Toto Past to Present 1977-1990 1990 (Columbia)
An attempt at nostalgia with a hint of something new.
The Lowdown
After
The Seventh One it would take Toto almost four years to release their next studio album
Kingdom of Desire in 1992 and this would also be a less than impressive time for the band musically as well. Musically the band would continue touring and would put out what could be described as nostalgic releases in their
Past to Present album which is featured here and the album operated as a celebration album rather than a greatest hits type of thing. The following year's
Greatest Hits Live...... and More would be more of a best hits type of thing but in a live setting. The man chosen to front the band at this time was Jean-Michel Byron (who we'll be discussing below) and luckily he only stuck around for this period and Steve Lukather also released his first solo album in this period as well. Finally the album
Past to Present 1977-1990 is a 13 track 'best of' album that features four new songs with Jean-Michel Byron which is the only reason why we're discussing it.
The album
Unknown Soldier: After The Seventh One which saw the departure of another lead vocalist in Joseph Williams, the band wouldn't release another studio album for four years and in the meantime would hit an all-time low, do you agree with this?
Anteater: I think things started to go pretty "badly" to put it lightly and it was probably their most chaotic era, or at least the start of it
Unknown Soldier: Firstly the band were bold in appointing a black vocalist into the band but in essence their sound was suited to this direction. The problem was though he was so gay sounding and that dancing of his .............
Anteater: Columbia wanted Toto to get "hip" with the times I suppose, and to that end I suppose you could do worse than a Terrence Trent D'Arby knockoff
Anteater: I'm supposing a lot here, but that's because I honestly have no idea who came up with the idea, since it’s a pretty boneheaded idea
Anteater: Guys like Terrence (and I suppose Seal) would have at least been more interesting choices than this guy though: he's not as talented as any of the major players he's emulating.
Unknown Soldier: He was called Jean-Michel Byron from South Africa and had a wig of hair that any girl or glam artist would've been proud of.
Anteater: He's a big step down from Joseph Williams, but perhaps he was a blessing in disguise too.
Unknown Soldier: Why a blessing, a wake-up call perhaps?
Unknown Soldier: He also had a decent voice as you'd expect, but as you say he was a knockoff of more famous guys like Terrence Trent D’Arby and of course Seal was great.
Anteater: Byron's absolutely abysmal contributions basically convinced Lukather he needed to become the band's leader and vocalist full-time. Which was a key element in setting the stage for Kingdom Of Desire and future albums
Unknown Soldier: Well it was the logical conclusion I guess after the vocalists that they had and especially since they couldn't keep quality vocalists like Fergie and Joseph on board
Unknown Soldier: Anyway in this period the band released two 'best of' albums, Past to Present 1977 to 1990 where we'll mention the four new songs and a Greatest Hits Live..... and More the following year.
Anteater: Toto was in full nostalgia mode at this point, but I guess they really had no choice
Unknown Soldier: Anyway let’s cut to the chase with the four songs that were all co-written with Jean Michel Byron to try and incorporate him into the band.
The Four Songs
Anteater: Indeed. They start with the relative "best" of those four, the lengthy
'Love Is The Power'
Unknown Soldier: The best hahaha you're funny!
Anteater: It's the one Jeff Porcaro liked………for whatever that's worth lol
Unknown Soldier: It has that tacky South African intro with JMB entering with a spoken intro, to be fair the song has a decent if somewhat generic groove to it and I remember that they played this at the concert when I saw them in 1990/1991
Anteater: Oh, I think it’s pretty naff and all, but of the four songs it’s the one with the most Toto "identity" it has the wo-oh-ohs, the extended shuffle groove, etc. but generic? You bet your ass it is.
Unknown Soldier: Next
"Out of Love"
Anteater: I’d like to substitute the 'Love" part of that song's title with "Out Of *insert other words here* and let's just call it Out Of Ideas
Anteater: It’s a boring bluesy ballad. Byron brings absolutely nothing to it either.
Unknown Soldier: The video is just as boring and surprise surprise it takes place in an empty bar (apart from the band of course) The Cars on "Drive" made an empty bar look cool, Toto don't.
Anteater: Guess people saw they were going to play there with their "new" singer and said "**** it"
Unknown Soldier: Best thing about the video is JMB's lippy and perm.
Unknown Soldier: I’m listening to the song now and it's painful.
Anteater: I can't make it through again either
Anteater: Even Lukather's most generic ballads sound like Bohemian Rhapsody compared to this thing
Unknown Soldier: They sure do and next up is
"Can You Hear What I'm Saying" and to be fair it's an improvement over the previous song due to its upbeat feel.
Anteater: It has some energy, but Byron just doesn't work at all.
Anteater: He's too listless, the hook's a bit weak too
Unknown Soldier: I'd agree with that and finally we have
"Animal"
Anteater: I have no words:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1356oa_qcc8
Anteater: I know you didn't like "You Got Me" from
The Seventh One, but surely you can hear the difference between that MJ impersonation and this one in terms of "quality" eh? :P
Unknown Soldier: Sure I can spot it now that you mention it. I should point out that until this week I hadn't listened to these four songs in like 15 years.
Unknown Soldier: In that live video JMB looks like he's priming himself for a male striptease.
Anteater: Hahahaha
Conclusion
Anteater: Now that we've made it through the pain of these four songs, are your impressions "better" than 15 years ago?
Unknown Soldier: No not at all, but I should point out around the early 1990s I was distinctly off Toto and didn't even bother with Kingdom of Desire until a few years after its release, this downward opinion was of course due to this crappy period from the band.
Anteater: I never went through anything like that, but that just shows how different the music discovery process is for someone typically in my generation than, say, someone who lived through the 80's and 90's.
Unknown Soldier: When you grow up with a band it's kind of different, as somebody like you had most of their discography to choose from when you got into the band.
Anteater: Yep! Kinda thankful for that though. I didn't even know Past To Present had four songs from this guy on it til like....2013.
Anteater: But I also rarely look into Best Of collections or even live albums. Just not as interested in them as studio recordings.
Unknown Soldier: I'm hoping that anybody reading this won't waste their time with them either, referring of course to the four songs here.
Anteater: They have been warned...but thankfully what's coming next is actually a pleasant surprise in most ways.
Now it was decided for the reputation of the band and this journal, that the four woeful songs discussed above wouldn't be placed here. But for anyone that wants to hear how generic they sound and experience Jean-Michel Byron prancing around the place, there is always YouTube.