Mixologist

Wait, these guys have songs besides Africa?

I love this album man. This is one of those records that would perfectly fit on a road trip. It honestly seems like a crime to listen to it with the windows rolled up. All of the instrumentation, from the rock guitar to the brass to the synth to the drums, feels like it was meant to be played in the sunshine.

Toto IV is an unapologetically ’80s. Make Believe sounds like the opening to an old sitcom with it’s wailing sax. We Made It sounds like the perfect concert opener. The trumpets on Good for You? Beautiful!

Rosanna though. The lead single of the album, this has become my favorite track of Toto’s bar none. Something about the swinging drum beat just makes you want to move. Then the breakdown at the pre chorus takes it down a notch as we snap along, only for the horns to pull us back up to the main groove while the vocals blast us with the infectious “Meet you all the way!” Inject this song into my veins please.

That isn’t to say the album is all gas no breaks, though. There’s a few moments of reprieve in I Won’t Hold You Back and It’s a Feeling, the former of which is a very Chicago-esque ballad about a lover’s post-relationship realizations. The latter reminds me of a detective show for some reason, and is usually a skip for me.

We can’t talk about this album without mentioning Africa. This juggernaut of a song has been played on Spotify more than a million and a half times; pretty good for what the band describes as a sort of joke song. The sweet synth trumpet sounds mixed with the driving percussion, infectious chorus, and killer harmonies make for an earworm worthy of its legend status.

This is one of those albums that would perfectly fit on a road trip. It honestly seems like a crime to listen to it with the windows rolled up. All of the instrumentation, from the rock guitar to the brass to the synth to the drums, feels like it was meant to be played in the sunshine.

Are any of the lyrics particularly deep? No. Is is breaking any crazy new ground in the ’80s rock space? Probably not. But not all albums need to do that. Some are just fun to grab a beer, set up cornhole, and throw on Rosanna while chilling with the boys. Which, now that I’m done writing this, I’ll probably go do!