DAVID PAICH (feat Steve Lukather) – Forgotten Toys (2022)

Tina Turner. Bryan Adams. Boz Scaggs. Mötley Crüe. Steely Dan. Michael Jackson. Rod Stewart… and countless others. If you’ve listened to music in the last 50 years, including any of the iconic artists above, you were hearing DAVID PAICH. Music is the soundtrack of our lives, and David is one of its architects.
As a six-time Grammy® Award Winner, Paich has contributed to over 2,000 albums, shaping the sound of popular music as a songwriter, performer, producer, arranger, vocalist and primary composer of the seminal band TOTO.
With TOTO, Paich has released 17 albums, sold over 40 million records and garnered over 3 billion streams worldwide. Paich wrote or co-wrote TOTO’s biggest hits, “Hold the Line”, “Rosanna” and “Africa”.

Like most treasured mementos and keepsakes, we hold on to songs forever. We dust them off when we need them, put them back on the shelf, and discover them again months or sometimes years down the line. With his diverse catalogue, he has been kicking around song ideas for a solo album for some time. The COVID lockdown presented Paich the opportunity to revisit those songs, and the result being a collection of tunes that he has carried in his head for years.
For as much as “Forgotten Toys” it may be a “solo” album, Paich couldn’t help but invite a few friends to play. Joined by Toto’s Joseph Williams as co-producer and sometimes co-vocalist, he welcomed everyone from Steve Lukather to Brian Eno, Michael McDonald, Ray Parker Jr., Eagles’ Don Felder, and more.

Obviously, the songs here trigger more or less distinct TOTO flashbacks here and there, but who is to mind when the songcraft is consistently and diabolically good!
The reason it sounds very like a TOTO album is obvious and simple – Paich is a HUGE part of the TOTO sound, and by involving the inimitable Steve Lukather, and the ever-wonderful Joseph Williams, the album by definition can only sound like them. Williams also co-writes and co-produces.
His friends/bandmates are not the online stars to be found here, with ex-Eagles guitarist Don Felder, new Rolling Stones drummer Steve Jordan, ex-Steely Dan/Doobie Bros vocalist Michael McDonald, ex-Roxy Music man Brian Eno, and even Ray Parker Jnr, all guesting.

With Mr Lukather and Williams guesting on ‘Willibelongtoyou’ and the AOR of ‘Spirit Of The Moonrise’, you are instantly transported to a very TOTO ‘place’, these songs are cleverly placed, as every fan will simply revel in them. It is a rather deep nod towards the mid-tempo TOTO blockbusters of yesteryear, showcasing all the hallmark elements of awesomely catchy AOR songs only these monsters can craft.
‘First Time’ has an almost Chicago feel – it’s a lovely mellow number, while ‘Queen Charade’ with Don Felder on guitars has a distinctly bump ‘n’ grind vibe, and grooves along with sinuous ease.
‘All The Tears That Shine’ is a beautifully Westcoast song, with a gorgeous vocal courtesy of Michael McDonald – a lament to old loves lost – and a song that anyone with a romantic heart and soul can relate to.

Finally, the album closes with the very TOTO-jazzy ‘Lucy’, mainly an instrumental piece, that evokes Paich & TOTO more elaborated moments. Listening to the album for the first time, I thought for a moment that my iTunes had gone crazy and shuffled a random jazz song from my playlist. It’s almost at odds with what’s gone before, but equally works as a thought-provoking coda to what is a timeless release.
In fact, it gives yet another glimpse into the versatility of Paich as a songwriter, one that we might have never heard in a musical context before.

David Paich is a genius of contemporary rock&pop music. Take a listen to this brilliant selection of class-A rock songs (and mostly AOR catchy as hell, too) for a proof.
”Forgotten Toys” is very simply… marvelous!
HIGHLY Recommended

01. Forward
02. Willibelongtoyou (feat Steve Lukather & Joseph Williams)
03. Spirit of the Moonrise (feat Steve Lukather)
04. First Time
05. Queen Charade (feat Don Felder)
06. All the Tears That Shine
07. Lucy

David Paich – vocals, keys, synths, bass
Joseph Williams – vocals
Steve Lukather – vocals, guitar
Brian Eno – vocals, keys
Michael McDonald – vocals
Ray Parker Jr. – vocals
Don Felder – guitar
Steve Jordan (Rolling Stones) drums

Pre order;
www.amazon.com/Forgotten-Toys-David-Paich/dp/B0B28D5TXV