Customer Reviews

Through Looking Glass

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

"Through The Looking Glass" is the latest album from session pros Toto. Throughout their long spanning career, Toto has always focused on strong musicianship with a diverse range of styles. With this album, the band continues this tradtion with a slightly different twist. "Through The Looking Glass" is the very first Toto album not to feature any original material written by its band members. Instead, they perform outstanding arrangements of songs from their musicial heroes ranging from Bob Marley, Steely Dan, The Beatles, Stevie Wonder, Elton John, Bob Dylan, Elvis Costello, Cream, The Animals and Herbie Hancock.
All of the tracks are performed in such a way that they become Toto's very own. Steely Dan's "Bodhisattva" is almost duplicated phrase by phrase. Their take on The Beatles "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" serves as a heartfelt tribute to its composer, the late great George Harrison. Toto lead singer Bobby Kimball shines at his best vocally on Stevie Wonder's "Living For The City" and Elton John's "Burn Down The Mission". The latter track also features some of David Paich's finest keyboard and arrangement work. Steve Lukather's guitar work is in full swing on the band's rousing version of Cream's "Sunshine Of Your Love" which actually is an enhancement over the original version. With one beat being taken out of Cream's original 4/4 time signature, Toto's version alternates between 7/4 and 4/4 which makes it more musically challenging. The band's instrumental medley of Herbie Hancock's "Maiden Voyage" and "Butterfly" shows off the full range of Toto's powerful musicianship and excellence.
These are just some of the highlights of this excellent CD. The rest of this album includes some of Toto's best work in years. The band is now more musically nurutred from their many years experience as a band and as session musicians. Also, the return of original lead singer Bobby Kimball in 1998 has given the band an extra shot in the arm. Toto is playing and sounding better than ever after more than 25 years together. "Through The Looking Glass" is a solid collection of classics performed by a band who has given these songs a new lease on life. Whether you're a Toto fan or a fan of the songs Toto does on this album, "Through The Looking Glass" is highly recommended.

Despite the initial misgivings about this album, "Through the Looking Glass" has proven to be a fantastic achievement by the band.

Toto is not only celebrating a 25 year anniversary, but also the ability to release music without the direction of a label! They decided to do something different for this celebration -- pay tribute to the artists who got them started on the path that has brought them to where they are today.

The album opens with the Bob Marley tune, "Could You Be Loved," an absolutely kicking arrangement that takes the band in a direction it has never been before? Rap? On a Toto record? Oh yes. And unlike most Rap, it's tasteful. Toto proves that they certainly live up to their namesake (Toto meaning, "all encompassing" as far as musical abilities). Bobby Kimball takes the helm for vocals on this track, but this is mainly a full band vocal masterpiece. What fantastic harmony!

Steely Dan's "Bodhisattva" follows, a really fun and fast paced song that keeps the album strong. Kimball once again takes vocals, and nails it!

The Beatles' "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" features the return of keyboardist Steve Porcaro, and MAN is he unbelievable. The keyboards create an incredible mood in this song, coupled with the soulful, smooth voice of Steve Lukather. Some of the best guitaring from Luke can be heard on this track -- incredible!

Al Green's "Can't Get Next To You" features the return of Toto's horn section, makes this song worth listening to on it's own. Kimball nails the vocals here.

Stevie Wonder's "Livin For the City" takes on a much darker light in this toto-lly awesome version. The keyboard melody is replaced by Luke's guitar, and WOW. Kimball nails the vocals once again, and harmony at the end of the song is absolutely incredible. The instrumental break takes the listener on an even darker journey, as sound clips take control and replay September 11, 2001. An amazing song, this!

Herbie Hancock's "Maiden Voyage/Butterfly" sails off next, the band's classic instrumental tune. VERY cool. Very indicative of a Simon Phillips record (and you can tell he mixed this one.) Wow!

Next, arguably the best song on the album, is Elton John's "Burn Down the Mission" with Bobby Kimball on lead vocals. Utterly amazing. The production on this song is fantastic, the instrumentals are unbelievable, and the background chorus is everything you expect from a Toto vocal -- perfection. The album is worth buying just to hear this one.

Clapton's "Sunshine of Your Love" follows, and Luke absolutely nails this one. Great vocals, and the guitar..... Amazing. Luke is clearly one of the best in the business.

Eric Burden's "House of the Rising Sun" takes a much harder edge on this album than the original. Kimball takes lead vocals, and he absolutely shines. Taking into account the lyrics of this song, this melody -- at least to me -- is what the song should sound like.

Elvis Costello's "Watching the Detectives" is a joy to hear. Costello has publically stated his hatred for the band Toto, and the band hits back by doing this song. Luke takes lead vocals and does a fantastic impersonation of Costello -- better than the original.

The album closes with Bob Dylan's "It Takes A Lot To Laugh, It Takes A Train To Cry" with David Paich taking the lead vocals. It's quite refreshing hearing Dave like this -- I've never heard him sing like this before. Sound effects added in the studio give this song a "live" feel to it. The music is top-notch, as always.

Bottom line? Is it Toto's best? No. Is it their worst? No. But then, does a veteran band like this HAVE a worst album? Certainly not. Through the Looking Glass is one of the best tribute/cover albums I've ever heard. Yeah, perhaps I'm a bit biased, since I'm a fan.

This is a must have for any Toto fan or just a fan of the originals. They all surpass the originals, at least in my opinion, as far as production is concerned. One thing you can always expect from a Toto album is perfection in the studio. It's their mark, and it's why they were always so sought after as studio musicians.

GET THIS ALBUM!

I was a bit disappointed when I heard that the album that Toto would be releasing at their 25-year anniversary was to be an album full of covers. After all, this band had put out three very-good-to-stellar albums past their popular prime in the 1990s. New material was much anticipated. That being said, I was more than willing to give it a listen--since Toto has long been one of my favorite bands. As the 13th album I have purchased by Toto, it is without a doubt their weakest. That being said, there are still some worthy tracks on here.

The album does not get off to a stellar start in my opinion with the Bob Marley cover "Could You Be Loved". The track is reasonably catchy but kind of grates on my nerves after a while. It is a bit of an annoying track for Toto to cover. Much better are the next two tracks. The Steely Dan cover "Bodhisattva" is catchy and rocking, and "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" is made into a classic-sounding Steve Lukather ballad. Next, however, come two tracks that I am annoyed that Toto would cover. While "I Can't Get Next To You" and "Living for the City" are both decent songs, they simply sound a bit silly covered by Toto. While Toto has had a wide variety of great styles over the years, these songs seem too far out in left field even for them.

At the midpoint of the album is another different style, but this one I like much better. The cover of the instrumental "Maiden Voyage/Butterfly" is a relaxing musical delight. For those who think Toto has never gone in this direction before, guess again: remember the closing instrumental jazz track "Don't Stop Me Now" on 1986's "Fahrenheit" album? As with that original song, this cover is done very well.

Even better is the next track, Elton John's "Burn Down the Mission". Now THIS is what Toto should be covering! Excellent track from beginning to end, totally keeping the spirit of the original track. This is probably my favorite track on the album. A pretty good rendition is also done of the next track, "Sunshine For Your Love", but I honestly am sick to death of that song and have no need to hear it ever again. "House of the Rising Sun" follows and is another decent, catchy track. But then comes the last two tracks that have me scratching my head again.

Elvis Costello publicly stated he hated Toto way back when, so Toto decides to tweak him here by covering his song "Watching The Detectives". I totally appreciate their sense of humor and could live with the track if the rest were all stellar, but quite frankly this track is weak. The cover of the Bob Dylan-penned "It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry" also is hardly a song that I want to hear Toto sing. The style simply doesn't suit them.

So there you have it. For sure, this album isn't horrible overall, but I truly only really like four of the 11 tracks--a far cry from any other Toto album. Toto completists like me should get this album, but I don't see it holding interest for too many others. For sure, this is the only Toto album that I would rate under 4 stars.

I have been a TOTO fan since the beginning, and hold the band to a very high standard. While I certainly can't knock the talent and musicianship on the album, finding an album of cover songs was a big disappointment. Talk about setting yourself up for failure. With few exceptions, the originals far surpass TOTO's attempts at reinterpretation. These are some of the greatest songs in rock history! The renditions of Could You Be Loved, Living For The City and Sunshine Of Your Love are admirable, but the straight covers of Bodhisattva and Burn Down The Mission are best left to the original masters. And Luke, please, what were you thinking trying to do Elvis. Poor execution of what could have been a funny goof. Kingdom, Tambu, Mindfields were awesome - and now that Kimball is back, I want more original material. Not bad as a stand alone collection, but only worth two stars compared to the rest of their catalog.

TOTO has proven that they are the BEST at what they do! And that is to make GREAT music. The Band took Songs/Covers and given them the TOTO twist. The cover of George Harrison's "My Guitar Gentley Weeps" is simply breath taking. And shows the respect that TOTO has for Great Writers. Bob Marley's "Could This Be Love" Outstanding. The Cd is worth listening to in a dark room kicked back with someone you care about. TOTO has been around for 25 years and their adaption of these covers prove their talant, love for the music, and why I will always listen to their music.

I've been a Toto fan since the beginning (for the most part), so when I heard that they were going to release a collection of cover songs, I thought it sounded like a cool idea. Unfortunately, with a few exceptions, this is a perfect example of one of those CDs that looks good when you hear about it, but doesn't measure up when you hit the play button.

The idea was to give fans a glimpse into the musical influences of the band. There aren't any real surprises here, except for maybe the fact that the CD is a disappointment. Considering the fact that Toto is made up of some of the finest musicians on the planet, I expected more.

The CD's leadoff track and first single, "Could You Be Loved" (Bob Marley) is just plain awful. If Marley could hear this, he'd be rolling over in his grave. The `ad libs' on the song, courtesy of James Ingram, are an embarrassment to both the band and Ingram. Do yourself a favor and skip this track. Up next is "Bodhisattva." Now this is what you'd expect from a band of this caliber. Great rendition of the Steely Dan rocker, and some incendiary fretwork from guitarist Steve Lukather.

Aside from Luke's solos, "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" sits firmly in smooth jazz mode. "I Can't Get Next to You" and "Living For the City" pale in comparison to the originals. There are some songs that you just don't mess with, and these are two of them. Herbie Hancock's "Maiden Voyage" and "Butterfly" get an update from the band, and the results are quite enjoyable. Although the medley has its smooth tendencies, the band takes enough liberties with the songs to make them interesting.

"Burn Down the Mission" is played fairly straight, but respectable. Elton should be pleased. On "Sunshine of Your Love," they rearrange the middle section and the outro a bit, but aside from that, they stay close to the original. For "House of the Rising Sun," all gloves are off. This is one of the most blistering versions of the song I've heard. Bobby Kimball's vocals are a bit over the top, but the music's great.

All told, Through the Looking Glass is a mixed bag. Toto fans will probably enjoy it, but if you're a fan of any of the original versions mentioned negatively above, you'll probably be disappointed.

This is a great album because it shows how the masters can make cover songs ALSO. Despite the fact that are just covers, the way they play them is just amazing so i totally disagree with the two people who underestimate this album. In every song you can hear a group of masters showing just part of their magic with their instruments and voices. Bobby is singing great, mike, david and simon are as usual: AWESOME; and of course Steve Lukather, what can you expect but pure art. He gives a "bonus power" for every song making his guitar speaks by itself. I hope they release a new album with new songs soon. They took the challenge to make covers and the result is a master piece. Buy it now, and if you want to hear PURE toto buy every cd of them specially TAMBU, Kingdom of desire and Mindfields, you won't regret.

Unfortunately this CD is for fans only. I am one (and a hard core on to boot), but some songs (Could you, Sunshine, the Elton cover) are just boring. For fans only, the cover of While my guitar is excellent, really good, and so is Bodhisattva and the S. Wonder song. The rest is very forgettable, and the CD is way too short. C'mon guys now that you are independent from labels you have to give more to your fans. Looking forward to see you live in a week.
BTW, the overall mediocrity of this CD fits well with the Costello parody "detectives". Since the artist is boring and pretentious and the song ... in the first place, there is little to lose. Costello may have actually benefited from this CD-cheers mate! (from a Toto fan)

This is an interesting album to listen to--it's definately *arranged* like other toto records, but it doesn't always *sound* like other toto records because Paich/Lukather didn't write the material here. I'm guess what's missing are the chord changes that make a toto album sound ... like toto. That's why I'm not giving it 5 stars. This album might be better named with a different band name.

The cover of Elton John/Bernie Taupin's "Burning down the Mission" is a standout--Bobby Kimball sings his heart out. Also David Paich on vocals on "It takes a lot to laugh..." The timing on their cover of Cream's "Sunshine of your love" brings back memories of the B section of Jake to the Bone" (Kingdom of Desire).

All that being said, these guys are amazing, talented individuals. Try to catch them live sometime. This album illustrates why they were (are) in such high demand as session musicians. Like most of their other recordings, you can learn something musically from each listing.

Toto's "Through the Looking Glass" is a great album that should be listened to by every Toto fan. As a professional musician, I've often thought that it would be neat to put together a collection of those artists/composers who influenced me. Every musician has had several, from classical to jazz to pop - someone who has inspired them in their musical development. I think it very admirable that they decided to put an album like this together.

Of the tunes that I am familiar with, Toto has done an amazing job of keeping to the original artist's style, yet modernizing and making it their own at the same time. George Harrison's "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" has been arranged as a power ballad, opening with some keyboard sequencing and ending with a heart-felt, guitar solo. The tribute to Herbie Hancock's classic "Maiden Voyage/Butterfly" is simply stellar - again, a modern sound that any contemporary jazz station would be proud to play. Elton's "Burn Down the Mission" is another tune that retains the "Toto" sound, yet doesn't take away from what Elton produced.

Think about it - how many covers have new artists butchered? As a classically trained pianist, I was taught to keep it in the style/era of the original composer, yet make it my own. Toto has done just that. Though I do not care for most of the songs on this album (the originals never did anything for me), I am impressed, I am impressed with the overall result. If you enjoy Toto's music, this is one for your collection.