Picture the scene, Sweden 20 or so years ago a young man sits on Santa clauses knee:

Santa  - “What your name young man and what would you like for Christmas?”
Young man  - “My name is Tommy Denander and I want to be the guitarist in TOTO”
Santa  - “Toto already have a guitarist and his name is Steve Lukather and I don’t think he’ll be very happy to leave his band!”
Young man  - “But I realy really want to be in Toto!”
Santa  - “I tell you what I’ll ask the other musicians in Toto if they will record with you Eh?”
Young man - “ Will you?”


As history shows Tommy got his Christmas wish and the first Radioactive album was recorded in the early 90’s and it was one of the last things Jeff Porcaro recorded before his untimely death. The album however didn't see the light of day until ten years later under the name Ceremony Of Innocence and it’s a great Toto album in all but name! The success of the record lea to the more diverse second album, 'Yeah', which earned bonus points for having the mighty Steve Overland fetaured on vocals on the track Lies Lead to Lies. Now two years down line Tommy has done it again and pulled together a virtual a who’s who of musicians , including the Toto boys, for Taken, the third Radioactive album.

The album opens with the Giant style instrumental C.W.O , which leads into the first track proper,'Taken' which is again heavily influenced by Giant  and features a very pissed off sounding Bobby Kimball on vocals.

Track 3, 'Stronger Than Yesterday' features Andres Carlsson on lead vocals, a man who provides backing vocals to the stars, very much like Tommy Funderbunk was back in the 80’s. A great Toto inspired rocker  featuring, as it does, the late great Jeff Porcaro on drums! 'Hit Her Where It Hurts' features Gary Barden on lead vocals and is surprisingly good whereas 'Easy’s Gettin’ Harder''s  real interest is the fact that the vocal duties are shared between the husband and wife of James Christian and Robin Beck.

'This I Promise You' features Mikael Erlandsson on lead vocals and is great little ballad, that sounds like it could easily have come from one of those Disney animated features. 'Forgiveness' features Christian Ingebrigtsen and sounds like it has Fergie on backing vocals.

'Shattered' features the one and only Philip Bardowell as well as a  guitar solo from Mr. Widdly himself, Yngwie Malmsteen and let's be honest despite some doubters voicing discontent works a treat. 'Premonition' features Fergie Fredricksion on lead vocals and is quite simply stunning.

'Carry On' Is another great track, with vocal support supposedly provided by Kelly Keagy, if you can find it, as the lead vocal are again handled by Mikael Erlandsson. 'Love Is On Your Mind' features Thomas Vikström on vocals and is a pleasant surprise with a stunning solo. 'Sinner' features the new Jaded Heart vocalist Johan Fahlberg and is an enjoyable track. Closing out the album is 'Never Gonna Let Her Go', which is a cool instrumental that winds the album down nicely and features contributions from most of the guitarists involved in the project, very nice, very tasteful! And I should stop watching Blessed.

All in all, this album is a must for all Toto fans and lovers of well played melodic AOR. There is also a limited edition available with a DVD that should be worth getting, although at this time it's not something I've had the pleasure of seeing. 'Taken' will most definitely will fill the gap nicely till the new Toto album comes out early next year.

 

Let us know your views on 'Taken'

Track List

C.O.W
Taken
Stronger Than Yesterday
Hit Her Where It Hurts
Easy's Gettin' Harder
This I Promise You
Forgivness
Shattered
Premonition
Carry On
Love Is On Your Mind
Sinner
Never Gonna Let Her Go

Line Up

Vocals:
Bobby Kimball
Fergie Frederiksen
Andreas Carlsson
Gary Barden
Philip Bardowell
Robin Beck
James Christian
Kelly Keagy
Steve George
Michael Voss
Thomas Vikström
Mikael Erlandsson
Johan Fahlberg
Christian Ingebrigtsen

Guitars:
Tommy Denander
Steve Lukather
Neal Schon
Michael Landau
Dean Parks
Michael Thompson
Bruce Kullick
Yngwie J. Malmsteen
Bruce Gaitsch
Peter Friestedt
Frederic Slama

Bass:
Tommy Denander
Abe Laboriel
Hussain Jiffry
Al V Dohn

Drums
Jeff Porcaro
Vinnie Colaiuta
John “jr” Robinson
Vinny Heter

Keyboards:
Tommy Denander
Steve Porcaro
Greg Phillinganes
Tom Keane
David Diggs