Toto to release new album: Toto XIV

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by Sander, Jan 8, 2015.

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  1. wkcchampion

    wkcchampion Well-Known Member

    Location:
    Milan, Italy
    I did.
     
    Sander likes this.
  2. amoergosum

    amoergosum Forum Resident

    Location:
    Germany
    The TT Dynamic Range Meter doesn't work on vinyl >>>

     
  3. Red

    Red Forum Resident

    Location:
    Sweden
    Not a good idea at all ;) He will go nuts.
     
  4. tspit74

    tspit74 Senior Member

    Location:
    Woodridge, IL, USA
    Chinatown is great. The rest is not.
     
    driverdrummer likes this.
  5. Anthony Mitchell

    Anthony Mitchell New Member

    I am looking to get my money refunded on the purchase of the new Toto album XIV. How do I go about this?
    The mastering or production of this album is criminal. Don't any of the band have ears any more? I have most of Totos music as well as all of Steve Lukather. Nothing comes close to how bad this new album sounds. The whole cd is 2d and lacking any dynamics. Flat as a pancake and boring to listen to. Just a wall of sound, with no bass deification and drums that sound castrated. I also bought the Japanese release thinking it would sound a bit better but according to other posts, this is not the case. I understand that the producer has gone for volume?! In doing so he has brickwalled the whole album. A few of the later less complex tracks sound passable, but the majority is not worth the effort of listening to again.
    I don't think one can blame any one person. What I think happened was that Toto produced almost finished demos, and then the producers added over dub on overdub. I wouldn't be surprised if there were 100 tracks mixed into one 'wall of sound'
    I'm sure it will sound ok on MP3 or little boom boxes. What about audiophiles like myself? I have great quality Mark Levinson amplification and PMC studio monitor speakers. It's a painful experience playing Toto XIV.
    Try putting on the new Dominic Miller Ad Hoc cd and hear the beautiful layering and depth created by good production and mastering. A breath of fresh air compared to the turgid mess that has been sent out to the public.
    They managed to get decent sound even in the 70's - take a listen to If I could only remember my name by David Crosby. This album also puts present producers to shame.
    If I can't get all my money back can we try to get Frontiers to get the new Toto album remastered by people who know what they are doing.
    One other idea I had - according to posts this album was made to fulfil contractual obligation. Say no more.
     
    bruce2 likes this.
  6. rjp

    rjp Senior Member

    Location:
    Ohio
    if you like toto's albums since 'isolation", you will like this. if you prefer early toto, you may not.
     
  7. drowningdeep

    drowningdeep Dude

    Location:
    North Carolina


    And they made a point to call it a successor to Toto IV, which is a fantastic sounding album.
     
  8. walrus

    walrus Staring into nothing

    Location:
    Nashville
    Considering you can listen to album tracks (officially) on Youtube, or the whole LP on Spotify, I can't imagine a refund being an option. But I suppose if enough people wrote to/bitched at the label, Luke, or the band, maybe someone would notice and consider putting out a better version. It did happen once with that fake-Queensryche album, so you never know.
     
  9. bruce2

    bruce2 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Connecticut, USA
    I'm glad I'm not the only one that feels this way. I agree with your entire post 100% !
     
  10. Davidmk5

    Davidmk5 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Marlboro , ma. usa
  11. RoyalScam

    RoyalScam Luckless Pedestrian

    I'm a fan of smooth Toto - "Africa", "I'll Be Over You", "99"...and poppy Toto - "Rosanna", "Hold The Line"...and a HUGE fan of Keith Carlock.

    I'm not digging this album. :shrug:
     
    driverdrummer likes this.
  12. drowningdeep

    drowningdeep Dude

    Location:
    North Carolina
    On Amazon, the reviews , even for the 4 and 5 stars, are mentioning the poor mastering.
     
    Davidmk5 and wkcchampion like this.
  13. Brother Maynard

    Brother Maynard Forum Resident

    Location:
    Dallas, TX
    This may have already been followed-up on by someone else, but I happened to hear Steve Porcaro interviewed on the radio this morning, and what he is referring to by not going through the motions is with a final contractual album. Lots of bands mail it in with a collection of outtakes or a live album. He said Toto instead managed to treat it seriously and as a positive rather than a negative.
     
  14. skateaway

    skateaway Forum Resident

    Location:
    Australia
    Well I won't be buying the CD with a DR6 rating, my shelves are already full of albums that have great songs and have had the life crushed out of them in the pursuit of loudness. I came to the realisation some time ago that I subconsciously give more playtime to decently mastered albums in my collection, they don't have to be great....just decent, is DR 9 or DR10 too much to ask?.

    As I write this I have 24/192 hi res download of Love Over Gold playing that I got from e-Onkyo Japan, the album rating is DR15 and it has so much air between instruments that it is almost eerie - just superb!
     
  15. marblesmike

    marblesmike Forum Resident

    Location:
    Pennsylvania
    FWIW, I watched the bonus documentary DVD last night and the songs as presented throughout the documentary sounded MUCH better to my ears than the CD...so I wonder at what point the sound was crushed.

    I still don't think it sounds as terrible as some people here are making it out to be. Does it sound great? No, but I've heard far worse stuff. The important thing is that I keep finding myself drawn back to the music, despite the sound quality.
     
    Carserguev likes this.
  16. skateaway

    skateaway Forum Resident

    Location:
    Australia
    Well you've convinced me to at least have a listen. I just noticed that Qobuz have it so I'll stream the 16/44 tomorrow, no time tonight - it's late here.
     
  17. driverdrummer

    driverdrummer Forum Resident

    Location:
    Irmo, SC
    I agree.
     
  18. marblesmike

    marblesmike Forum Resident

    Location:
    Pennsylvania
    Turn down the bass if you can. I find it helps.
     
  19. DexterTragic

    DexterTragic Forum Resident

    I just checked this out, and you are right....the songs do sound better on the DVD....still pretty compressed, but not distorted like on my CD, the Amazon downloads, or iTunes. I wish the band would make the versions of the songs they used for the DVD available for purchase on their website. I hate that an album this good is hard to listen to. By the way, I hear a difference between the audio on the "Orphan" video than the audio on my CD. I know there is a better version of this album out there!!!!!
     
  20. driverdrummer

    driverdrummer Forum Resident

    Location:
    Irmo, SC
    Toto XIV sounds like a Dream Theater album. Chinatown is the only song that sounds like classic Toto.
     
  21. marblesmike

    marblesmike Forum Resident

    Location:
    Pennsylvania
    Great Expectations and Running Out of Time sound like Toto to me...a lot too.

    Have you heard their Kingdom of Desire album? I feel like XIV reminds me A LOT of that album.
     
  22. driverdrummer

    driverdrummer Forum Resident

    Location:
    Irmo, SC
    Both are very similar.
     
  23. skateaway

    skateaway Forum Resident

    Location:
    Australia
    Sorry Mike - I tried to listen but it wasn't good. I then used audio hijack to capture most of the first track (Running Out Of Time) from Qobuz lossless streaming and recorded it to WAV 16/44.

    Here is the Audacity waveform:

    [​IMG] [​IMG]

    Here is the TT Audio offline DR rating:

    [​IMG]

    I won't be buying it..........
     
  24. bru87tr

    bru87tr 80’s rule

    Location:
    MA
    Done by professionals!
     
  25. marblesmike

    marblesmike Forum Resident

    Location:
    Pennsylvania
    I guess if I was a borderline fan or someone who wasn't really into the band I'd avoid it too. I really like most of the music, so I just imagine how much more I'd listen to it if it had sounded better. Oh well. At least it's not completely brickwalled.
     
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