Bridges

Description

The title of the ninth solo album by the leader of TOTO, "Bridges," couldn't sound more right. Luke explains: "I see it as a bridge between my solo music and that with TOTO. The fact that Joseph Williams, David Paich, and I wrote most of the album, and that I invited many members of the old TOTO team to come play, brings it all together. It also proves that most of my old friends and I are still great friends, and I wanted to make a record 'in the style of' TOTO because the band will never record another studio album. So this is as close as it gets to what a TOTO album would be."
"Bridges" indeed features deep roots and branches from the TOTO family tree. Current and past members contribute to both the writing and performance of the record. Joseph Williams wrote six songs, while David Paich wrote four. Williams participates in all the recordings by providing vocal parts, synths, percussion, or touches depending on the track, while Paich plays keyboards on five of them. Drummer Simon Phillips played on "Far From Over," "Not My Kind Of People," "When I See You Again," and "Burning Bridges." Shannon Forrest returned to play on "Someone," "All Forevers Must End," "Take My Love," and "I'll Never Know." Old friend and former TOTO member Lee Sklar, and Gov't Mule bassist Jorgen Carlsson play bass on a few tracks. On "Far From Over," Trev Lukather, Luke's son, plays guitar, bass, synths, and sings. Current TOTO keyboardist Steve Maggiora co-wrote "Take My Love" and also sings background on this track. In short, it's not a new TOTO album, but it resembles one a lot!