20] 75
Italian Albums (FIMI)[21] 16
Japanese Albums (Oricon)[22] 2
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[23] 6
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[24] 4
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[25] 3
UK Albums (OCC)[26] 43
US Billboard 200[27] 98
US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)[28] 18

References

  1. ↑ "The making of the new Toto XIV album". Steve Lukather official website. Retrieved February 12, 2015.
  2. 1 2 3 album liner notes
  3. ↑ "Toto XIV". 20 March 2015. Retrieved January 8, 2018 – via Amazon.
  4. ↑ "TOTO XIV - Lukather & CJ Vanston Comment Exclusively". Melodic Rock. Retrieved February 10, 2015.
  5. ↑ "TOTO'S FIRST NEW ALBUM IN 10 YEARS GIVEN RELEASE DATE". Toto official website. January 8, 2015. Archived from the original on January 10, 2015. Retrieved February 10, 2015.
  6. ↑ "The making of the new Toto XIV album". Steve Lukather official website. Retrieved March 23, 2015.
  7. 1 2 "Toto XIV - Toto - Songs, Reviews, Credits - AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved January 8, 2018.
  8. ↑ Kachejian, Brian (21 September 2018). "Top 10 TOTO Songs". ClassicRockHistory.com. Retrieved 23 September 2018.
  9. ↑ "Austriancharts.at – Toto – XIV" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 1 April 2015.
  10. ↑ "Ultratop.be – Toto – XIV" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 28 March 2015.
  11. ↑ "Ultratop.be – Toto – XIV" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved 28 March 2015.
  12. ↑ "Czech Albums – Top 100". ČNS IFPI. Note: On the chart page, select {{{date}}} on the field besides the word "Zobrazit", and then click over the word to retrieve the correct chart data.
  13. ↑ "South Korea Gaon Album Chart". On the page, select "{{{date}}}" to obtain the corresponding chart. Gaon Chart
  14. ↑ "Danishcharts.com – Toto – XIV". Hung Medien. Retrieved 28 March 2015.
  15. ↑ "Dutchcharts.nl – Toto – XIV" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 28 March 2015.
  16. ↑ "Toto: XIV" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved 30 March 2015.
  17. ↑ "Lescharts.com – Toto – XIV". Hung Medien. Retrieved 30 March 2015.
  18. ↑ "Officialcharts.de – Toto – XIV". GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 30 March 2015.
  19. ↑ "Top 40 album DVD és válogatáslemez-lista – 2015. 12. hét" (in Hungarian). MAHASZ. Retrieved 27 March 2015.
  20. ↑ "GFK Chart-Track Albums: Week 13, 2015". Chart-Track. IRMA. Retrieved 25 March 2015.
  21. ↑ "Italiancharts.com – Toto – XIV". Hung Medien. Retrieved 2 April 2015.
  22. ↑ "TOTO XIV～聖剣の絆(限定生産 紙ジャケット仕様) - TOTO". Oricon.co.jp. Retrieved January 8, 2018.
  23. ↑ "Norwegiancharts.com – Toto – XIV". Hung Medien. Retrieved 29 March 2015.
  24. ↑ "Swedishcharts.com – Toto – XIV". Hung Medien. Retrieved 26 March 2015.
  25. ↑ "Swisscharts.com – Toto – XIV". Hung Medien. Retrieved 1 April 2015.
  26. ↑ "xiv - full Official Chart History - Official Charts Company". OfficialCharts.com. Retrieved January 8, 2018.
  27. ↑ "Toto XIV - Billboard". Billboard. Retrieved January 8, 2018.
  28. ↑ "Toto Chart History (Top Rock Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved 25 March 2015.
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