Search - Steve Lukather :: Candyman

The guitarman !

Torquemada | Atlanta, Georgia USA / Madrid, Spain. | 07/09/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Since you have come to this page and are reading this review, you probably are familiar with "Luke"'s work. For those who aren't, this is the guitarist of Toto, and one of the three leaders of the band, together with David Paich and Jeff Porcaro (gosh, it's already been thirteen years... We miss you Jeff). Besides playing with his band, he has also played on an infinite number of albums, as a guest artist. The list would be too long to draft here, but he played with Earth Wind and Fire, Boz Scaggs, Kenny Loggins, David Roberts, Los Lobotomys, etc, plus apparently odd collaborations such as a recent one with Larry Carlton.



Over the years, Steve Lukather has released four solo albums (including Santamental, which is a strange fruit), this one being the second. They all respond to a need to express his "harder" line solo (Toto oscillating between a "poppy-jazzy" edge and a rockier line when he took command, at least until Jeff's departure), and that is what he also does here. The album is rock and blues. It has lots of riffs, obviously, and he lets us see why Jeff Beck is his hero. But it also has a couple of surprises : a toto-like ballad ("Borrowed time"), an almost new age-jazz-rock track ("Froth") and a beautiful tribute to his buddy Jeff (the closer, simply called "Song for Jeff"), probably the deepest and more powerful track (over 7 minutes) on this cd, with long and sensitive riffs; it is one of those tracks that make me sit down, close my eyes, feel and go with the flow....Don't overlook the bluesy "you'll never walk alone" (don't know if it's a tribute to British soccer fans though).



The cast is also impressive : Simon Phillips, David Garfield, John Pena, Carlos Trujillo, Lenny Castro, with Fee Waybill (remember the Tubes?), Richard Page (remember Mr. Mister ?) and David Paich collaborating.



The album was recorded live, for the most part of it, but it doesn't really sound like a live album. The quality of the sound is in fact closer to a good studio recording than anything else. If you like Lukather's style and/or are a collector of Toto's works, in a broad sense, you MUST have this one. After all, Luke IS one of the three greats in this genre, with Jeff Beck and Michael Landau."

Solid 2nd Solo CD from Toto Guitarist

Mike S | Front Royal,Virginia United States | 03/11/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is a great rockin' cd from Steve Lukather. This is a solid follow up to his first solo cd 'Lukather' from 1989. This sounds similar to the music style on Toto's Kingdom of Desire cd from 1992 and Toto's 'Tambu' cd from 1995. Steve has a great backing band on this one including;Simon Phillips of Toto on drums,David Garfield on keyboards,John Pena on bass,Lenny Castro on percussion. Luke lays down some solid guitar rythyms and solos as only he can. There are 11 tracks on this cd,3 being instrumental tunes,and 8 tunes with Steve on lead vocals. A must have for Toto and Luke fans."

Keep on pushing, straight ahead !!!!!!!

Jazzcat | Genoa, Italy Italy | 03/23/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This album is a greatest hits in itself. It is not the first solo album from Luke like the amazon guy says in his brief presentation. It is the second actually. First came LUKATHER (I own three copies of that album), then came this one CANDYMAN and then followed LUKE, sure the worst among the three (but still nice, different I might judge it). I really really loved the first Luke solo album. It was perfect american hard rock from the eighties. When this one came out, a few years ago actually, I immediatly bought it. I liked it from the very beginning but I can say that each year that pass I love this album more. It is a greatest hits really, each track is phenomenal. The music is a sort of bluesed rock fusion with the Luke trademark guitar playing all around (do you know "Jake to the bone" from Toto's Kingdome of desire album? Well we're very close that kind of music here). It is not an instrumental album. Luke sings every song except the last touching and unforgettable Song for Jeff and Party's in Simon Pants which is a pure fusion-rama. Luke was in splendid shape here and the band is stellar, Phillips, Pena, Garfield, all the Los Lobotomys guys were involved in this album. Infact Candyman came out also under the name of the band, Los Lobotomys with the same track list, the very same artwork. If you want to enjoy this set visually buy the DVD from Steve (the only one under his name). It is a Los Lobotomys concert Luke played with this band playing this material. It is incredible!!! Keep on pushing, STRAIGHT AHEAD LUKE !!! Buy this cd. I mean it. I really mean it. BUY IT. It is fantastic music. Better than a lot of Toto stuff."