TOTO – New album installs a new lease of life into American soft rock behemoths

By Patrick Cameron

With their most successful album since the '80s TOTO are back on form and back on the road, adding a number of new hits to their collection.

Three decades after their hits drew sell out crowds around the world TOTO are back with their first album in 10 years and one of their most successful.

It seems those legions of fans haven’t forgotten about the band that have gone through it all, from break ups to deaths, they have endured the rock legacy as much as any others.

Their new album has hit the top 10 in nine countries and the first since 1988 to chart in the US & UK.

So with a new album comes a European tour, with many of the original line up in tow.

Once I arrive at their gig in Luxembourg's Rockhal on Friday, it is apparent that they still draw a large crowd. But there is no time to wait; they are on sharp, no sooner have I arrived than the backing music starts which draws the crowd into the main hall.

A huge curtain hangs over the stage as the music builds and once the drums crash, the curtain falls and so the show begins. Leave it to the old guard to keep the theatrics going.

They start with the first track off the new album; ‘Running Out of Time’ and it’s apparent from the off that the new tracks herald a triumphant return to form, the early part of the gig is peppered with new tracks and much to the crowds approval too.

‘Burn’, another off the new album, reverberates through your body as the bass drum builds to the chorus, this wouldn’t have sounded out of place on their classic album TOTO IV.

As well as the new songs were received, the simple piano riff to the classic ‘Hold the Line’ is all it takes to get the crowd cheering like they were teenagers again.

Everything about this song is quintessential '70s stadium rock, from big vocals to shredding guitar solos. As much as the solos have their place, it at times seems to take the momentum out of the show, Steve Lukather even manages to fit in ‘Little Wing’ by Jimi Hendrix at one point.

The first time the show falls a bit flat is on ‘Great Expectations’ the final song on the new album but this is when it comes in handy having a tracks such as ‘Rosanna’ to pull back the crowd. There is even a mass swaying of the mobile phone in the air, although I do like the one defiant member of the crowd who persists with the lighter.

They come back for an encore but after playing a couple of songs they leave again leaving with one glaring omission. As some of the crowd chant ‘Africa’ they come back asking if they have missed anything.

And so they kick into the song that put them onto a path of global stardom. It’s clear that TOTO’s mix of hard rock, power ballads and musicianship are a winning formula still to this day, even if the musical landscape shifts continuously there will always be space for a heritage act as long as they can still produce the goods.

Do not miss the news - sign up to receive thewort.lu newsletter in Englishdelivered to your inbox six days a week.