In my musical journey throughout my 27 years, there were a few bands I’d listened to of which I could say there are no bad albums in their whole discography. TOTO is one of them. The band started back in 1977 in Los Angeles, and the members were also some of the most requested session musicians at that time. In 2019 they announced their retirement. Some of the members were still requested during their lifetime as members of TOTO.
Unfortunately it was a band that suffered a lot with diseases. First it was Jeff Porcaro, former drummer and one of the founding members, who passed away in 1992, diagnosed with heart attack due occlusive coronary artery disease caused by atherosclerosis. In between 2006 and 2007, after the release of the album Falling In Between, the late bassist, also a founding member, and Jeff’s brother, Mike Porcaro, was suffering from an undisclosed injury in his hand which was preventing him from playing at his fullness. Later it was discovered he was suffering from the amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), which due to some complications from the disease, he passed away in 2016. This is the same disease the guitarist Jason Becker has and the physicist Stephen Hawking had.
During the Falling In Between’s tour, because Mike wasn’t able to play the bass, the band invited the session bassist Leland Sklar, who played with known names such as Phil Collins and James Taylor (also many more you can check it out here). The keyboardist Greg Phillinganes, who has toured with other very known names such as Stevie Wonder, David Gilmour and Eric Clapton, was touring with the band since 2003 because the main keyboardist, David Paich, was in a semi-retirement (recording the albums but not going on tour). This tour served as stage to record the amazing Falling In Between Live, which was released in 2007 as a double album and a DVD.
This release consists of songs from the album they were touring and some other songs released during their 30 years as a band till that moment. Though not playing with some of their original members, it’s a masterpiece to be enjoyed as a whole. You can enjoy some radio-friendly songs like Africa, Rosanna and Hold The Line, and some heavier and progier songs like Falling In Between and Hydra (which is a snippet that gives space for the drum solo). They also took a time to rearrange some songs for the concert.
The songs I like the most in this concert, following their order of appearance, are:
- Falling In Between
- Pamela
- Don’t Chain My Heart
- Hold The Line
- Stop Loving You
- Cruel
- Rosanna
- Gift Of Faith
- Kingdom Of Desire
- Taint Your World
- Gypsy Train
- Africa
You’ll see yourself dancing and tapping your feet to the rhythm because it is really contagious. Using the same closing sentence as the Vintage Rock review, “even if you’re not a TOTO fan, this is certainly one worth adding to your collection.”
Source:
- http://totoofficial.com/history/
- https://vintagerock.com/toto-falling-in-between-live/
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toto_(band)
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falling_in_Between_Live
