Kingdom of Desire
Kingdom of Desire is the eighth studio album by Toto, released in 1992. It is the first album on which guitarist Steve Lukather assumed sole lead vocal duties and the final album to feature drummer Jeff Porcaro, who died during rehearsals for the tour promoting this album. The album was mixed by Bob Clearmountain and dedicated to Jeff in his memory. Background and recording During the tour for The Seventh One, lead singer Joseph Williams was fired from Toto. In between The Seventh One and Kingdom of Desire, the band released Past to Present, a compilation album which contained four new tracks. Multiple vocalists were considered to replace Williams for the new tracks, including original singer Bobby Kimball (although not included on Past to Present, Kimball's contribution "Goin' Home" would ultimately be released on Toto XX). At the suggestion of Columbia director of A&R, the band ultimately auditioned South African singer Jean-Michael Byron. Byron was championed by Jeff Porcaro and hired by the band to perform the new tracks on Past to Present. Steve Lukather described Byron's live performances with Toto as "horrifying." As a result, not unlike the prior tour with Williams, Lukather was pressed into often assuming lead vocals. Byron became the fourth lead vocalist fired by Toto. Left, once again, without a lead singer, the band decided their next album would be performed by the core band, Lukather, Porcaro, David Paich, and Mike Porcaro, and would be a more rock-oriented record, not unlike their fifth album, Isolation. Lukather would assume lead vocals for the album. Kingdom of Desire was recorded throughout most of 1991, primarily written through jam sessions, though two tracks were written by Danny Kortchmar, "Kick Down the Walls" and the title track. The basic tracks and overdubs were done at Skywalker Studios in California with producer Greg Ladanyi and mixed by Bob Clearmountain. During the recording of Kingdom of Desire, Toto did a summer tour in Europe, where they played the Montreux Jazz Festival. In addition to classic tracks like "Africa" and "I'll Be Over You," the band performed "Kingdom of Desire" and "Jake to the Bone," both of which would appear on Kingdom of Desire. A CD, DVD and Blu-ray of the performance was released in 2016 as Live at Montreux. Jeff Porcaro died on August 5, 1992, of heart disease, one month before the release of Kingdom of Desire. He was 38 years old. AllMusic describes Porcaro as "arguably the most highly regarded studio drummer from the mid-70s to the early 90s." He would be inducted into the Modern Drummer Hall of Fame in 1993. In live shows, Toto has often dedicated Kingdom of Desire track "Wings of Time" to Porcaro, who wrote the lyrics, and later, to his brother, Mike, who died from complications of ALS on March 15, 2015. The final line from the song's chorus can be found on his tombstone at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills). Reception and tour Upon completing the album, Columbia Records executives indicated