TOTO IV [CD]

Part of our Two CDs for £9 offer*

I am a huge fan of this album, and the moment I pressed PLAY on my player, I realised that the guys at Sony did a tremendous amount of work. I was afraid that this could be an simple digital transfer from old digital masters (from audio CD) but I was wrong. The guys seem to have converted to DSD all instrument tracks for each song, and the end result is just an amazing feeling of this music.

I have never heard Pop/Rock music from the 80's with such splendor, the surround here is not just 'echo' but proper instrument placement, while the overall clarity is worth of this purchase. Minor hissing is present, but hey, analog tapes of the 80's are the best place to start a DSD transfer.

If you like this album, wether you had purchased the initial SACD Stereo version or not, this is a must for all 80's music fans. The instruments, voices and ambiance is just too good to be true. I have certainly not regretted buying this title. I strongly recommend it to all those SACD lovers out there.

This was also the last album with Bobby Kimball until Mindfields a couple of years ago, in between there have been 3 others until the other members decided to take over themselves (mostly Steve Lukather).

Bottom line, get it. 8 grammys can't be wrong.

The album kicks off with the grammy winning single 'Rosanna' sung by Steve Lukather and Bobby Kimball. A mega pot pourri of sounds; brassy with razor sharp guitar. Here, it's longer than the single release with an extended instrumental fade out. 'Make believe' was a single but is actually a rather standard track so bombed. Next up is Steve Lukathers 'I won't hold you back'; beautiful, a lovely ballad which took the band to the top 10 in the states but was not as successful in the UK. Bobby Kimballs 'Good for you' is next up, as standard pace effort contrasting well with Steve Porcaros 'It's a feeling' which closed the original side one. Back to back rockers 'Afraid of love' and 'Lovers in the night' follow and merge into each other. Stomping AOR at its best. 'We made it' is probably the albums weak point but then comes a slushy soulful Kimball sung effort called 'Waiting for your love', panned by the critics when released as a single but without justification. Finally, the album closes with the magnificent 'Africa' which everyone must have heard; again extended from its single release.

One of the best AOR albums in my collection.