The latest from the rumor mill is in...the Van Halen reunion is not confirmed despite the press announcement because no one has signed anything yet. So, instead of going back to 1984 we may end up in 1996 where Diamond Dave made a public appearance with the band at the MTV awards and found himself fired the next day. Officially, the tour with no announced dates is on hold but at least it's not cancelled. All I can say is I am looking forward to their tour, but if it doesn't happen then they just need to stay gone. Hmmm...I wonder if it's too late for Police tickets?
A few random items, Corrine Bailey Rae's new single "Like A Star" is an outstanding song! Filled with sensuality mixed with a R&B / Jazz sensibility, the song is touching even though I can't understand a word she says.
I've been re-examining John Mayer lately, for most of his career I've written him off as a hack version of Dave Matthews. Mayer's music mainly consists of jaunty acoustic guitars, loping beats and mush mouth vocals just like Mr. Matthews but without the jam band mentality. The lack of originality matched with the pandering to his largely female fan base via "Your Body Is A Wonderland" and "Daughters" made him very annoying. However, after hearing his guitarwork at the Grammys and CMT Crossroads I decided to pick up his Try (2005) disc. On Try, Mayer's jones for Hendrix and Stevie Ray Vaughan serves him well with a rawer take on his borrowed sound including some exciting guitar solos. Coupled with his recent Curtis Mayfield wanna be hit "Waiting For The World To Change" has made Mayer an artist worth a second look.
Lastly, I can finally resume the favorite CD countdown I started way back. Another commercially successful artist who took a chance while at their peak popularity is at Number 56:
Toto - Isolation (1984)
In 1984, Toto was riding high off winning six Grammy Awards in 1982 including both Song and Album of the Year. To highten their prestige, Toto wrote the soundtrack for the David Lynch movie Dune. It seemed Toto was unstoppable and had a great deal of momentum going into their follow up album Isolation, which at the time was more commonly known as Toto V. Despite this, Isolation ended up a Gold record with one top 40 hit. What happened?
Well, a change in Lead singers hurt the band a bit. Lead singer Bobby Kimball was fired from the band for rumored drug problems. After auditioning various vocalists, it came down to two singers: raspy voiced Eric Martin and multi octave wailer Fergie Fredericksen. In the end Fredericksen won, resulting in poor commercial sales and one of my favorite albums of all time.
Fredericksen struck me as the love child of Journey's Steve Perry and Yes' Jon Anderson ( I know, that sounds like one ugly kid). His multioctave voice soared over the songs with power and grace. But, like Jon Anderson the man had no sense of soul. Where Perry or Kimball used their R&B sensibility to punctuate feeling into their music, Fredericksen just wailed. On top of this, Fredericksen's arena rock sensibility replaced Kimball's pop R&B feel resulting in complete alienation of the Adult Contemporary crowd Toto captured with Toto IV (1982).
Ironically, Fredericksen is one of the main reasons I love Isolation. Hearing this band of accomplished musicians race through Arena rock anthems like "Angel Don't Cry", "Carmen" and "Change Of Heart" is downright thrilling. Particularly "Angel Don't Cry", a hard rocking track with scorching guitar from Steve Lukather and duelling keyboard solos from David Paich and Steve Porcaro. Through it all, new guy Fergie belts out the songs with style.
The problem was by 1984 there wasn't much of an audience for this type of music, it was already being replaced by Hair Metal bands from LA. Compounding the problem are the strong R&B numbers, "Lion" and "Endless". Fergie sings both soul ditties with a robotic style of phrasing that ruins any chance for the songs becoming hits despite the fine groove laid by the rhythm section of Jeff and Joe Porcaro. Encouraged by their #1 hit "Africa", David Paich sings lead on two silly songs. The bizarre "Stranger In Town" became the sole hit single peaking somewhere in the 30's of the top 40 chart. "Holyanna" doesn't fare much better, telling the tale of an 80's teen girl gone wild to the beat of Old Tymey music.
At least Lukather is consistent in delivering a fine power ballad, "How Does It Feel" complete with orchestra backing. While the flaws in the record put off many, I found these mistakes endearing. The stilted R&B and weird songs give the record real character and sets up the harder rocking tracks well. Toto would quickly retreat to an all Adult Contemporary album after Isolation with a new singer, but it was too little too late. And although they lost their audience, this album remains an all time favorite AOR record for me.
A few random items, Corrine Bailey Rae's new single "Like A Star" is an outstanding song! Filled with sensuality mixed with a R&B / Jazz sensibility, the song is touching even though I can't understand a word she says.
I've been re-examining John Mayer lately, for most of his career I've written him off as a hack version of Dave Matthews. Mayer's music mainly consists of jaunty acoustic guitars, loping beats and mush mouth vocals just like Mr. Matthews but without the jam band mentality. The lack of originality matched with the pandering to his largely female fan base via "Your Body Is A Wonderland" and "Daughters" made him very annoying. However, after hearing his guitarwork at the Grammys and CMT Crossroads I decided to pick up his Try (2005) disc. On Try, Mayer's jones for Hendrix and Stevie Ray Vaughan serves him well with a rawer take on his borrowed sound including some exciting guitar solos. Coupled with his recent Curtis Mayfield wanna be hit "Waiting For The World To Change" has made Mayer an artist worth a second look.
Lastly, I can finally resume the favorite CD countdown I started way back. Another commercially successful artist who took a chance while at their peak popularity is at Number 56:
Toto - Isolation (1984)
In 1984, Toto was riding high off winning six Grammy Awards in 1982 including both Song and Album of the Year. To highten their prestige, Toto wrote the soundtrack for the David Lynch movie Dune. It seemed Toto was unstoppable and had a great deal of momentum going into their follow up album Isolation, which at the time was more commonly known as Toto V. Despite this, Isolation ended up a Gold record with one top 40 hit. What happened?
Well, a change in Lead singers hurt the band a bit. Lead singer Bobby Kimball was fired from the band for rumored drug problems. After auditioning various vocalists, it came down to two singers: raspy voiced Eric Martin and multi octave wailer Fergie Fredericksen. In the end Fredericksen won, resulting in poor commercial sales and one of my favorite albums of all time.
Fredericksen struck me as the love child of Journey's Steve Perry and Yes' Jon Anderson ( I know, that sounds like one ugly kid). His multioctave voice soared over the songs with power and grace. But, like Jon Anderson the man had no sense of soul. Where Perry or Kimball used their R&B sensibility to punctuate feeling into their music, Fredericksen just wailed. On top of this, Fredericksen's arena rock sensibility replaced Kimball's pop R&B feel resulting in complete alienation of the Adult Contemporary crowd Toto captured with Toto IV (1982).
Ironically, Fredericksen is one of the main reasons I love Isolation. Hearing this band of accomplished musicians race through Arena rock anthems like "Angel Don't Cry", "Carmen" and "Change Of Heart" is downright thrilling. Particularly "Angel Don't Cry", a hard rocking track with scorching guitar from Steve Lukather and duelling keyboard solos from David Paich and Steve Porcaro. Through it all, new guy Fergie belts out the songs with style.
The problem was by 1984 there wasn't much of an audience for this type of music, it was already being replaced by Hair Metal bands from LA. Compounding the problem are the strong R&B numbers, "Lion" and "Endless". Fergie sings both soul ditties with a robotic style of phrasing that ruins any chance for the songs becoming hits despite the fine groove laid by the rhythm section of Jeff and Joe Porcaro. Encouraged by their #1 hit "Africa", David Paich sings lead on two silly songs. The bizarre "Stranger In Town" became the sole hit single peaking somewhere in the 30's of the top 40 chart. "Holyanna" doesn't fare much better, telling the tale of an 80's teen girl gone wild to the beat of Old Tymey music.
At least Lukather is consistent in delivering a fine power ballad, "How Does It Feel" complete with orchestra backing. While the flaws in the record put off many, I found these mistakes endearing. The stilted R&B and weird songs give the record real character and sets up the harder rocking tracks well. Toto would quickly retreat to an all Adult Contemporary album after Isolation with a new singer, but it was too little too late. And although they lost their audience, this album remains an all time favorite AOR record for me.
1 comment:
Van Halen has to happen. They just have to! Otherwise, I'll be stuck here with Toto. Nooooo!!!!!!
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