Best albums by Toto?

I'm a big fan of 80s music that has a lot of R&B/Soul/Funk influence like Spandau Ballet, INXS, and of course, Toto. However, I only have their Past and Present compilation. Does anyone here like them and have any favorite albums to recommend, seeing as our friend Scott/Ult isn't so much a fan himself?

I think I know a total of 3 Toto songs (Africa, Rosanna and Hold The Line) and like them well enough. Beyond that.......

I love Africa and Rosana by Toto but as for albums I cant help ya there

Well you'll get a lof of Funk and Rn'B influences on their first 2 albums (Toto & Hydra) altough of course 70's and not 80's sound wise.

Fahrenheit is probably their most pure West Coast Rock and Rn'B & Blue Eyed Soul album from the 80s (The Seventh One and even Isolation has them too though. Personally i always prefered those two over Fahrenheit but that's just me).

Kingdom of Desire has a lot of Funk influences with "She knows the Devil" being the closest the band got to the then popular Funk Metal Sound with "Kick down the Walls" having a bit more of an classic Funk vibe to it (that song isn't on all releases of the album though). It's one of my favourite albums by them.

Their album Tambu is very big in Rn'B and Blues in general with songs like Baby he's your man and the japanese bonus track Blackeye especially.

Maybe you should just get a "best of" set.

nevermore wrote:

Maybe you should just get a "best of" set.

As funny as it may sounds, there are probably 50 Best of's from Toto and they all suck.
The Single CD Compilations usually contain the same Singles and none of the deep cuts. Others have their flaws too, like the 2 CD Essential that features single versions and some really bad remixes for no reason. Rosanna - The Very Best of is a 3CD version that omits Africa and has a bad sound quality. The best Compilation is probably "Gold-Greatest Hits" which at least features songs from every album up to Mindfields (1999), altough for whatever reason only two tracks from Fahrenheit...

I pretty much like Self titled thru Isolation. The next two after that get a little too slick, but I still dig em. Kingdom of Desire is decent. Falling in Between from 2006 is a really good album!


Don't forget the Dune soundtrack!!!

I like the self-titled the best.  And my favorite song from that wasn't even a hit:

Toho, That's a very good tune!!!

I just grabbed a brand new set containing their first five albums off eBay for $14. Looking forward to digging deeper into their catalog.

That's a great deal.  I'm sure you'll find enough good tunes there to justify the price.

I only know Toto from their hits, including "Stranger In Town" which I still have on the 45 I got when I was a kid. Seeing this thread, I decided to check their discography on Spotify. The first few songs on their first album I didn't really care for, but then it picks up. Really into "Angela" right now. "Manuela Run" (posted above) is great!

Turn Back is a great underdog of an album! I don't know why this album didn't do well. It kicks some ass! Maybe it was too much rock and prog for people??








One of my favorites from Dennis Frederickson's only album with Toto.



The album should have ended with that song instead of that crappy Holyanna tune. If you cut off Holyanna and How Does It Feel you have a perfect album.

chewie wrote:

Turn Back is a great underdog of an album! I don't know why this album didn't do well. It kicks some ass! Maybe it was too much rock and prog for people??

I've been exploring their albums chronologically via Spotify (I'm on IV) and didn't care for Turn Back at all save for this song. This one I will definitely buy a download for one of my mp3 players. Love when that guitar kicks in.

I think I mentioned the same thing in another thread (the Prog-Rock one) that I also haven't really gotten in to Turn Back. That song Carmen from isolation is pretty rad though. I'll try and give Turn Back another shot. I take it that it's more of an acquired taste than the rest. Some of my favorite artists have albums like that, so it's nothing new to me.

They pretty much lost me with this:



It's what I call the "Kmart song" because when I worked at Kmart they had it in heavy rotation on the KMart radio system. Funny, the last time I was in KMart a couple of months ago I heard it again.

Oh man! I just listened to The Seventh One and it's terrible! Worse than Turn Back. I could barely get through it. The most generic easy listening garbage. I've been listening to each album up to this point on a continuous loop as I've been working on an art project, but will never listen to this album again.

OMG!  I have no idea how I know that "I'll Be Over You" song but I do.  Ugh, is that horrible!  And I like some "mellow" music but that is just sappy, syrupy pablum.

I'm listening to Kingdom of Desire now, and they went from sappy, easy listening crap to a rocker, lol. Guitarist Steve Lukather took over the vocals and he sounds like Gene Simmons so much it actually bugs me. This song (coincidentally, also the name of a KISS song) even sounds like something Gene would write, but with hot chicks in the lyrics.

80s Metal Lady wrote:

Oh man! I just listened to The Seventh One and it's terrible! Worse than Turn Back. I could barely get through it. The most generic easy listening garbage. I've been listening to each album up to this point on a continuous loop as I've been working on an art project, but will never listen to this album again.  

Yeah, that one is Super slick......

chewie wrote:

Turn Back is a great underdog of an album! I don't know why this album didn't do well. It kicks some ass! Maybe it was too much rock and prog for people??








One of my favorites from Dennis Frederickson's only album with Toto.



The album should have ended with that song instead of that crappy Holyanna tune. If you cut off Holyanna and How Does It Feel you have a perfect album.

That's the first time I have ever heard "Goodbye Elenor" and for a minute there I thought they were gonna play "Detroit Rock City"!

tohostudios wrote:

OMG!  I have no idea how I know that "I'll Be Over You" song but I do.  Ugh, is that horrible!  And I like some "mellow" music but that is just sappy, syrupy pablum.

Yes, for some reason it is one of those songs that takes me back in time to a particular moment... In high school I worked at KMart and they would send these tapes to us to play in the store. So that song reminds me of working there after school and during the summer. I think the tapes repeated about every 2 hours (maybe 120 minute tape?). By the end of the month the tape would drag. This song seemed to be on numerous tapes while I worked there so in an 8 hour day I might hear it 4 times a day. Several months ago we went into our run-down KMart (I told my wife and kids that it looks just like the one I worked at in the 80's and it doesn't look like they have updated the store at all). Then that song came on and I told my wife they haven't updated the music either!

When I was listening to Fahrenheit, and "I'll Be Over You" came on, I immediately recognized it when it got to "as soon as my heart stops breakin'" I had forgotten about it and didn't even remember it as a Toto song. I probably hadn't heard it since the 1980s. I remember the video, too, especially that guy acting scared about climbing on the roof.

I think I'm already growing bored of them. Listening to the set I got, there's a lot of mediocre stuff by the band thrown in as filler. I think they sound better on the compilation for the most part. Such a shame.

muckie wrote:

I think I'm already growing bored of them. Listening to the set I got, there's a lot of mediocre stuff by the band thrown in as filler. I think they sound better on the compilation for the most part. Such a shame.

I agree. A "Best Of" is probably the best way to go with Toto.