Toto / Live in Poland deluxe set

I’m so sick of people – who only THINK they know all about Toto – criticising them and saying how crap they are. Hedley – how much do you actually KNOW about Toto? Hold the Line, Rosanna, Africa…? Have you even bothered to listen to their catalogue? For those who have an open mind, check them out on youtube – Kingdom of Desire, I Will Remember, Jake to the Bone, Caught in the Balance…I could go on and on. Have you even heard of any of these songs? For anyone else who loves GREAT music, do yourselves a favour and check out TOTO.

Haha Hedley, Don’t listen to the over produced band hedley and listen to real music!!
Like tony hadley ( spandau balled ) once said Toto is the best and we’re just spandau ballad!!

Hedley: You sound like you’ve wandered in off The Quietus blog by mistake mate! I’ll be damned if I’m going to deny a band like TOTO because (gasp) they actually have some kind of a command over their instruments and know how to construct and arrange decent songs. You can keep your bands that dress up their dodgy voices and atonal caterwaulings as ‘groundbreaking’ , ‘cutting edge’ or ‘avant-garde’. Where I come from, that’s just plain old lack of talent.

Pete – exactly. Toto were condemned by the rock press in the 70s for making concise, well-played rock/pop music at a time when they were heralding punk and retro-Americana social commentary. The coolest bands were the ones that could barely play their instruments, and it was all about “street cred”. Anything made by professional, world-class musicians, writers and singers was contemptible – Abba, Toto, etc.

I’m so glad to see that mindset lose resonance the further we get away from that era. All that matters is good music. Toto has made some killer tracks in their time. (Though I actually prefer the music they made after all the pop success, because they allowed themselves longer tracks and room for bigger arrangements. Songs like Home of the Brave, Mindfields, The Seventh One, Falling In Between, etc.)

Yes Hedley, I am. And no, I’m not ashamed to admit it. Keep on being hip while I will enjoy great music played by some of the best musicians still around.

Too right I am! Different strokes but I know good music when I hear it :-)

Really interested to hear if there is anyone in the diverse musical tastes of SDE readers that has the slightest interest in a Toto anniversary DVD or for that matter anything else Toto (skip the ruby slippers stuff).
Right up there with the recent fancy dan double disc issue from Captain Lou Albano’s chum.