Toto XIV

Updated on Dec 02, 2023

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Released March 20, 2015 Artist Toto		Length 55:59 Release date 18 March 2015

Recorded December 2013–December 2014 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 Producer C. J. Vanston, Steve Lukather, David Paich, Steve Porcaro, Joseph Williams Label FRONTIERS RECORDS 　Licensed by Frontiers Records s.r.l Genres Rock music, Pop rock, Progressive rock, Hard rock, Blues rock Similar Toto albums, Rock music albums

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.

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 died 5 days before the release of the album due to complications from ALS. He had been inactive since 2007.

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.

Reception

Allmusic's review described XIV, saying 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."

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 – synths, 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:

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:

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

Songs

1Running Out of Time4:06
2Burn4:56
3Holy War5:24

References

Toto XIV Wikipedia

(Text) CC BY-SA