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The Seventh One

Toto - The Seventh One Audio CD

A fair review of the Toto "The Seventh One" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all Toto reviews here, or go back to the Toto tabs.

Band: Toto
Title: The Seventh One
Rating:

Release Date: 2008-04-01
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Pamela 2: You Got Me 3: Anna 4: Stop Loving You 5: Mushanga 6: Stay Away 7: Straight for the Heart 8: Only the Children 9: Thousand Years - Marty Paich, , Toto, Williams 10: These Chains 11: Home of the Brave

More like 3 and one half stars
It has some great moments on it, but when they try to rock out, as on Only the Children, it tends to sound trite. This is not Toto's best or worst album. It features a different vocalist than Bobby Kimball, who was front man on their best efforts. He's very capable and sounds great but doesn't match Kimball's powerful vocals. This sounds great when they do R&B blue-eyed soul songs, but Toto fans expect a little more from them and for this I have to feel a little disappointed. Not a great place for the casual fan to start a Toto collection but if you like their softer material you will love this album. There is an overpriced remastered version of this album that is available on this website. I am a huge fan of remastered material, but for over 30 dollars, it is hardly worth the investment to me. I spend a lot of money on music and I absolutely hate being reamed by record companies when they charge whatever they think fans will pay when I have already given them so much. We should all do what everyone else does nowadays and download music from illegal sites for free if that is the case. I recommend buying the original version of the cd since the sound quality is pretty darn good. .

"The Seventh One"
It was their first album not to feature keyboardist Steve Porcaro as a band member (although he did play on it) and was their last with lead singer Joseph Williams. 1988 was the year that vetran rock band Toto released their seventh album aptly named "The Seventh One". It was also the final Toto album to yield any successful hits.
Musicially, "The Seventh One" was Toto's most progressive album to date. While it does have its share of pop-rock moments, elements of the '80s progressive rock sound heard in band's like Asia and Yes's 90125-era dominate this album. This makes for one of Toto's most adventerous albums to date without sounding too over the top or bombastic.
While previous Toto albums featured various members besides the lead singer taking the lead as vocalist, "The Seventh One" is pretty much Joseph Williams' show singing lead on all but two tracks - "Anna" and "These Chains" which are excellent ballads sung by guitarist Steve Lukather. Keyboardist David Paich is also heard singing on the epic closer "Home Of The Brave" which is otherwise dominated by Williams.
Standout tracks on the album are the three tracks mentioned above as well as the driving rocker "Only The Children", the Carribean-flavored "Mushanga" and the power-pop of the album's two hit singles "Stop Loving You" and "Pamela" which bears a strong resemblance to the band's all-time classic hit "Rosanna".
For many, "The Seventh One" marked the end of an era for Toto. It was their last album of the '80s as well as their next-to-last album with drummer Jeff Porcaro (who would pass away in 1992). It was also their last album with a bona fide front man (not counting the four tracks with Joesph Williams' replacement Jean-Michel Byron on the 1990 compilation "Past To Present") until original lead singer Bobby Kimball returned to the band in 1998.
Despite whether this was Toto's last great album or not (I personally think the latter), "The Seventh One" contains some of Toto's strongest music and is loaded with the band's continued strive for musical excellence. It is definitely excellence that dominates this album in every track from the arrangements to the musicianship and the production itself.
Seven definitely proved to be a winning number for Toto with this album.

awesome
my mom was looking for this on cd insted of tape and i am so glad i found it for her .

excellent and cohesive
The guitars are driving and powerful, the keyboards are very atmospheric, take their small cameo in 'stay away', very effective. A strong album that really shows the band working together as a unit.
There are a mixture of the slower songs, 'Anna' is a gorgeous Steve Lukather led ballad that has an immediately likeable melody, if you like that soft, emotional love music as I do. 'Mushanga' is very atmospheric with many effective sections. 'Stop loving you' is a pop song that also has a catchy melody and tight musicianship, I particularly like the harmony vocals. 'A thousand years' is a slow and fairly effective number.
Mid-tempo songs are the isntantly recognisable 'pamela', which has a hook that gets lodged in my brain. 'Straight for the heart' which is ok. 'These chains' is the second Steve Lukather lead vocal song, and the chorus is particularly strong, especially the climactic guitar ascending parts and the trumpets. The bass is also strong here. Good middle eight also. Another keeper.
'Home of the brave' is an extremely worthy conclusion to the record. Joseph Williams who dominates the lead vocals on the album (a welcome and expressive singer), and David Paich whose lead vocal duties seem to have diminished. It is obvious when this track starts, with the atmospheric keyboard and electric guitar hook that this is a standout track. David's part is the ballad part of the song and is tuneful. It is a lovely antithesis to Joseph's more 'aggressive' and high vocal spot. The chorus is also spectacular.
The only clunker of the whole bunch is 'you got me', the title is rubbish and the chorus is instantly irritating.
But that is only one track. The rest is great stuff.

This Album Came Out When I Was In High School.
just hearing it brings back memories. gosh!. i discovered this album because it was on the b-side of a audio cassette someone made for me(stop loving you, pamela,mushanga were the tracks i heard)and i really liked it so i bought it. . . sounds great and i would recommend this one to anybody that has a soft spot for 80's rock.

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You can see a complete list of all Toto discography, or go back to the Toto tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.