(The Players Club – 2022)
There are records that you can wait for years out of loyalty for an artist, others that come after a well-oiled promo that make you give in. This Forgotten Toys by David Paich enters in another category since I didn’t expect a first solo record from the emblematic member of Toto. It is true that since he pulled out of the last year of the band’s 40th anniversary tour in 2019, one could legitimately wonder if the man in the hat had not retired for good. The new lineup that was announced in 2020 with Steve Lukather and Joseph Williams only looked like it, and this page turned could only confirm the feeling that the band’s co-founder would then be rarely seen or heard of. So here I am now in the same state of mind as I was in 2016 when Steve Porcaro produced his excellent Someday Somehow!
How do you tell the essential about David Paich in a few lines? It’s not an easy task as he has worked on many discographies as a keyboardist, a composer, an arranger and a producer. The son of musician Marty Paich, David followed in his father’s footsteps and we owe him Toto’s greatest hits such as « Hold The Line », « Africa » and « Rosanna » which are imposed by the promoters of each tour of the band, as they are an integral part of the DNA of the band. On a more personal note, it was at a concert of the band that I had a revelation that was instrumental in my interest in studio musicians. As a Michael Jackson fan, I had read through his album booklets and had wished to see these different protagonists on a stage. During a solo played by David Paich, I heard some music that sounded so familiar that I realized how rich this music was. So I had to dig deeper, to get interested in these magicians behind the scenes, as a way to open myself, and to try to rise and understand that this world is vast. I will always be grateful to David Paich for having opened my ears, not my eyes.
That’s why Forgotten Toys is a nice surprise that I didn’t expect. The artist shows that although he did not want to get on a bus for a tour anymore, that didn’t imply his definitive withdrawal from music. David Paich shows that his desire is intact and that he still has things to share after more than 45 years of career. He has nothing left to prove to us and in this perspective, we can only enjoy the whole as a very pleasant bonus. He opens his heart as well as his chest full of gems. That’s why I waited until I got the vinyl edition and the CD in order to discover these new tracks, and resisted to some YouTube videos intended as teasers, and feeling a bit of nostalgia linked to a past era. Loving Toto and David Paich reminds us of the moments we first listened to a record holding the booklet in our hands, and reading the credits. It is a special moment, a passion that one could define as that of a purist. The visual of the cover made by Lorraine Paich, the devoted wife of the maestro, is also a prt of the experience. Various objects linked to his adult life, such as those linked to Toto, are surrounding a teddy bear that was given to him by his parents. As a symbol, this childhood companion is wearing a hat and you would think he is going to play the piano.
I could take hours to analyze all these small details gathered for the good cause but I am already impatient to listen to the first notes. Indeed, it’s time to leave for a musical journey in Paich’s universe and forget everything else. It is still possible in 2022 that time can be suspended to enjoy good things far from a world that is more and more demanding and subject to a calendar that goes faster and faster each passing month.
Thus, the instrumental track « Forward » begins as a brief introduction. This is reminiscent of some concerts with a curtain hiding the stage to keep the audience in suspense before the artist’s entrance. This method has been used so much by Toto that we can easily draw a parallel with David’s new opus. In a masterly way, he announces his arrival and takes our breath away until the first notes of his synthesizer come up as a deliverance since we could recognize his style among many. One then feels in known ground with no need to actually know the track. In this pleasant atmosphere, « WillIBelongToYou » then begins. Closing your eyes, you can imagine that the curtain fell down and that the spots are all on the man in the hat. You might give him a standing ovation in your head but it sounds like a deliverance mixing exhilaration and passion that intensifie when that familiar voice starts to be heard. Many Toto fans find an additional charm to tracks like « Africa », « Lovers In The Night », or the beginning of « Home Of The Brave » for this warm and soothing tone that reassure them like the presence of a close being at their side. One might even wonder whether this is a Toto track as Joseph Williams is singing the chorus. Let’s admit it, this is the kind of performance that can make you unconsciously retain this track and sing it until you finally have it in your head all day long. In his role as the co-producer of the record, Joseph makes his bravery piece by this duet and this beautiful declaration of love that everybody would like to know how to write. The result is forceful and would have its place in the discography of the band, but when you realize that Steve Lukather, Nathan East on bass and the drummer Greg Bissonnette also play on the track, it is indeed a family work that has been done.
« Spirit Of The Moonrise » doesn’t give me any time to catch my breath though, and surprises me from the very first seconds with this heady and voluntarily disturbing guitar riff that I could have imagined on a Steve Lukather solo album. Choosing to put this instrument forward is not insignificant but I notice that Dean Parks, another emblematic member of the Quincy Jones’ sessions team, did the rhythmic part. Still, I think to myself that Luke must not be far away as this track sounds like it was written for him, with his instrument intensifying the tension and the electric dramaturgy. In this dream that turns into a nightmare, a damsel on horseback has only the moon that has just risen to guide her and hope to find her way back. From light to darkness, this up tempo track expresses the frantic race of the horse trying to find its way home. The bridge remains the only breathing space with an ounce of hope expressed by the organ solo taking precedence over the guitar, as if the majesty of the animal deserved to be underlined despite this terrible context. This solemn moment is pretty short though, as loneliness and distress are soon amplified and finish in a blaze of glory. I have to precise that Steve Lukather indulges into an instinctive solo coming from his guts, as he is very well supported by Michael McDonald’s adlibs, like in the good old days on « I’ll Be Over You ». It is indeed a duet between Paich and Luke, the latter expressing himself through his favorite instrument. One would have exulted on this performance in the opening of a Toto concert and one would even be tempted to compare it to that of « Stranger In Town ». The presence of David Hungate and Lenny Castro confirms the feeling that this is a reunion and a communion of old pros. This is an experience that leaves you shaken but won over by a high-level Toto track.
It is time to take a little breather a little, and David very aptly offers a moment of relaxation with « First Time ». The atmosphere is voluntarily soothing in a moment of innocence that the musician carries alone on his shoulders. This is not a composition mixing different talents like both previous tracks that sounded a bit like Toto. The focus is on the man in the hat, and listeners are entranced by his talents of narrator and his sweet synth notes that plunge them in a beautiful and movig serenity. One might remember their first feelings and emotions, and let themselves be rocked by reliving their lost innocence. One can be reminded of themselves as not very confident and hesitating in the initiation to love. Elizabeth Paich’s performance comes up to support her father vocally and bring an additional charm to the whole so that I would have liked that this song to never stop and remain in that past smiling upon me. Whether it is with a synth or a piano, David Paich remains a magician, a storyteller of the modern times who makes us travel in an imaginary world by his most beautiful scores. This track is my big favorite of the album! If I had to explain why I love this musician, I think I would take this track as an example.
Like every Toto fan, I was already familiar with the following track, « All The Tears That Shine » as it was released on Toto’s 2015 album XIV. My first thought when I looked at the track listing was to wonder about that warmed over track. Now I have to admit that after listening to this new version, I am kicking myself for having that prejudice. And for good reason, since I discovered the vocal performance of Michael Sherwood, the co-writer of the song who is well known to fans as one of Steve Porcaro’s close collaborator. This track, probably taken from a demo, sounds like a very nice tribute to the artist who sadly passed three years ago. I had been won over by the previous version and I did not imagine that it was possible to make it even more beautiful. When an album is finished (and it’s the same for a book), you move on and have to live with the result. Anyhow, David Paich’s talents as a composer are unquestionable, and don’t discount his will to offer another facet of his talent. Indeed, as an arranger, he revisits his own work to reinvent it through many small details that make all the difference. I take pleasure in listening to this new version like it is a completely new track, and I realize that there is no limit to an artist’s vision, that nothing is fixed and that everything can evolve. A song can go on its way, become more lively and get better with time like a good wine. I will keep this example in mind, it is so meaningful.
The ball ends with « Lucy » and one could then make a link with the tradition of female names in Toto’s repertoire. The comparison stops there, as this instrumental version expresses a passionate love for jazz. Paich returns to his own roots by paying tribute to his father Marty and the musical style in which he excelled. Forgotten Toys finally gives him the opportunity as he had been wishing to do so for years. One could easily make the parallel with « Don’t Stop Me Now » which ended the excellent Fahrenheit album with the presence of Miles Davis. It was important for David to evoke his father who knew so well how to transmit his love for music. It is with the feeling of accomplished duty that this record ends, with a burst of laughter as the most beautiful conclusion.
Here is a positive even if one would have liked to be satisfied with twice as many songs. Let’s remember that it is indeed an E.P. as David presented it in the booklet. Nobody was really expecting this record, so let’s enjoy this nice surprise and be happy that this new material didn’t stay in the vaults. I enjoyed listening to it all and wanted to immortalize my thoughts with a review. Still, I must admit that I would have loved to listen to all these songs in a concert while cheering for the man in the hat. I already miss him…
