Customer Reviews

Kingdom of Desire

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

"Kingdom of Desire" is a lost treasure in Toto's large body of work. Released in Europe in 1992 and in the U.S. one year later, this album was only in print for a relatively short period of time. This is rather unfortunate because "Kingdom of Desire" is quite a strong effort and shows an edgier side to the band that's not always present in their other works.
After a short-lived disastrous stint with South African singer Jean-Michel Byron as their front man, Toto temporarily disposed of having a lead vocalist and carried on as a solid four-piece group consisting of drummer Jeff Porcaro, his brother Mike on bass, keyboardist David Paich and guitarist Steve Lukather who handles all the lead vocals on this album. The absence of a front man brings out more of Toto's solid musicianship and extended instrumental passages (only two of the album's 12 tracks are under five minutes with the rest being between 5 and 7 minutes long). Lukather's guitar work is at its best here and he proves to be no slouch as a vocalist singing both the ballads and the rockers.
Standout tracks includes the metal-rocker "Gypsy Train", "Never Enough", "Two Hearts", "Wings Of Time", "The Other Side" and the instrumental "Jake To The Bone" which combines elements of jazz, improvisation and odd-progressive rock time signatures. This is a showcase for drummer Jeff Porcaro's precision-based playing and David Paich's dexterous keyboard work.
Although it is out-of-print, "Kingdom of Desire" is worth searching for especially if you're a Toto fan. This album has personally grown on me since I first heard it 10 years ago. I used to think that this was the band's worst album. Not so anymore. There really isn't anything on this album that sounds like "Rosanna", "Hold The Line" or "Africa" however, the tight musicianship and solid group playing is extraordinary.
Sadly, "Kingdom Of Desire" wound up being Jeff Porcaro's final album with Toto. In the summer of 1992, Jeff died of a chemically-induced heart attack. He is still missed by many but his drumming as well as his band live on. This final album includes what is arguably his best drumming - another reason to seek out this album.

If you're like 98% of the people reading this review, you probably weren't even aware this album existed. That's too bad, because "Kingdom of Desire" is one of Toto's better efforts. The band finds redemption on this disc after the disastrous new Jean-Michel Byron material on "Past to Present". Unfortunately, "Kingdom of Desire" is extremely difficult to find.

It's important to note that this is not the Toto most casual fans are used to. This album sounds almost nothing like "Toto IV", "The Seventh One", or "Mindfields." This disc shows Toto rocking at their hardest, with even the inevitable 'love gone wrong' ballads having a distinct edge. Think "Toto" or "Isolation" with a late eighties or early nineties hard rock sound, or a harder version of "Tambu", and you're not too far off. It's not grunge or alternative--the members of Toto are all very capable, highly trained musicians, so this album will never be mistaken for Nirvana or others of that ilk. Think of it as hard rock performed by people who can really play their instruments.

Steve Lukather, in addition to his accustomed role as the band's guitarist, also handles the lead vocals. And yes, he can sing more than the above-mentioned ballads. David Paich plays keyboards with his usual skill, though this is primarily a 'drum and guitar' album. Drums are provided by the late Jeff Porcaro; this is the band's last studio album before his death. Mike Porcaro plays bass, as he has since "Isolation".

Several of the songs on the album stand out to me. The experience starts with "Gypsy Train", a rocker in the `hair band' vein with a Lukather guitar solo reminiscent of Ted Nugent. "Don't Chain My Heart" is an infectious, energetic little groove powered by shuffle rhythms provided by the Porcaro brothers. "Never Enough" is a scathing criticism of materialistic attitudes, while "2 Hearts" is a power ballad better than many that sold millions of copies for the band. "Kingdom of Desire" is a seven-minute atmosphere piece, for lack of a better term, and is probably the strongest song on the disc. The collection ends with "Jake to the Bone", an extended instrumental that may have you thinking of "Dave's Gone Skiing" from the following album. The rest of the disc is expertly played as well, even if the songs didn't stand out to me as much.

All in all, this is a very solid effort from the band, and exactly what they needed after the Byron experiment went wrong. It's unfortunate that this album is not readily available, but if you can find it, it's worth having. And no, you can't have mine.

I read an interview with Luke somewhere online, and his description of "Gypsy Train" is, "...that first track is second-line meets Zeppelin".

For someone who grew up listening to these guys; when I first heard "Kingdom of Desire", I was stunned. My first thought when those opening notes from Jeff's floor tom hit the speakers was, "WHOA......!" My next thought, "Grab something and hang on; this is going to be a wild and crazy ride."

I knew that the musicianship was going to be top shelf; as these guys grew up in the L.A. session scene during the early 70's and through the 80's. Of all the players here, Porcaro, it seems, somehow, shone brightest.

Lukather's vocals on every track are impressive. At that point, there were four guys: Paich, Porcaro, Porcaro, and Lukather. Somebody had to step up. Gone were Kimball, Williams, and Frederickson. That left Lukather to do the lion's share.
And instead of flinching; he just DID it, and it cooked.

For "Gypsy Train", they recruited Jon Elefante (Word/Epic, at the time). Great background vocals also show up here from Richard Page (Mr. Mister).

But it's the take-no-prisoners playing that turned my head. As a musician; I'm always looking for new inspiration. This album
had to grow on me; but once it did---there was no looking back.

This was Paich heavy handed; Luke burnin' the house down, and then there was that magical, drop-the-hammer combination of Porcaro (Jeff) and Porcaro (Mike) that created the deepest pocket I'd ever heard from those two upto that point.

The drum track on "Gypsy Train": churning.
Steady as a Rock on "Don't Chain My Heart"
Jeff is even granted a place at Keith Cronin's website ("Drum Licks from Hell") for the beastly fill at 4:06 into "How Many Times?". THAT fill alone, proves that yes, Jeffrey did possess mad chops; though he'd have spoken otherwise. (He always differed to his heroes; Keltner...Purdie...Gordon).

Porcaro had found a harder edge to his playing, yet even on the ballads, he's still just Jeff. Solid, groovin'...remaining musical the entire time. As I write this; I'm listening, and there are tracks where he never lets up on Paiste's Signature Series 13" hi-hats. He worked those over. The same applies to the Gretsch kit he was behind. Yes; he played Pearl in live settings, and designed the DR-1 drum rack with Paul Jamieson--for Pearl--but those are Gretsch drums possibly on "K.O.D"
It wouldn't have mattered. They'd have taken a beating regardless.

And then to hear the last tune on the album: "Jake to the Bone"--and to realize that Jeffrey possessed very tasteful Jazz chops as well, was just the icing on the cake. That whole band slam-dunked that last track! As far as I am concerned, this tops "IV" as my favorite TOTO album, with "Falling In Between (2006) a close 2nd behind "K.O.D."

It's all about that pocket; and just how deep Mike and Jeff carved it for the rest of them to fall into.

Only God knows what we'd be hearing now from Jeff had he lived to see today. It is appropriate enough, to note that he picked out the album cover art for Kingdom of Desire; right down to the Angel pictured above the "in Memory of Jeff Porcaro" line on the back cover. (They had just enough time before the record hit shelves to note that line on the reverse).

Sure, this album may not appeal to all TOTO listeners, but there is so much musicality even in this hard-rocking, barn-burner. It's not one to overlook. Those who haven't heard this; should. What the critics hated; was that TOTO was POLISHED; slick...."too good" musically. The thing is that these cats ALL knew the instruments they played, and PLAYED like there was no tomorrow. They still do; even with the addition of Simon Phillips. He, being different from Jeff, is going to add a new sound.

But for some of us; it's difficult-when the music is this good--(Kingdom of Desire) to break away from what we've heard before.
This album shows and entirely different side of TOTO not seen previously; it showed that they could stretch...and grow; instead of stagnating. It also shows that a careful listen will stretch the listener's ear; and brain.

Some of this stuff is MIND bending.

Brilliantly played "time" and "groove" from some of the best guys out there. Get it! ;)

Is that so few will ever hear it. I picked this up on a whim almost a decade ago, and was shocked. This is a dark, addicting TOTO album. One reviewer noted a few of the great songs -- not one bad one here - but the real high note is the title track. Who would have thought that the same guys who wrote "Pamela" would have "Kingdom of Desire" in their blood.

This may be the most underrated rock CD ever.

When you dig up God's little acre, you lose all peace of mind, you stare into the distance looking for a sign, but the sign it never comes, babe, your wishes won't come true, praying for the rain .......while the sun beats down on you

Too bad this was the only song not written by Toto on the whole album, yet they named the album after it. It's impressive stuff. I find a lot of what they do here to have a grunge edge that they never had before and didn't go back to after the late great Jeff Porcaro passed on. Lots of the guitar work is like today's CREED... but Steve Lukether is unmistakeable. A true original.. didja know he did the lead on "physical" years ago? Or the rythem for "Beat it?" He also sang the vocals on "Sugar Sugar".. but maybe I go back too far for most of you. If you can forget about Don't Chain My Heart, a song that doesn't belong here, and you like wild, hard dark stuff.. like if your into goth or something, pick this up... but if you want something along these lines but more of a thirty something album, go with "Tambu".

'Kingdom of Desire' is the album that got me seriously listening to Toto for the first time. Previously I'd always seen them as a smooth light pop rock group of great musos who only occasionally stretched out. A friend bought me the album and told me to listen to the last track, 'Jake to the bone'. I put on the CD, listened, was shocked, grabbed the cover to ensure that it was indeed a Toto album and since then have been an avid Toto fan.

This album rocks; has edge, yet still has the high production qualities, tight harmonies and soaring lead breaks that was typical of the best of their earlier albums.

That first track I listened to,'Jake to the bone', is a blistering, lengthy rock fusion instrumental that sounds more like Dream Theater. This was Jeff Porcaro showing that not only was he the groovemeister but could thrash out in odd time signatures as well. How tragic that this final track was also to be his last with Toto. After hearing the track a few times I started to listen to the album from the beginning.

I was blown away - 'Gypsy Train' sounds like a Van Halen flatout boogie. The drum sound is enormous, but most of all you get to hear a side of Steve Lukather that certainly was not evident on any previous Toto studio album. Whammy bar and flurries of tapping, he rocks with the best of them. I'd always heard that he was awesome live but at that time had not had the pleasure of seeing him play. I was stunned. And that is probably why many of the previous generations of Toto fans were disappointed as this was too in your face, too Toto ala Los Lobotomys - the Garfield, Lukather, Colaiuta ad-hoc band. That's not to say that their expected ballads and funkier songs don't appear on this album - it's just that even on the most ordinary of songs there are always delightful segues to Luke solos unlike anything on all previous albums, plus Luke as the main vocalist!

The penultimate track, 'Kingdom of Desire' starts with an overwhelming sense that something special is brewing. There is space and the gentle plucking of an overdriven electric guitar and the crisp hi-hat beat. Each time I hear the beginning of this track I still get chills. Crank your amplifier to not only hear but feel this powerful anthem. This song typifies what I believe started with this album and that was Toto giving up on what the music industry expected and instead decided to play what they liked and how they wanted to.

Sadly the album was the end of the Porcaro era, but already the harder more extended Toto approach to compositions had been set. This landmark Toto album was the beginning of a new, exciting direction for Toto that has seen a resurgence of wonderful world tours and a spate of their best live recordings including their outstanding 25 year anniversary live DVD.

If you are in the group of fans who thought that Toto IV through The Seventh One produced some of the most airtight performances on the planet (and I'll throw out "Waiting For Your Love" and "You Got Me" as examples), then I strongly advise you sample whatever sounds you can from "Kingdom of Desire" before purchasing. When I first put it on I thought I was listening to any one of a dozen early 80's rock bands. I warmed up to it a little at around the 8th track - there is some nice work from this point on, and there is plenty of good material for David Paich fans on this cd.
In my humble opinion, Toto are one of the most talented groups ever assembled (in any of their incarnations) but I wasn't thrilled with the Rock direction they took on this album. It seems almost like a step backwards for them.

Toto's only fault, as far as this fan is concerned, is that they tend to need to please everyone. The first four tracks on this disc rock hard with a meaty bluesy raw edge to them. Paich plays a gritty B3 on some of these tracks that I dig big time. Luke can hold his own as a vocalist on the heavier tunes (usually he sings leads on the mellower pop tunes). "Jake to the Bone" is a blast.

The band invariabely brings back the layers of synth sounds in much of the album, but so what? The tracks I'm into are the 35-40 minutes I program into my CD player and they are great fun. The only other bummer for me is that the recording is a little thin. Jeff's drums are recorded a little light for my taste.

This is the Toto I have been waiting for. I am a big fan of "Mindfields" as well, and look forward to obtaining "Falling in Between." You can often find "Kingdom" and "Mindfields" in used CD stores, as well as online.

If you're a Luke fan, you should have "No Substitutions" and the Paris DVD with Luke and Larry Carlton. WOW!!

This is Toto's hard Rock album....Easily as good as any creed, Van Halen and Def Leppard. If you like any of the forementioned ... then go out and get this album! It has great guitars delivered to us by guru Steve Lukather and on top of that there are great keyboards, organ and piano parts by David Paich and excellent drums by Jeff Porcaro. In between the excellent rock riffs there are some beautiful ballads, three of my favourites 'Two Hearts', 'Only You' and 'The Other Side'.
Great song writing by the band and some other contributers include Fee waybill (an excellent song writer) and Danny Krotchimar (I like his songs too). Highlights of the album include 'Kingdom of Desire' and 'How many times'. The words indicate a heartfelt look at life, also with 'never enough' and 'kick down the walls' comes that break free feeling. 'She knows the devil' sounds abit like Australia's INXS, a very cool, groovy slightly naughty song. And let's not forget the instrumental 'Jake to the bone' ... this is rock fusion that shows the boys can really play their instruments! Get this album if you love great music, it Rocks :-)

This indeed was Jeff's last TOTO recording and one of his best! Yes, this music is a departure from TOTO IV. Any real TOTO fan is deathly ill from those who only refer to
this great band from their landmark Grammy winning fourth album. If this band has any odd LP's or departures from their sound, it has to be Turn Back (3rd) and Isolation (5th).
When lead singer Bobby Kimball left after TOTO IV, they reached with Fergie Frederiksen for the one LP and then went with two sporting Joseph Williams (Fahrenheit & The 7th One). Williams was great. After a break period, Kingdom of Desire and Tambu
had Lukather with lead vocals. Bobby's back with Mindfields and it's TOTO IV all over again. So those who love IV will love Mindfields. I always hear tunes from Kingdom as intros to the Guitar Center ads... If you are a TOTO fan, this is a MUST. Clearly TOTO is the most versatile band alive. Jeff was a master of the shuffle (MAMA on Hydra), the jazz shuffle (Pamela on The 7th One), 16th note groove (Lion on Isolation and the classic, 99
on Hydra), Triplet (Hold the Line on TOTO I). He played every note to count and his time, feel, and groove were the best for pop rock music. Check out TOTO's web site; TOTO99.com and see the discography for this session monster. Also, check out the tribute CD to Jeff by Daiid Garfield and Friends titled,Tribute to Jeff on Zebra Records. Most of today's session drummers are on this CD; Ferrone, Erskine, Weckl, Hayward, Keltner, Imboden, Bissonette, Colaiuta, Joe Porcaro, Laborel Jr, Hamphrey, Gadd, and Phillips. Same is true of percussion, bass, guitar, and vocals. It really is a who's who on one CD.