Toto XIV

Toto XIV
Studio album by Toto
Released	March 20, 2015 (Europe) March 23, 2015 (UK, Oceania, North America)
Recorded	December 2013–December 2014[1] at The Treehouse, North Hollywood, CA; Capitol Studios, Hollywood, CA; ATS Studios, Calabasas, CA; Porcara Musica, Valley Village, CA; Digby Road Studios, Thousand Oaks, CA[2]
Genre	Hard rock, pop rock, jazz rock, blues rock, progressive rock
Length	55:59
Label	Frontiers Records
Producer	C. J. Vanston, Steve Lukather, David Paich, Steve Porcaro, Joseph Williams[3][4]
Toto chronology
The Collection (2008) Toto XIV (2015)
Singles from Toto XIV
"Orphan" Released: February 5, 2015 "Holy War" Released: February 17, 2015 "Burn" Released: March 3, 2015

Toto XIV is the 13th studio album (though counted as the 14th album overall) by the American rock band Toto, released on March 20, 2015.^[5]

The album marks the return of Joseph Williams on lead vocals, Steve Porcaro on keyboards, and David Hungate on bass. Toto XIV is the first album with Keith Carlock on drums, replacing Simon Phillips, the longstanding successor to original drummer Jeff Porcaro who died in 1992. It is also the first studio album since 1982's Toto IV not to feature longtime bassist Mike Porcaro, who died 5 days before the release of the album due to complications from ALS.

Background

The name was explained by band member Steve Lukather in December 2014: The band counted all the albums with new released music. Because of this, the album Toto XX from 1998, although not a studio album, but a collection of older unreleased songs, was counted as well, making Toto XIV the 14th album.^[6]

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[7]

Allmusic's review described XIV, saying it "doesn't share much with that Yacht Rock classic. Despite the McCartney-esque shimmer of "The Little Things" (not to mention the passing allusions to "99" on "Chinatown"), tunes take a backseat to bombast on Toto XIV, with this Steve Lukather-led incarnation accentuating intricate instrumental interplay." The review also described a "furious first half, containing such plainly evident socio-political protests as "Holy War," "Running Out of Time," "Unknown Soldier," and "21st Century Blues"". It concludes that the band is "not living in the past, nor are they denying it: they're accepting all their indulgences, all the intricacies that come with their virtuosity, and making a record that reflects what these veteran rockers have seen and learned in their 40 years in the business."

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Lead vocals	Length
1.	"Running Out of Time"	Lukather, Paich, Williams	Joseph Williams	4:06
2.	"Burn"	Williams, Paich	Williams	4:56
3.	"Holy War"	Lukather, Vanston, Williams	Williams & Steve Lukather	5:24
4.	"21st Century Blues"	Lukather, Vanston	Lukather	6:08
5.	"Orphan"	Paich, Williams, Lukather	Williams	3:55
6.	"Unknown Soldier (For Jeffrey)"	Paich, Lukather	Lukather	5:06
7.	"The Little Things"	Steve Porcaro, Allee Willis	Steve Porcaro	4:34
8.	"Chinatown"	Paich, Mike Sherwood	David Paich, Williams & Lukather	5:07
9.	"All the Tears That Shine"	Paich, Sherwood	Paich	5:09
10.	"Fortune"	Williams	Williams	4:46
11.	"Great Expectations"	Paich, Williams, Lukather	Paich, Williams	6:48
Total length:				55:59

Japanese edition bonus track
Track listing
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Lead vocals	Length
12.	"Bend"	Mike Sherwood, Steve Porcaro	Porcaro	2:48

Personnel

• Steve Lukather – guitars, vocals, bass guitar on tracks 5, 6, 11
• Joseph Williams – lead vocals, keyboards on tracks 5 and 11, park bench on track 2
• David Paich – piano, organ, other keyboards, vocals, upright bass on track 9
• Steve Porcaro – synths, keyboards on track 7, lead vocals on track 7
• Keith Carlock – drums, background vocals on track 2

Additional musicians

• David Hungate – bass guitar on tracks 3, 4, 7, 8
• Tal Wilkenfeld – bass guitar on tracks 9, 10
• Leland Sklar – bass guitar on track 2
• Tim Lefebvre – bass guitar on track 1
• Lenny Castro – percussion on tracks 2, 3, 5-10
• Martin Tillman – cello on tracks 6, 7, 11
• C. J. Vanston – additional synths on tracks 1-6, 10, 11, background vocals on track 2, production
• Michael McDonald – background vocals on track 6, 8, 10
• Amy Keys – background vocals on tracks 4, 6, 8, 10
• Mabvuto Carpenter – background vocals on tracks 5, 11
• Jamie Savko – background vocals on tracks 1, 2, 11
• Emma Williams – background vocals on track 2
• Tom Scott – saxophone & horn arrangement on track 4, saxophone on track 8

Technical personnel:^[2]

• CJ Vanston, Csaba Petrocz, Joseph Williams, Stefan Nordin: engineering
• Steve Genewick, Chandler Harod: assistant engineering
• CJ Vanston: mixing at The Treehouse, North Hollywood,CA
• Peter Doell: mastering at Universal Mastering, Los Angeles, CA

Other:^[2]

• Heather Porcaro: photography
• Fred Kim: cover art
• Thunderwing: art direction
• JoAnn Tominaga: production management
• Ron Remis and Trish Field: business management
• Gary Gilbert: legal affairs
• Steve Karas and Keith Hagen: PR

Charts

Chart (2015)	Peak position
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[8]	11
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[9]	28
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[10]	33
Czech Albums (ČNS IFPI)[11]	10
Korean Albums (Gaon)[12]	12
Danish Albums (Hitlisten)[13]	7
Dutch Albums (MegaCharts)[14]	2
Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)[15]	5
French Albums (SNEP)[16]	17
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[17]	4
Hungarian Albums (MAHASZ)[18]	15
Irish Albums (IRMA)[19]	75
Italian Albums (FIMI)[20]	16
Japanese Albums (Oricon)[21]	2
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[22]	6
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[23]	4
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[24]	3
UK Albums (OCC)[25]	43
US Billboard 200[26]	98
US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)[27]	18

External links

• http://www.stevelukather.com/news-articles/2015/06/cj-vanston-strikes-again-theres-a-thirst-for-real-music.aspx?ref=/news-articles/2015/06.aspx

References

1. "The making of the new Toto XIV album". Steve Lukather official website. Retrieved February 12, 2015.
2. album liner notes
3. http://www.amazon.de/dp/B00RUT3DP8/ref=dm_rogue_cd
4. "TOTO XIV - Lukather & CJ Vanston Comment Exclusively". Melodic Rock. Retrieved February 10, 2015.
5. "TOTO'S FIRST NEW ALBUM IN 10 YEARS GIVEN RELEASE DATE". Toto official website. January 8, 2015. Retrieved February 10, 2015.
6. "The making of the new Toto XIV album". Steve Lukather official website. Retrieved March 23, 2015.
7. http://www.allmusic.com/album/toto-xiv-mw0002814794
8. "Austriancharts.at – Toto – XIV" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 1 April 2015.
9. "Ultratop.be – Toto – XIV" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 28 March 2015.
10. "Ultratop.be – Toto – XIV" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved 28 March 2015.
11. "Czech Albums – Top 100". ČNS IFPI. Note: On the chart page, select {{{date}}} on the field besides the word "Zobrazit", and then click over the word to retrieve the correct chart data.
12. "South Korea Gaon Album Chart". On the page, select "{{{date}}}" to obtain the corresponding chart. Gaon Chart
13. "Danishcharts.com – Toto – XIV". Hung Medien. Retrieved 28 March 2015.
14. "Dutchcharts.nl – Toto – XIV" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 28 March 2015.
15. "Toto: XIV" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved 30 March 2015.
16. "Lescharts.com – Toto – XIV". Hung Medien. Retrieved 30 March 2015.
17. "Officialcharts.de – Toto – XIV". GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 30 March 2015.
18. "Top 40 album DVD és válogatáslemez-lista – 2015. 12. hét" (in Hungarian). MAHASZ. Retrieved 27 March 2015.
19. "GFK Chart-Track Albums: Week 13, 2015". Chart-Track. IRMA. Retrieved 25 March 2015.
20. "Italiancharts.com – Toto – XIV". Hung Medien. Retrieved 2 April 2015.
21. http://www.oricon.co.jp/prof/24452/products/1113063/1/
22. "Norwegiancharts.com – Toto – XIV". Hung Medien. Retrieved 29 March 2015.
23. "Swedishcharts.com – Toto – XIV". Hung Medien. Retrieved 26 March 2015.
24. "Swisscharts.com – Toto – XIV". Hung Medien. Retrieved 1 April 2015.
25. http://www.officialcharts.com/search/albums/XIV/
26. http://www.billboard.com/album/6517382/toto-xiv
27. "Toto – Chart history" Billboard Top Rock Albums for Toto. Retrieved 25 March 2015.