Toto - Hydra (1979, Columbia)
Do you want your freedom from the one you're thinking of?
The Lowdown
Toto, or more specifically David Paich and Jeff Porcaro, came into the recording of sophomore album
Hydra with a particular goal in mind: not to make something that would necessarily just appeal to a worldwide audience, but to make a rock-oriented album that fit the growing scope and vision of what Toto "could" be. To that end, that meant making the "progressive" stuff even bigger and bolder, the rock songs punchier and the ballads groovier. While this wouldn't win the band any points with their critics, the resulting album was a varied and compelling listen to the ears of most.
Hydra was released late in '79 at the peak of New Wave's genesis into mainstream radio, and thus the band's now overtly prog-meets-hard rock-meets-R&B stylings didn't move as many units as before. Nevertheless, the record went gold pretty quickly and lead single '99' (despite obtuse lyrical content) made it into the Billboard's top 50 across the U.S. and sold respectably.
This album also marked the first time where other members of the group besides David Paich would contribute directly to the songwriting, with all five of the key members actually developing the lead-off 8 minute title track together.
Toto have done their fair share of experimental outings, but 'Hydra' marked the end of the primarily David Paich-led era of the group and remains one of their most interesting albums from start to finish.