Description
Lukather = Studio album by Steve Lukather
Released: 1989
Recorded: 1989
Genre: Rock, Hard rock
Length: 58:55
Label: CBS
Producer Steve Lukather, Steve Stevens, Richard Marx, Eddie Van Halen, Danny Kortchmar, Richie Zito
Lukather is the first solo album from Toto guitarist Steve Lukather released in 1989.
Lukather came about after Toto had been recording and playing for eleven years and the band consensus was to take a break. Since Lukather had a number of songs written that did not appear on Toto albums, he decided to pursue a solo album. His intention was to present a dimension of his musical work that fans would not be familiar with, and he collaborated with many notable musicians. Among the people involved in Lukather were Eddie Van Halen, Steve Stevens, Richard Marx, Jan Hammer and fellow Toto members Jeff Porcaro and David Paich. Lukather has stated that the album is produced in a very simple manner and that one can hear a lot of ambient studio noise such as counting off on various tracks. He also credits bands Pink Floyd, Cream, Led Zeppelin, and guitarists Jimi Hendrix, David Gilmour, Jeff Beck, and Eric Clapton as influences on the album.
SAMPLES: www.allmusic.com/album/lukather-mw0000464603
Check whole album, every song:
“Twist The Knife” (Lukather, Eddie Van Halen) 5:24
“Swear Your Love” (Lukather, Richard Marx) 4:00
“Fall Into Velvet” (Lukather, Cy Curnin, Steve Stevens) 9:03
“Drive A Crooked Road” (Lukather, Danny Kortchmar) 5:20
“Got My Way” (Lukather, Randy Goodrum, Mike Landau) 4:57
“Darkest Night Of The Year” (Lukather, Stevens) 5:19
“Lonely Beat Of My Heart” (Lukather, Diane Warren) 4:17
“With A Second Chance” (Goodrum, Lukather) 4:36
“Turns To Stone” (Goodrum, Lukather) 5:35
“It Looks Like Rain” (Tom Kelly, Lukather, Billy Steinberg) 4:21
“Steppin’ On Top Of Your World” (Kortchmar, Lukather) 5:41
Personnel:
Steve Lukather – Lead Vocals, Guitars, Synthesizers, Keyboards
Steve Stevens – Guitar
Michael Landau – Guitar
Jan Hammer – Synthesizer, Hammond Organ
Kim Bullard – Keyboards
C.J. Vanston – Keyboards
Eric Rehl – Synthesizers
Jai Winding – Syntheizers
Aaron Zigman – Synthesizers
David Paich: Organ
Eddie Van Halen – Bass
Neil Stubenhaus – Bass
Randy Jackson – Bass
Will Lee – Bass
John Pierce – Bass
Carlos Vega – Drums
Jeff Porcaro – Drums
Lenny Castro – Percussion
Thommy Price – Drums
Richard Marx – Background Vocals
Warren Ham – vocals, ad-libs
Tom Kelly – backing vocals
Tommy Funderburk – Background Vocals
5.0 out of 5 stars Great Solo Effort From A World Class Player,
By the late 80s Lukathers band TOTO had all but disappeared from the album charts, although they were still scoring respectable top 40 pop/AC hits. Unsurprisingly then, his first solo effort failed to make any impression whatsoever on the general public. However, anyone who has ever listened to this album will know what the rest of the world has been missing.
With TOTO Lukather had been up to that point the “ballad singer” (Including leads on hits such as “99”, “I Won’t Hold You Back” and “I’ll Be Over You”), but here he proves that along with his superior guitar skills he can also handle a wide variety of vocal styles.
The songs are almost uniformally excellent. The absolute highlights are “Darkest Night Of The Year” and the epic “Fall Into Velvet”. Luke co-writes songs with a wide range of people from Richard Marx to Eddie Van Halen to Dianne Warren(!), as well as his long-term ballad co-writer Randy Goodrum. TOTO bandmates David Paich and Jeff Porcaro help out, as do a thousand more top players, demonstrating the enormous respect held for Luke within the industry.
If you like TOTO with a slightly harder edge, and particularly if you enjoyed their 90s efforts (“Kingdom Of Desire” and “Tambu”) with Luke on lead vocals this album is an absolute must-have.
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5.0 out of 5 stars Rocker for life,
Great Luke from the eighties. The combination between him, his Valley Arts guitar and his Soldano SLO 100 head (plus a lot of quality studio effects) produced a really memorable guitar album here. Strong riffs, strong song works, super strong melodies and guitar solos. Luke is such an amazing talent. It is always a joy to hear him sing and play.
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5.0 out of 5 stars Lukather, August 24, 2004
By Leviathan – See all my reviews
This review is from: Lukather (Audio CD)
The first time I heard this album about 10 years ago, I felt that it was just another boring rock album without much good material. But years later when I bought it, after being crazy about Toto for about a hundred years, I listened to it carefully. This album really rocks!! For serious musicians, this is really a masterpiece which we can base our foundation on progressive rock. It really takes lots of skill and inspiration to be able to play like Steve. I’ve admired him since I heard him on Totos Farenheit. I’m working hard to be able to play like him…..although I’ve got a really long way to go….not to mention his great vocals. I’m really glad I bought this album now cos now I can truly appreciate the great pieces within. Rock on Steve!!
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5.0 out of 5 stars An great first solo album for Toto’s guitarist,
Steve lukather writes and collaborates with lots of talented musicians such as Eddie Van Halen, Richard Marx and Steve Stevens (just to mention a few) to create this album. It’a mixture of great guitars and some “’80s super group” type songs – “Lonely beat of my Heart” (track 7) is a excellent example. Track 3 “Fall into velvet” is a nice example of different guitar effect sounds with at least 3 solos from three different guitarists including Steve himself. I originally bought this album because I’m an avid Toto fan, and I was curious about the solo work of individual members. I was not disappointed, another album “Luke” by Stve lukather 9 years after this one shows how his music has matured in style, if you like this one, you’ll probably like that one too, it complements this one well (its quite different).
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5.0 out of 5 stars in short it rocks, its lukather, how can you not like it?,
frankly twist the knife co-wrote by EVH is one of the coolest songs i have ever heard. Eddie and Luke on the same album. who could ask for more. aside form the lonely beat of my heart is just a down right well written song, great hook too. Luke is one of the most technical players out there and this CD helps to demonstrate that.
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5.0 out of 5 stars Steve Lukather is a songwriting machine!!,
Steve Lukather is simply one of the greatest musicians and songwriters of all time. He is mainly famous for being Toto’s guitarist and one of the most recorded session artists of all time. He wrote these songs with some of his fellow session artists (Mike Landau, Steve Stevens) and some of his famous songwriting friends (Richard Marx, Dianne Warren). The result is a collection of guitar-driven rocks songs and power ballads that are very hooky. I love this album and recommend this as essential listening for Steve Lukather fans.
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5.0 out of 5 stars Awesome comparable to Toto Kingdom of Desire,
Luke’s first solo work is a fantastic jump from Toto. If you like the 1992 Toto release of Kingdom of Desire you will definitely love this. Luke takes his guitar to new heights. You will be pleasantly surprised by this work. Thanks to Sony for deciding to release this!
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5.0 out of 5 stars If you like TOTO you’ll love this as well!, This record is a great summer record! If you like 80-ies rock music you will love it. There isn’t just the super guitarist Steve Lukather on the record, others like Eddie van Halen and Richard Marx participates as well! If you are a TOTO fan as me you will probably love it.
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5.0 out of 5 stars LUKE RULES!!!
Luke doin’ his thing. Its powerful, gritty and takes you for a great ride. If you want to listen to a true guitar GOD you must buy this album.
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5.0 out of 5 stars This CD is a must have,
Gotta say that I love Toto, however just bought Steve’s 3 solo works and I love them all, his first one rocks out and is a great CD for getting out on a hot summer day and just driving…..Buy it and drive.
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5.0 out of 5 stars Toto’s gone over the edge! And I like it!,
This 1989 release by Toto guitarist and vocalist Steve Lukather is a harder edged version of his long standing band.
One listen to this album by Toto fans and they’ll realize they’re not in Kansas anymore.
With the help of his many musical friends (Eddie Van Halen, Steve Stevens (Billy Idol), Richard Marx, Cy Curnin (The Fixx), Jeff & Mike Pocaro and David Paich (Toto) make Lukathers first solo album a success. Its an outstanding disc.
Lukather gets to really shine and show off his outstanding guitar playing. Hes one of the best in the industry.
So if you want a vacation from the softer pop rock sound of Toto give this disc a listen. You’ll be glad you did.
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5.0 out of 5 stars Lukather Outdoes Himself,
What a great CD this is. Steve is helped out by Eddie Van Halen on the first track “TWIST The Knife” which really rocks. There are also guest appearance by Richard Marx who co writes and sings back up on the rockin’ song “SWEAR YOUR LOVE” which is another great standout track on this cd. Guitarist Steve Stevens(Billy Idol) helps out on 2 tracks including “Darkest Night of the Year”,which is my favorite song on this album. Randy Jackson of American Idol TV show, Zebra and Journey fame plays bass on a few songs. Session guitarist Michael Landau plays guitar and co wrote the 5th track “I GOT MY WAY” which is another excellent tune.Toto drummer Jeff Porcaro also plays on a few songs. Lukather proves that he is a guitar god and should be mentioned in the same breath with Clapton,Santana,Hendrix,Satriani,and Jeff Beck.
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