Forgotten Music Thursday: Survivor - Caught In the Game (1983)

In the early eighties bands like Journey, REO Speedwagon, Asia, and Survivor not only dominated the airwaves but also filled arenas with their special blend of AOR.

A bit heavier than their contemporaries—Journey and REO Speedwagon, Survivor really burst onto the scene with a little help from Stallone and their hit Eye of the Tiger which was used prominently in Rocky III.

Caught In the Game has gone largely overlooked or forgotten by the band and by radio. None of the tracks from this album have even appeared on any of Survivor’s multiple different “Greatest Hits” or “Best Of” collections.

This oversight is quite unfortunate as Caught In the Game is likely Survivor’s most consistently strong album from start to finish. The songs are catchy and have a bit more bite than the lesser tracks from their previous albums.

The album opens with the title track, an infectiously catchy rocker and other than the ballad I Never Stopped Loving You the album doesn’t really let up from start to finish. And even that lone ballad is the 3rd track—thus getting it out of the way early—before reverting to the more mid and uptempo rockers that allowed guitarist Frankie Sullivan to cut loose a bit more.

Survivor ended up saving the best for last with the album’s closer, Santa Ana Winds, one of the best tracks the band ever recorded. With guitar solos vaguely reminiscent of some of Blue Oyster Cult’s better material of the previous decade, Bickler’s soulful vocals and the keys of Jim Peterik the song is strong from start to finish.

Today, admittedly this album sounds somewhat dated, a relic or snapshot of the early eighties. But in the context of its time, this was easily one of the better albums released in 1983. It was much to the listening public’s detriment that radio didn’t give it more attention.

(Incidentally this was David Bickler's final album with the band. After leaving for medical reasons he was replaced by Jimi Jamison. Bickler did re-join in 1992, only to be replaced in 2000 by... Jimi Jamison. Today Survivor's lead singer is Robyn McAuley. Bickler today can be heard in Bud Light Real Men of Genius commercials)

Related Link:
Survivor Caught In the Game on Amazon.com (song samples available)

Forgotten Music Thursday: I-Ten - Taking a Cold Look (1983)

In 1983 songwriters Billy Steinberg (guitar/vocals) and Tom Kelly (guitar/keyboards/vocals) formed the short-lived hard rock/AOR band I-Ten.

Steinberg and Kelly have quite an impressive resume as songwriters, having penned the hits Alone for Heart and Like a Prayer for Madonna among several others they had significant cred in the music industry.

Although MTV was still in its infancy, video had already killed the radio star... If this album had been released in the pre-image concious age of music videos, it very likely would have been a hit.

As it is, 3 of the songs on this album ended up being covered by other bands-- the aforementioned Alone became a hit for Heart, Taking a Cold Look was shortened to Cold Look and covered by Canadian hard rockers, Honeymoon Suite, and I Don't Want to Lose You showed up as a bonus track on REO Speedwagon's The Hits.

The original versions have a certain fire in them that, aside from Heart's Alone, is sorely lacking in the cover versions perpetrated by other artists. Steinberg and Kelly's vocals, while not extraordinary, are certainly of a professional calibre that warrants taking them seriously and giving them further consideration than they ended up receiving.

This album seems to go in and out of print.  When in print it's in the steep but reasonable $20 range (or used for only $12) when out of print I've seen it listing over $100!!  I recommend taking advantage of the opportunity to get this album while it's in print at a much more reasonable cost.  This album is a musical time capsule of all that was GOOD about music in the early eighties. For the quality of music on this album, it remains somewhat of a mystery to me why I-Ten weren't more well received at the time of this release. If the opportunity to listen to this lost gem ever presents itself to you, by all means open your ears, close your eyes, turn up the volume and enjoy!

Related Media

Toto - Turn Back (1981)

If reviews could be crystallized into single words "ambivalence" would likely be the most appropriate word to describe Turn Back.  The material is considerably more consistent in its quality than on 1978's Hydra.  However the production is somewhat muddy and at least one of the performances is a bit of a head scratcher.

Having heard a live bootleg of A Million Miles Away from 1996 sung by Steve Lukather not by Bobby Kimball as was done on this album, Lukather's voice was much better suited to the song leaving this listener wondering why Kimball was given the nod on the vocals on the studio release all those years ago. 

There really is a lot to like about the music on this album, however given the muddiness of the mix (at least on the US released versions of the CD) it makes the album largely unlistenable and thus it makes the album largely frustrating.  Here are eight songs of quality varying between merely good and thoroughly enjoyable but being mixed so poorly the listener really has to struggle to enjoy the songs. 

Given better production and mixing this album really could have been much much more and considerably better than it ended up being.  Luckily Toto would work out the kinks in the studio for their multiple grammy winning smash follow-up, IV, just a couple years later.

Kimball's vocals are easily better than they had been on Toto's first 2 albums and arguably even better than on IV, Lukather's guitar work and vocals are also easy on the ears the keyboard tandem of David Paich and Steve Porcaro is in top form and the rhythm section-- Dave Hungate on bass and the late Jeff Porcaro on drums-- fuhgeddaboutit. 

Some of the standout tracks include If It's The Last Night, English Eyes, and the rather unusual love song I Think I Could Stand You Forever (note to the lads having trouble with the lasses-- this is NOT a line to use on a girl you may be interested in and thus this is not a song to be used to try to woo the object of your affections). 

I've read that the Japanese release is a considerably better/less muddy mix but I've not heard it so I can't vouch for that.  If you find or get your hands on a better mix of this album chances are you'll thoroughly enjoy it.  And heck if you can get past an album sounding like it was recorded in one of the bathrooms in Grand Central Station you might even enjoy the sub-par US released mix of the album.

Related Links
Toto (official site)
TotoNetwork.com
Toto (wikipedia)
Steve Lukather (official site)
Steve Lukather (wikipedia)
David Paich (official site)
David Paich (wikipedia)
Jeff Porcaro (wikipedia)
Steve Porcaro (wikipedia)
Bobby Kimball (official site)
Bobby Kimball (wikipedia)
David Hungate (wikipedia)

Boston - Walk On (1994)

"But there's no Brad Delp!"

It's one of the biggest gripes I've heard about this album, and I heard it repeatedly. If it's any consolation Delp did rejoin the band for the subsequent tour to promote the album.

That being said, Delp or no Delp this is a thoroughly enjoyable album. While Fran Cosmo's voice isn't quite as distinct as Delp's he does have the range Delp had in his prime and he is equal to the task of the material on the album.

And in all fairness to Mr. Cosmo he and Delp both took turns singing lead on former Boston guitarist Barry Goudreau's 1980 solo album.

Given the strength of the material on Walk On, that I'd argue is possibly the best material Boston had recorded since Don't Look Back or possibly even their debut (if I were being particularly generous). Tight soaring vocal harmonies-- Check, trademark tight Tom Scholz "guitarmonies"-- Check, superior musicianship-- Check. I'd argue the timing of Walk On and the long delay (8 years) between albums likely contributed far more to its relative lack of success (compared to Boston's other albums. When you couple in that this album was released in the era of grunge, this album was far too polished to compete with the much rawer production that was coming from the likes of Nirvana, Stone Temple Pilots, and Pearl Jam around that time.

The album starts with a bang on I Need Your Love and keeps up the pace on Surrender to Me before the 12+ minute Walk On medley begins. Perhaps my lone complaint about this album was that Walk On was broken up into 4 tracks on the CD. None of the 4 tracks can stand on their own given the flow of the medley, I'd rather Scholz had made Walk On a single 12+ minute track. He still could have listed the different parts on the CD sleeve or in the liner notes. On some CD players the transition from track to track is rather seamless, but on others there can be a slight "hiccup" between each track that is somewhat jarring in an otherwise thoroughly enjoyable piece.

Following Walk On is the unoffensive but comparatively weak, What's Your Name. In all fairness, even being the weakest song on the album, What's Your Name remains thoroughly enjoyable.

Magdalene, is a re-working of a song by Hybrid Ice, a band that found regional success in the early eighties in their native Pennsylvania. Having heard both Hybrid Ice's original version and Boston's version I've got to say that Scholz took a good song and made it great. The Hybrid Ice version is enjoyable enough, Scholz kept the choruses but changed the verses substantially and the harmony vocals by David Sikes and Tommy Funderburk are so tight they give me chills. To this day Magdalene remains my favorite song on this album. It just sounds as if everything fell into place. I'd even go so far as to say Magdalene blows their hit Amanda out of the water.

The album closes with the upbeat We Can Make It. It's an upbeat song about working together to change the world, it's the hints of a message that has crept increasingly more into Tom Scholz's lyrics in the years since.

If you've generally ignored this album due to the absence of Brad Delp, you're doing yourself a tremendous disservice. This album is superior, in every way, to 1986's Third Stage and is easily one of Boston's strongest albums-- Delp or no Delp.

Related Links
Walk On (wikipedia)
Walk On (AllMusicGuide)
Boston (official site)
Boston (wikipedia)
Tom Scholz (wikipedia)
Fran Cosmo (wikipedia)
Gary Pihl (wikipedia)
Tommy Funderburk (wikipedia)

Toto - Live @ Montreux 5/7/1991

By 1991 Toto had more than proven themselves. They'd had a string of hits in the eighties and a mantle full of Grammy Awards collected for Toto IV and Rosanna at the 1983 Grammy Awards.

They also had soldiered through a revolving door of lead singers-- Bobby Kimball, Fergie Frederiksen, Joseph Williams, and Jean-Michel Byron (the last of which the band and most fans try to forget).

But you take the good with the bad and after the sour taste that Byron had left them with, Toto decided to soldier on with guitarist Steve Lukather handling the lion's share of lead vocals.

The 1991 Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland was the first glimpse Toto gave of their then upcoming album, Kingdom of Desire.

What the band didn't know, and couldn't have known at the time was that this would end up being one of Jeff Porcaro's final concerts with the band before his untimely passing in August 1992. As such this bootleg is arguably the highest quality and one of the only bootlegs available featuring Porcaro playing material from his final album with the band.

Toto's set starts out with the fiery On the Run (which, incidentally, didn't make it onto Kingdom of Desire) an uptempo rocker, and easily one of the heaviest and hardest rocking songs that Toto had ever recorded. It would not have sounded out of place on Kingdom of Desire which ended up being, arguably, Toto's heaviest, hardest, and rawest album. (On the Run did inevitably make it onto Toto's 1997 twentieth anniversary rarities collection, XX.)

The band also plays Kingdom of Desire and the intensely grooving instrumental Jake to the Bone from Jeff Porcaro's final album.

In addition to the new material the band also dips into their back catalog with the Lukather penned and sung ballad I'll Be Over You, the smash hits-- Africa, Rosanna, and Hold the Line. In the absence of a regular tenor vocalist on Rosanna and Hold the Line Toto taps background singers (Fred White and Jenny Douglas respectively) to handle the tenor vocals. At times the background singers are equal to the task but for the most part their vocals fall thin compared to Bobby Kimball's vocals on the originals.

A couple of covers round out Toto's set, the Hendrix cover Red House that lets Steve Lukather cut his teeth a bit more on guitar and the seemingly out of place throwaway Ike & Tina Turner cover, I Wanna Take You Higher featuring Toto's female back-up singers (Jenny Douglas & Jackie McGhee) singing lead. While this cover might not have sounded out of place at a Toto concert in the late seventies, given the rest of the songs in this early nineties set, it sounds woefully out of place and sticks out like a sore thumb.

That being said, this bootleg is definitely worth adding to any collection largely on the strength of On the Run, Jake to the Bone, Kingdom of Desire, and the Hendrix cover Red House. And for any Toto fan, this is a must given its significance as the first time any material from Kingdom of Desire was performed live (and by Jeff Porcaro to boot!).

Related Links
Kingdom of Desire (wikipedia)
Toto (official site)
Jeff Porcaro (wikipedia)
Steve Lukather (official site)
Steve Lukather (wikipedia)
David Paich (wikipedia)
Mike Porcaro (wikipedia)

Barry Goudreau - s/t (1980)

Over 6 years elapsed between the release of Boston's Don't Look Back and Third Stage albums, killing any momentum the band had after the commercial successes of their first two albums.

Barry Goudreau's self-titled solo album featuring not only his guitar playing but also vocals from Brad Delp and Fran Cosmo (incidentally Cosmo later sang lead with Goudreau's other band, Orion the Hunter in 1984 and Boston's Walk On album in 1994).

Goudreau's guitar playing and the tight vocal harmonies of Delp and Cosmo make this album sound like the Boston album that never was. The style is much more reminiscent of Boston's first two albums which both featured both Goudreau and Tom Scholz on guitars than their later albums which featured Sholz & Gary Pihl on guitars.

Unfortunately, this album led to Goudreau being fired from Boston as it was felt at the time that Goudreau was trying to steal a bit of Boston's thunder. In reality, Goudreau was just getting bored waiting for Boston to knuckle down and get to work on their third album so he decided to release a solo album to bide his time and maintain his talents.

Given the six years that passed between Don't Look Back and Third Stage Scholz should have given this album his blessing as it would have kept Boston on the radar of the listening public while he was working on Third Stage.

The material on this release is strong from the opening bars of Hard Luck through songs like What's a Fella To Do and Dreams and on through to the closing bars of Cold Cold World which closes the album. While some of the songs definitely sound like they just as easily could have come from a Boston album, songs like Mean Woman Blues sound more reminiscent of REO Speedwagon's debut album than anything Boston ever recorded.

As far as Boston related material is concerned, this album sounds more like Boston than any of the other derivatives (Orion the Hunter, Return to Zero, Delp/Goudreau, etc.). Arguably, this album is more faithful to the sound of Boston's first two albums than Third Stage, Walk On, or Corporate America were.

If you thoroughly enjoyed Boston's first two albums this is a MUST HAVE! Heck this album is a welcome addition to any collection.

Related Links
Barry Goudreau (official site)
Barry Goudreau (wikipedia)
Brad Delp (wikipedia)
Fran Cosmo (wikipedia)
Boston (official site)
Boston (wikipedia)

REO Speedwagon - Lost in a Dream (1974)

Before becoming arena rock giants along with Journey, Foreigner, & Styx; REO Speedwagon was a hard workin', hard rock band. After a rocky start, and on their third lead singer in as many albums REO had seemingly found some stability with Michael Murphy who, at this point, was the first of their singers to sing lead on two consecutive albums.

Much like his predecessor (and as history would bear out-- his successor as well), Kevin Cronin, Murphy had a rather distinct vocal style. Where Cronin's vocals leaned more towards the nasal, Murphy's were more towards the Rod Stewart meets the more contemporary Macy Gray end of the vocal spectrum.

That this band could survive a revolving door of tenor vocalists as distinctly different as Terry Luttrell, Kevin Cronin, and Michael Murphy is a testament to the strength of REO Speedwagon.

This album is a return to form of sorts to the band's roots. Much like their 1971 debut there's a strong roadhouse dive bar vibe to this album. You can almost feel the sticky floors at your feet and see the Harleys lined up outside and the paint peeling from the tattered walls inside.

Unlike Ridin' the Storm Out which also features Murphy on vocals, I don't believe any material from Lost in a Dream or its 1975, follow-up This Time We Mean It has ever made it into the live set since Murphy's departure from and Kevin Cronin's return to the band. It's a shame really as there's some respectable material. The underrated Gary Richrath has some excellent solos, and Neal Doughty's piano/keyboard chops give off that really cool aforementioned roadhouse dive bar vibe, and as always Greg Philbin and Alan Gratzer on bass & drums respectively provide a strong backbone to the band's sound.

The trouble with the album is that it never rises above that roadhouse dive-bar vibe. That's both its greatest strength and Achilles heel. At this point in their career REO's fans were largely a regional cult following. There were hundreds of house bands at roadhouse dive bars playing the same kind of music. The only thing setting REO apart from their more anonymous less famous bar band counterparts was a record deal and the polish of professional studio production that went with the standard recording contracts of that era.

From start to finish the album is fun and catchy but never realizes or even aspires to excellence. If you're a fan of REO's latter day much more pop friendly sound, you'd scarcely be able to tell that the band that recorded Keep On Lovin' You, Take It On the Run, and Can't Fight This Feelin' also recorded this album. On the other hand if you're not a fan of their latter day more pop-friendly material and you think you know REO Speedwagon you might want to give Lost in a Dream a chance. You might just find yourself pleasantly surprised.

Related Links
REO Speedwagon (Official Website)
REO Speedwagon (wikipedia)
Lost in a Dream (wikipedia)
Gary Richrath (wikipedia)
Neal Doughty (Official Website)
Neal Doughty (wikipedia)

Tim Feehan - Carmalita (1983)

For a moment, remind yourself that this album was released in the eighties and excuse the ever so unfortunate cover art.

Tim Feehan got his start in the Canadian band, Footloose. After achieving moderate success in his native Canada on a small handful of singles, Feehan opted to pursue a solo career.

Feehan has an exceptional voice. It's a cross between Bryan Adams and Richard Marx, although I'd argue better than either of them. Unfortunately, Feehan never enjoyed the level of success of either of those contemporaries.

Listening to his solo material it's not difficult to understand why. Carmalita is pleasant enough from start to finish. It's predominantly mid-tempo lite AOR with relatively catchy melodies however nothing that really sets it apart from any other mid-tempo lite AOR of the same era.

All of the songs are enjoyable and Feehan's voice is consistently strong and very easy on the ears. But none of the songs stick out. His duet with Vikki Moss, Never Say Die (Moss also did a duet with David Foster, Love at Second Sight and was featured on the song If I Turn You Away from the St. Elmo's Fire soundtrack)features strong vocals by both Feehan and Moss but the music seems phoned-in and generic. It does no favors to Feehan.

With stronger material and more passionate music from the session cats backing him up, Feehan's career might have gone on a much stronger trajectory than it did. He certainly had the vocal chops to have had a much more successful career than he ended up having.

Instead Carmalita remains an out of print curiosity of mid eighties Canadian pop. In fairness, Feehan's follow-up albums did show substantial improvement, but those are other reviews for other days.

Oh... and you can commence laughing at the cover art if you like, now. ;-)

Toto - Hydra (1978)

I was recently listening to live versions of Hydra and St. George & the Dragon from their 1978 Hydra album. These two songs had the potential to have been extrapolated on-- a concept album could have been written around the whole St. George tale.

Hydra is the tale of St. George from the perspective of the Hydra he's made his mission to kill.

Musically, the song features some of Steve Lukather's best guitar playing and some exceptional keyboard work by both Steve Porcaro and David Paich.

The very next track, St. George & the Dragon is the continuation of the tale featuring some more clever keyboarding from Paich and Porcaro.

Sadly the rest of Toto's Hydra album is a bit uneven. There are some strong bits like 99 and Lorraine. But other than those 4 tracks Hydra is mediocre at best.

I think if Toto had chosen to write the entire album around the tale of St. George either as a concept album (a la Alan Parsons Project) or even a rock opera (a la The Who's Tommy) the end product would have been considerably stronger.

In 1984 Toto composed and performed much of the music to the Dino DeLaurentis version of Frank Herbert's Dune and some of the material from that, is musically similar to the material on Hydra. Desert Theme could just as easily have been an overture to open the tale of St. George, Take My Hand would have fit well as a stirring emotional interlude in the tale.

Toto - Falling in Between (2006)

Toto is and always has been a band of "musician's musicians"-- highly respected among their peers but often overlooked by the American public and often panned by their critics. And their revolving door of lead vocalists Bobby Kimball, Fergie Frederiksen, Joseph Williams, and Jean-Michel Byron, certainly didn't help them remain in the public eye.

The 1998 return of original lead vocalist, Bobby Kimball, is just what this band needed to steer them back on track. While much of the material they recorded in the 14 years following Kimball's 1984 firing is exceptional and quite listenable the material they've recorded since his return shows a certain return to form-- taking their music up a notch.

While 1999's Mindfields was arguably their best album since the grammy winning Toto IV (1982), Falling in Between kicks it up to a whole new level. Those who have lost track of Toto over the years may not think this sounds like them, those who have stuck around for all their ups and downs over the years will surely recognize this album as another step in the band's evolution.

This album welcomes new keyboardist/vocalist Greg Phillinganes who joined the band for the 2004 tour to replace keyboardist David Paich who has taken a leave of absence from the road for health reasons. Even moreso than Mindfields, Falling in Between sounds like a full group effort. The latin-tinged percussion, Steve Lukather's melodic guitar, and Paich's keyboard fills throughout the album bare evidence that this band, contrary to popular public belief, is alive and VERY well.

From the opening track, Falling in Between, Toto grabs a firm grasp on the listener and holds on tight, not letting go through the duration of the album. Dying on My Feet features Chicago's James Pankow guesting on trombone and Tower of Power's Lee Thornburg on trumpet augmenting Toto's already tight sound.

Bottom of Your Soul finds Steve Lukather sharing lead vocals with former Toto vocalist, Joseph Williams, who was invited to join the sessions as a friend and guest. His smoother tenor fits the song better than the more soulfully flamboyant Bobby Kimball's would have, his contributions to this album are welcome ones indeed.

King of the World shows that David Paich still has not only his keyboard chops but still has a respectable singing voice as he shares the vocals with Bobby Kimball and Steve Lukather.

Another notable guest spot is on Hooked, Jethro Tull's Ian Anderson graces the song with his superlative flute chops. Anderson's flute and Lukather's guitar play so tightly together you'd almost swear Anderson had been in Toto all along.

Simple Life shows Steve Lukather at his best both as a musician and a songwriter. This is probably one of his most nakedly personal songs since the material on his 1997 solo album, Luke.
In 1992 after drummer Jeff Porcaro's passing, Toto could have gone the easy route and found a "Jeff-clone" instead they opted to find an established drummer with a style all his own. Taint Your World is yet another song added to the Toto catalog by Simon Phillips in which he proves himself to be a drummer apart. While Phillips sound excellent throughout the entire album, Taint Your World is the one track in which his talents are most evident.

Let It Go finds Greg Phillinganes showing he's more than equal to the task of handling lead vocals for Toto on his own. The song also features a moving and melodic guitar solo by Steve Lukather.

Spiritual Man is an interesting piece in that it's a rather secular gospel song. It's not overtly religious and only hints at Christianity with references to a man with "holes in his hands." The song instead focuses on spirituality rather than belief or dogma.

Ironically the closing track is titled No End In Sight. And hopefully with a title like that, this album is a sign of more great music to come from this far too often overlooked band.

Related Links
Falling in Between (wikipedia)
Toto (wikipedia)
Toto 99 (Official Website)
Steve Lukather (Official Website)
Steve Lukather (wikipedia)
Bobby Kimball (Official Website)
Bobby Kimball (wikipedia)
Mike Porcaro (Official Website)
Mike Porcaro (wikipedia)
Simon Phillips (Official Website)
Simon Phillips (wikipedia)
David Paich (wikipedia)
Greg Phillinganes (wikipedia)

Trillion (1978)

In 1978 keyboardist Patrick Leonard and vocalist Dennis “Fergie” Frederiksen and a small handful of other musicians formed Trillion. Recorded in the studios at the Caribou Ranch owned by former Chicago producer, James William Guercio, in remote Nederland, Colorado their debut album hearkens back to a different era. Their brand of hard rock is strongly reminiscent of much of the better work of Blue Oyster Cult.

Frederiksen’s tweeter-scorching tenor graces all but one track on the 8 song release. The album starts with a bang on Hold Out with Fergie not only contributing vocals but also playing the tubular bells. Tubular bells?!?! Yes, oddly enough, tubular bells being used in 70s hard rock. The bells are subtle and you may not even notice them at first listen but they accent the song nicely.

Hold Out segues into Big Boy which has a very similar vibe. Both tracks have catchy grooves fun to tap on your steering wheel or coffee table to.

For all its cheese glory, Give Me Your Money, Honey is a regrettably catchy song… Regrettably catchy because, really, you don’t want to be caught dead singing it to yourself in public… but after only a few listens, unfortunately you may find yourself doing just that.

You Never Had It So Good will never win any awards for having clever lyrics. But it has a rather enjoyable guitar solo by Frank Barbalace and Fergie has the kind of voice that could make even the yellow pages sound compelling.

While his keyboard/synthesizer theatrics are present on all the songs on the album, Patrick Leonard’s keyboard playing is most evident on May As Well Go.

The whole album is enjoyable and fun, it doesn’t take itself seriously (unless you consider a song titled Fancy Action to be high-art that is), but perhaps what makes this album so enjoyable is knowing that vocalist Fergie Frederiksen would go on to sing lead for bayou rockers, LeRoux, and south California studio rockers, Toto. And Patrick Leonard would go on to produce the likes of Madonna, Peter Cetera, and Michael W. Smith… not to mention was ½ of the sadly overlooked and critically acclaimed, Toy Matinee with the late Kevin Gilbert.

While their musical seeds weren’t sown until later, this album shows where Frederiksen and Leonard’s musical seeds were initially planted and where they initially cut their musical teeth.

Steve Lukather - Santamental (2003)

The very title of his 2003 Christmas CD, Santamental, immediately tips Steve Lukather’s cards so you know he's not dealing from the same deck as dear old dad. The picture of Lukather in a straightjacket with Christmas lights wrapped around him on the CD sleeve only reinforces that message. The best part about this CD, Lukather brought some of his “friends” over to “play.” Friends like Eddie Van Halen (on Joy to the World), Edgar Winter (on Greensleeves and Winter Wonderland), Steve Vai (on Carol of the Bells) and Michael Landau (on Look Out for Angels) augment and complement Lukather’s vocal and guitar stylings throughout the CD.

If you’re looking for a “safe” Christmas CD, reminiscent of Burl Ives, Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, and Nat King Cole, you really ought to keep looking—you won’t find that on this CD… Well, that’s not entirely true. Lukather does an amusing “duet” with the late Sammy Davis Jr. on the Christmas classic, Jingle Bells.

Lukather seamlessly shifts from instrumental to vocal tracks showing off his guitar chops on songs like Angels We Have Heard On High and Silent Night and his raspy vocals on Broken Heart for Christmas, Look Out For Angels and Winter Wonderland.

What makes this such a stand-out Christmas CD is that Steve Lukather is able to take each of these songs and make them his very own. While the songs are still recognizable as Christmas songs, they have an extra chutzpah (okay, so maybe “chutzpah” is a word better reserved for a Hanukah CD) that also makes them distinctly Lukather songs.

Peter Cetera s/t debut (1981)

After finding this on vinyl at a used record shop in the early 90s, I was thrilled to find it was available on CD as a Japanese import back in 1997. The $29.99 + shipping price tag was prohibitive, but in the end it was well worth every cent.

This is, in my honest opinion, Cetera's finest work. It has a much more raw sound and feel of his later more polished A/C super-saccharine ballads. This is Cetera when he still liked to cut loose and rock. The album is just plain fun from start to finish with not a bad track to be found.

Stand out tracks include the opening rocker Livin' In the Limelight (with Toto's Steve Lukather on guitar), On the Line (which was the side 2 opener on the LP-- the piano on this track is pure fun and a joy to listen to), Practical Man, and the album's closer Ivy Covered Walls. Now that this gem, is (long overdue) available in the US at a much more affordable price it's an even greater buy!

Toto - Kingdom of Desire (1992)

A Welcome Departure for a solid band

Rather than holding onto the over-the-top synthesized glossiness of the eighties, Toto decided to take a much more raw bluesy approach on KOD. Steve Lukather lends his slightly raspy vocals to these uptempo rockers. The band sounds and feels more like a band on this album than on any other before.

Sadly, drummger Jeff Porcaro died shortly after the recording and just before the release of this gem, prompting Toto to take their music in yet another new direction. One can only wonder where Toto would be today had they continued down this musical path.