STEVE LUKATHER – I Found The Sun Again (2021)

Over the course of five decades STEVE LUKATHER has placed an indelible stamp on rock&pop culture. Alongside his tenure as the only member of Toto to never take a hiatus from the band, he has performed on thousands of albums as a session musician. He continues to be Toto’s band leader, a member of Ringo’s All-Starr Band, and a solo artist performing with multiple ensembles.
His 2021 album ‘I Found the Sun Again‘ features five new original compositions and three covers; Traffic’s ‘Low Spark of High Heeled Boys’, Joe Walsh’s ‘Welcome to the Club’, and Robin Trower’s ‘Bridge of Sighs’, all with a new, fresh and the unmistakable ‘Lukather sound’. Starr and Joseph Williams guests on the original ‘Run To Me’.

The record opens with “Along for the Ride,” a spiteful rocker that puts Lukather’s signature tone up front and center, balancing a lighter verse with an adrenalized fuzz chorus that instantly establishes that though now in his 60s, Luke has not lost his edge. Yes dudes. Lukather is a rocker art heart.
There’s a clear intentional nod to The Who’s “Won’t Get Fooled Again” synthesizer break in the middle of the song. Drumming pal Gregg Bissonette shines on this section, as well as the entire record with some clever percussive extras and a rock solid pocket that cements Luke’s legacy of playing with monster musicians.

In the fall of 2019, Toto completed the run of its “40 Trips Around the Sun” tour enjoying tremendous success, but then Jeff Porcaro’s widow, Susan Porcaro-Goings hit Lukather and founding keyboarist David Paich with a lawsuit claiming unpaid money due to the deceased drummer’s estate. The lawsuit brought the tour to a bitter end, and though it has since been settled, Lukather clearly still is pissed off, and he uses this new record as a vehicle to air some of his grievances.

The slinky second track, “Serpent Soul,” is a rompy, venom-filled finger pointing at Lukather’s legal adversary. With lyrics like, “Sometimes I wonder where it all went wrong, Can’t find a reason so I wrote this song, I can’t do this anymore, Won’t take the fall, I won’t be your Judas goat, You think I’m a snake in the grass, But not so fast, Check yourself for a serpent soul,” it’s pretty clear what Lukather is saying to his legal adversary.
The song features an appearance of David Paich on piano, reminiscent of his sound on the hit “Hold the Line” from their 1978 debut and many other Toto classics. With Paich and Lukather playing and Joseph Williams on background vocals, this track could easily make the case that the sound of Toto will yet have more lives to live in the future.

This is a Lukather record, however, and that means that the guitar takes a greater share of presence than it would on a Toto record.
This is surely the case in the first of three covers on this recording, a smoldering rendition of Traffic’s “Low Spark of High Heeled Boys.” The band stretches out here over more than 10 minutes, dabbling in spacy and jazzy territory, while returning to the familiar Paich piano in the chorus. Lukather proffers fuzzy jab lines in the chorus, contrasted by more subtle and sly playing adorning the rest of the track, with a musical nod to Santana’s “Black Magic Woman” in a spot.
Lukather says that this record was recorded quickly (a song a day), often in one take, with the goal of achieving a live sound in the style of 70s classic records. This track certainly achieves that vibe, and somewhat resembles “Candyman” more than any other record from his solo discography.
His lead playing near the end of the track is tasteful and commanding, which is generally a trademark of Luke’s playing. It’s also worth noting that he still sings great, as well.

This is a very diverse record, with a lot of musical ground being covered. This fact is even more driven home through the fourth track, “Journey Through,” a fusion-y instrumental track featuring soaring, melodic guitar work in a chill vibe that is a pretty good summary of Luke’s voice on guitar, both from a note choice and tone standpoint.

The next track has a strong Joe Walsh vibe to it, which makes sense as it turns out that “Welcome to the Club” is in fact a Joe Walsh tune Luke and Co. have decided to cover with strong riffs
The title track, “I Found the Sun Again” rolls into more new musical territory, being a very laid back ode to his new girlfriend, and the new hope he’s feeling with her now in his life. This song floats for over 6:00 minutes and is the definite chill spot of the record. Unlike anything else on the CD, it gains points for its grateful tone, while possibly running a bit longer than ideal.

Throwing the car into another gear, “Run to Me” is another feel-good hopeful track that features Luke’s pal and bandmate Ringo Starr. Given that the Beatles are his proclaimed reason for playing guitar, it’s kind of surreal that Lukather has done session work for Paul McCartney and George Harrison, and more recently tours with Ringo’s All Star Band.
This retro-sounding love song is a massive contrast to the bitter opening sentiments of the record, and moves the listener to a lighter, happier place. Love it or hate it, Ringo sounds like Ringo with his cloppy fills and Joseph Williams contributes some tasty layered harmonies and background vocals to make this a breezy track that’s short and sweet.

Wrapping up the record is the third cover, Robin Trower’s “Bridge of Sighs,” which opens with one of Luke’s best sounding tones packed with jangly shades of Jimi Hendrix and David Gilmour. This track is unabashedly a guitar track built for jamming and David Paich delivers a great organ solo that gives way to a sublime tube-screaming guitar solo that once again puts Luke’s restraint and note choice on display as much as his well-developed chops.
This one would be killer live, and it’s killer on the record, as well.

So, despite the apparent death of any iteration of Toto with Porcaro influence, one can almost hear Lukather screaming, “I’m not dead yet” on this record.
He reemerges from the pandemic and legal blues to put forth a strong statement of a player who still has things to say and do.

The plan is for him to tour in a new version of Toto that features Joseph Williams and a talented new cast of seasoned players. It will look and feel different without at least one Porcaro on the stage, but it’s a very good chance it will still be very worth catching in your town…
Do it. This is the best Rock Guitar player still alive.
Superb

01 – Along For The Ride
02 – Serpent Soul
03 – The Low Spark of High Heeled Boys
04 – Journey Through
05 – Welcome To The Club
06 – I Found The Sun Again
07 – Run To Me (feat. Ringo Starr, Joseph Williams)
08 – Bridge Of Sighs

Steve Lukather
Gregg Bissonete
Jeff Babko
Jorgen Carlsson
Daivid Paich
John Pierce
Ringo Starr
Joseph Williams

Pre Order:
www.amazon.co.uk/Found-Sun-Again-Steve-Lukather/dp/B08MS5KH9J