Well, I just got a slew of new CD's but its too early to review them just yet. I picked up recent CD's by Cheap Trick, Def Leppard and Neil Young so I'll be commenting on them in the near future. Since the internet is part of the media, I just thought I'd mention one of my favorite web sites is www.melodicrock.com, a website that specializes in the type of music I loved in high school and still listen to now (obviously). It's a fun place to read up on old arena rock and metal bands plus reviews of recent CD's. A lot of the bands mentioned are European, so I can't claim to follow all of it. However ,if you're a fan of Journey, Van Halen or other bands of that time period /genre, I would recommend this site.
One new CD I bought was Toto - Falling In Between. I've been a fan of Toto for years and finally got to see them live in 1999. Toto's mix of professionalism and technical ability have always impressed me. In the past, the band has never been able to settle on a consistent sound for more than one album resulting in a scattershot career with just enough high points for them to be remembered. Their most successful efforts artistically and commercially have been when they stradle the line between arena rock and adult contemporary. The new CD leans more towards arena rock, with elements of just about every other sound you can imagine thrown in.
Falling In Between is easily Toto's least compromising album since 1979's Hydra. With previous albums, Toto would switch sounds from song to song. There would usually be a rock anthem followed by a power ballad followed by a jazzy song and then a R&B song. In Falling In Between, everything gets jumbled with songs switching styles inside the song itself. For example, on "Dying On My Feet" the song begins with an afrobeat verse followed by an arena rock chorus and finishes with an extended horn part arranged by James Pankow of Chicago. The opening song "Falling In Between" starts off with a lurching Led Zep riff and rapid fire instrumental breaks a la Dream Theater before decending into an instrumental breakdown with jazzy keyboards. The mixing of styles makes this one of Toto's most artistic and musically exciting efforts.
Maybe knowing pop radio has passed them by, Toto clearly makes the album they want to make and take chances (something they were accused of not doing through most of their career). The album sounds great and the performances are inspired, but the lyrics were not quite working for me. Toto writes noble platitudes about life in the Sudan or the Enron scandal in the same horrible manner they wrote about worldly topics on 1987's The Seventh One. Some artists are meant to write heartfelt lyrics about world issues. Toto ain't one of them. As my wife aptly put while listening to their anti-excess anthem "Hooked", thanks for the Public Service Announcement Toto!
The winning moments on the album are when they relax into their adult contemporary groove as on "Bottom Of Your Soul" and "Let It Go". On "Bottom Of Your Soul" there is africanized percussion reminiscent of their hit "Africa" and a pleasingly smooth chorus. "Let It Go" finds the band in a funky jazz mood they haven't touched in years and has been my favorite on the album.
Melodicrock gave this album a grade of 100%. I can't rate it that high, but do give Falling In Between a 7 out of 10. I enjoyed it quite a bit, but it lacks the killer song to make it more memorable.
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