Toto XIV is the thirteenth studio album by the American rock band Toto (though the band's fourteenth album overall, when one counts Toto XX). Toto released the album on March 20, 2015. It is the band's first studio album since Falling in Between in 2006.[8]
The album marks the return of Joseph Williams on lead vocals and Steve Porcaro on keyboards and vocals, as well as the only album marking the return of its original bassist David Hungate (since Toto IV in 1982) before he left the band in September and the only album with drummer Keith Carlock. It is also the first studio album since 1982's Toto IV not to feature longtime bassist Mike Porcaro, who had been inactive since 2007 due to ALS and died five days before the album's release.
Background
Their final contractual obligation with Frontier Records, Toto made the record understanding that it likely would not make pop radio. With the return of Steve Porcaro and David Hungate, David Paich found the sessions to be "very cyclical", which was further helped by the location of their studio: it was located just a half mile away from where they recorded their eponymous debut.[9] One song, "Chinatown", was actually written for the first album, but never fully developed until the Toto XIV recording sessions.[9] The name was explained by band member Steve Lukather in December 2014: the band counted albums "with unreleased or new music only", so the album Toto XX (1998) was counted because it contained previously unreleased songs, making Toto XIV the 14th album.[10]
AllMusic's review of XIV described the album's title as a reference to their platinum-selling 1982 album Toto IV, but said that 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."[11]
