Label: Columbia Records (Europe), 460645 2
Style: Pop
Country: Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Time: 54:03
Format: Flac Tracks 16/44,1 kHz
Size: 352 Mb
Charts:
US: #64, AUS #77, UK #73, JPN #3, FIN #3, SWE #2, NOR #4, SWI #4, GER
#10, NL #1, FRA #19. JPN: Gold; FRA: 2x Gold; SWE & NL: Platinum.
Since
Toto IV, the band’s line-up had changed. Lead vocalist Bobby Kimball
and bassist David Hungate, who were both part of Toto’s initial members,
had been replaced by Joseph Williams and Mike Porcaro, respectively.
But frankly, I don’t feel this impacted the quality of the album at all.
Let’s get to some music!
I’d like to kick it off with the opener
Pamela, co-written by David Paich (keyboards, backing vocals) and Joseph
Williams. The tune was also released separately as the lead single in
February 1988 ahead of the album. Apart from its catchy melody, I dig
Jeff Pocaro’s drums part in particular including the cool breaks. To me,
Pocaro was one of the best drummers in rock and pop. Of course, the
caveat here is I don’t play the drums myself. But I suppose if you were
good enough to pass the audition for perfectionists Walter Becker and
Donald Fagen, you must have been a bloody good drummer! Not to mention
countless other top-notch artists like Eric Clapton, Dire Straits, Pink
Floyd and Bruce Springsteen, to name a few.
Here’s a tune guitarist
Steve Lukather considers to be one of his best compositions: Anna. He
co-wrote the ballad with Randy Goodrum, an American songwriter, pianist
and producer. In August 1988, it also became the album’s third single.
Stop
Loving You with its upbeat groove just is an infectious pop song.
Co-written by Lukather and Paich, the track also appeared as the album’s
fourth single. While it did well in Europe, hitting no. 2 in each The
Netherlands and Belgium and reaching no. 37 in Italy, it didn’t chart in
the U.S.
Ready for some rock? How about that and with a little help
from Linda Ronstadt on vocals and some smoking lap steel guitar by David
Lindley? Here’s Stay Away, another Paich-Lukather co-write. Perhaps,
they should have released that one as a single!
And since it’s so much fun, how about another pop rocker: Only the Children, co-written by Paich, Lukather and Williams.
Let’s
end things on a quieter note with another ballad: A Thousand Years. I
actually would have bet that Lukather had a role in writing the tune.
But nope, it was co-written by Williams, Paich and Mark Towner Williams.
While
Toto and Columbia Records were confident The Seventh One was one of the
band’s strongest albums to date, its chart performance remained far
below expectations. In part, Wikipedia attributes this to upheaval at
the record company with president Al Teller’s departure right in the
wake of Pamela’s release. Apparently, this led to waning promotion of
the song that ended up stalling at no. 22 on the Billboard Hot 100 - not
exactly terrible, but certainly a huge difference to Africa and
Rosanna, which had peaked at no. 1 and no. 2 in the U.S., respectively.
Of course, chart performance is a double-edged indicator to begin with.
Just look at today’s charts!
(christiansmusicmusings.wordpress.com/2020/05/30/what-ive-been-listening-to-toto-the-seventh-one/)
01. Pamela (05:10)
02. You Got Me (03:13)
03. Anna (04:55)
04. Stop Loving You (04:30)
05. Mushanga (05:36)
06. Stay Away (05:31)
07. Straight For The Heart (04:12)
08. Only The Children (04:11)
09. A Thousand Years (04:53)
10. These Chains (05:00)
11. Home Of The Brave (06:48)
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