Album Rating: 3.5
''But I also like the almost menacing feel of St. George's progression''
Agreed. It might be my favorite track of the album. I'll give the whole thing another whirl soon.
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Album Rating: 4.5
I love the part from about 2:10 to 2:40, that little guitar solo especially gets me every time. It's a simple idea but for me it works so well. That said my favorite track has to be the t/t
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Album Rating: 3.5
Yes, there is so much going on in song Hydra, and you're right, it flirts with progressive rock. It's moving and melodies are beautiful instrumentally and vocally. I see where you're coming from with that nice instrumental passage in St-George. Song has some vibes of Supertramp mixed with Electric Light Orchestra imo. 99 starts optimistic but is ending with a rather sad and poignant instrumental break with a superb piano and guitar interplay. Nicely done. Album is getting better than I thought, finally.
Let see closer to the rest...
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Album Rating: 3.5
this is tough gentlemen.....with all due respect......YOU ALL know i love you
i am concerned
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Album Rating: 3.5
What's up Titan? Everything is ok?
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Album Rating: 3.5
lol yes Jethro
i'm being sarcastic because you guys are digging this Toto record
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Album Rating: 3.5
Ah yes ok I see. After I struggled with it, I'm now digging some tracks, but I have hard times with some others. The rhythm section is a bit too tight and band flirts with funk. When you know it, you can get over it ;)
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Album Rating: 3.5
hah!
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Album Rating: 3.5
I'm less enthusiastic with ''Lorraine''and ''All Us Boys''.''Lorraine'' sounds promising but I don't like the chorus. ''Mama'' is a cool funky one, but it's a tad repetitive. It reminds me of some Steely Dan and it's a good thing. ''White Sister'' rocks hard, but it could be more generous. ''A Secret Love'' is nothing too special. So overall, I couldnt give more than 3.5...
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Album Rating: 4.5
A 3.5 is not a light rating in my books so I'm already happy with that! Also I used to share part of that criticism. Now I love Lorraine and Mama, but I still agree about White Sister in the sense that it teases the arrival of something proggier but never really enters that zone. What sold me on All Us Boys is 3:10 onwards
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Hydra is by far my favorite Toto album and an art rock album that was highly successful in its vision. A unique allow of prog rock, R&B, Latin jazz, and pop was forged. A sound un like any other. Less pretentious and more accessible than the brilliant UK debut album it emphasized great talents within a band. Instead of studio musician tendencies to support other than lead, which could be a hinderance rather than an asset on part of the more banal debut album, allows the band to function as a unit with members really feeding off each other and more of a live sound. Porcaro on 99 is just ridiculous, moving seamlessly from 6/4 to a Latin beam with emphasis on the 3 beat with the snare (not a 2, 4 R&B backbeat)...and my God he's rolling from beats 1/3/4/5, etc. in the 99 outro. The Hydra/St. George suite is 12.5 min of brilliance.
IV, the underrated Seventh One and the last half of XIV all have their great moments...but this is the vector in a better world Toto would have focused on.
Ironically, listen to the last half of XIV...maybe Toto finally found their way back.
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Album Rating: 4.5
The last two minutes of 99 are godly, agreed. Very underrated just because it doesn't rock, just like Mama. I think side A of the album is pretty much faultless. Had side B been a bit more adventurous this would have been my favorite Toto album too. Still, it's definitely one of my favorite albums in general.
"in a better world"
Ha! Speaking of which, what about Mindfields and Falling in Between? Stuff like Dying On My Feet and, well, the Better World suite should capture your attention if you seek more proggy music from the band.
And you are right about XIV. The multi-faced Great Expectations became one of my most favorite Toto songs as soon as I heard its second half. Pieces like Unknown Soldier and the dynamic Chinatown don't joke around either. I'd be very curious to see what they'd do if they decide to record a new full-length. For now, let's wait for the end of the year and see what they give us with the newfound old demos that they decided to complete. Personally I'd be really happy if Joker's Back finally found an official home, maybe Runaway too
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Album Rating: 4.0
this fkn rules hard. i bought the record for a dollar
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Album Rating: 4.5
Most of their abums are crazy cheap and they sound excellent, I actually find that the remastered ones are actually the expensive / hard ones to find haha. Though that may change depending how they treat the upcoming Sony remasters. Also some of their later albums (Mindfields, Falling in Between) are impossible to find in stores here. That sucks because they are some of their best stuff.
nnnnnnnnnnnnnghhh that guitar riff at ~2:40 into Lorraine (you can hear it better and repeated from 3:30) is just majestic
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Album Rating: 3.0
Rolling Stone is a crock of shit
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what is going on
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Album Rating: 4.5
"So we tried something a little different with ‘Hydra,’ and it sold well, although it might have been a little bit rushed for us. And here’s some irony for you - Rolling Stone beat up on the first album, and then when they reviewed ‘Hydra,’ the opening line of the review is something like, “It doesn’t have the magic of the first album.”
- Steve Lukather
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Album Rating: 3.0
^^^^^^^^^^^
Also according to one of the band members, the reason Toto isn't in the RocknRoll HoF is because someone at Rolling Stone has a personal vendetta against em.
Regardless if it is true or not, the HoF has 0 credibility until they allow Toto into the collection.
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Album Rating: 4.0
this is soo damn good
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Album Rating: 4.5
The last third of 99 is a real masterpiece in my eyes.
If only Tale of a Man was included this would be a hard 5.0 for me, the debut too suffered from the removal of certain songs.
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