Side Two
Unknown Soldier: So we now move onto side two.
Anteater First track
'Goodbye Eleanore'....I dunno about this one. It's decent, but it feels like a slightly more faceless version of 'Gift With A Golden Gun'
Unknown Soldier: Well it was the lead single and when I hear it I like it, but when I see the official video it kind of feels lacklustre.
Anteater It just doesn't hold a candle to the best stuff on Side A. The energy is good though, and Luke rips it up like always around the second half somewhere, but I feel like they're treading water.
Unknown Soldier: I don't think that the double lead in places works on it either.
Unknown Soldier: But agree its too similar to "Gift with a Golden Gun" but I do think that they could've developed Steve Lukather into the song more as well.
Anteater Yeah, since his guitar tone throughout the album is actually one of the best things about it.
Anteater Speaking of him, we get back to more interesting territory with
'I Think I Could Stand You Forever', which is my favorite of the Luke-led songs on Turn Back.
Unknown Soldier: Even more so than his final track? But it is a great track btw.
Anteater Hmn...tough call. The chord progression is nice. Even so, its just a warm up for Kimball and the outstanding title track.
Unknown Soldier: His vocal at the beginning is great and I love how the song then gets that haunting section, before we're then hit with that hard rock guitar of his.
Unknown Soldier: The song moves through quite a few chord changes as you've mentioned already.
Anteater Toto are at their best when they play with a song's arrangements more
Unknown Soldier: Well basic tracks are kind of wasted on them.
Anteater The more straightforward they get, the more generic the result tends to be.
Anteater Yes, exactly.
Unknown Soldier: Goes to show that when they try to be a normal rock band it just doesn't work, but anyway onto the title track
"Turn Back"
Anteater Tied with 'English Eyes' as the best cut on the album, hands down and Porcaro's drums and Paich's synths are huggeee.
Unknown Soldier: I have to agree there as I especially love that kind of oriental feel to it at the beginning.
Anteater Its the only song on the record that doesn't feel particularly squashed by Geoff Workman's abysmal production
Anteater Which makes me think it would have even been more amazing if someone else had been behind the boards.
Unknown Soldier: Styx did something similar on "Just Get Through This Night" and "Brave New World" with that oriental tinge.
Anteater Good observations there. I agree there's a similarity.
Unknown Soldier: So you see Turn Back the album as a lost opportunity? Much like Metallica fans go on about that same album that they always go on about with its crappy production
Unknown Soldier: "Turn Back" for me is the perfect late album track to have on this kind of album anyway.
Anteater It wasn't a complete loss. I've heard the 2014 Rock Candy remaster of Turn Back and it went a long way to repairing the main issues I had with the album originally.
Unknown Soldier: I've not heard that remaster btw.
Anteater But I do consider 'Turn Back' to be the weakest of their AOR period.
Unknown Soldier: I agree but their weakest is still better than the best of some of their rivals.
Anteater Oh definitely. I think its a stronger album than anything Boston did after '78 after all
Unknown Soldier: My favourite Boston album is Third Stage and when I mention that I get funny looks or comments, but its certainly better than Boston's second album.
Unknown Soldier: I really love the final track
"If It's the Last Night" and it would've been even better without that heavier section that it has.
Anteater It's an interesting song in some ways. Has a vaguely Southern/Country twang to the chorus.
Anteater ...which isn't something Toto have done since actually, so there's some novelty in that.
The Conclusion
Anteater So, all in all, where does 'Turn Back' rank for you in Toto's canon?
Anteater For me it might be the bottom simply because it only has 2-3 realllllly strong tracks out of 8.
Unknown Soldier: It has great personal memories, as it was the third album I bought of theirs and played it to death back then. Of the first four main albums sure it's the weakest but it only has one poor track, two classic songs and five songs that could've been better. Not an essential listen but if you like the band you'll enjoy it.
Anteater I don't have a personal attachment to 'Turn Back', but I think that's the result of me being from A. a younger generation and B. the order of albums I've experienced from Toto has been pretty haphazard.
Anteater The first two albums I ever bought from them were their first and "last" (at the time).
Unknown Soldier: That I can understand as when I got into them they just had four albums!
Anteater Its only been in recent years that I've gotten to spend more time with stuff like Turn Back or IV.
Anteater And I share your general opinion on Turn Back (attachment aside).
Unknown Soldier: Next we'll be doing their most famous album Toto IV.
Anteater Yep. And in regards to 'Turn Back' I'd recommend listeners to drag out the first two songs, the title track, and perhaps "A Million Miles Away" or one of the better Lukather ballads and call it a day.