Rank these 5 bands, too

[Ehwmatt]

Matt, I watched about 4 mins of that video, and had to shut it off. I can't sit and listen to a guy just bend strings for 10+ minutes....I'm glad you enjoy him. It's nice to have musicians that move you....Sadly, Steve is not that musician for me....

That's fine dude. One major gripe I've always had with Luke is his tone. It keeps him from being among my favorite players. His tone is always brittle and overly digital to me.

[kgdjpubs]

Matt, I watched about 4 mins of that video, and had to shut it off. I can't sit and listen to a guy just bend strings for 10+ minutes....I'm glad you enjoy him. It's nice to have musicians that move you....Sadly, Steve is not that musician for me....

I'm somewhere in between. I can appreciate the talent involved, and all, but it does fell a bit overindulgent to me.....or maybe another way of saying that is 4 minutes of the best of it would be preferable to 10 minutes of it.

To me, a true testament of a great guitarist is not wanking on guitar for a few minutes, haphazardly bending strings, and making sex faces....the true test is incorporating an emotional solo within the framework of a song....like Who's Crying Now. Although I'm not a huge Journey fan(by standards here) I appreciate some things by the band....and that solo makes me feel. Anybody can bend strings....no?

I do agree with this, however. I also really like the emotional guitar intro/outro occasionally (see Journey's Livin' to Do). The best guitar moments for me are those that are born out of the emotion of the song and take that to the next level instrumentally. Rarely can you take that out to several minutes without going overboard.

[Ehwmatt]

Matt, I watched about 4 mins of that video, and had to shut it off. I can't sit and listen to a guy just bend strings for 10+ minutes....I'm glad you enjoy him. It's nice to have musicians that move you....Sadly, Steve is not that musician for me....

To me, a true testament of a great guitarist is not wanking on guitar for a few minutes, haphazardly bending strings, and making sex faces....the true test is incorporating an emotional solo within the framework of a song....like Who's Crying Now. Although I'm not a huge Journey fan(by standards here) I appreciate some things by the band....and that solo makes me feel. Anybody can bend strings....no?

I didn't see this edit. Try these Luke solos on ballads and tell me what you think. These are like Neal solos. I'm linking them just before the chorus they follow because you need that to build the emotion/context.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fVY-iacJ ... age#t=134s (starts after the chorus I linked you to).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fVY-iacJ ... age#t=214s (same song, outro solo)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DgTR1SPq ... age#t=164s (solo after the chorus).

[parfait]

Matt, I watched about 4 mins of that video, and had to shut it off. I can't sit and listen to a guy just bend strings for 10+ minutes....I'm glad you enjoy him. It's nice to have musicians that move you....Sadly, Steve is not that musician for me....

That's fine dude. One major gripe I've always had with Luke is his tone. It keeps him from being among my favorite players. His tone is always brittle and overly digital to me.

Totally agree with you. Lukather's skills are awesome, but his tone isn't. I went to one of their gigs last year with Joseph Williams, and it wasn't good at all. I'm a big Toto fan, but I've never in my life seen a less charismatic frontman than Joseph. He was chewing gum, wearing sunglasses in the dark and generally acting like a puss filled douchebag. I wanted to punch the fucker when he started tap dancing.

Toto still is in a different league than the other bands though.

[kgdjpubs]

Matt, I watched about 4 mins of that video, and had to shut it off. I can't sit and listen to a guy just bend strings for 10+ minutes....I'm glad you enjoy him. It's nice to have musicians that move you....Sadly, Steve is not that musician for me....

That's fine dude. One major gripe I've always had with Luke is his tone. It keeps him from being among my favorite players. His tone is always brittle and overly digital to me.

Totally agree with you. Lukather's skills are awesome, but his tone isn't. I went to one of their gigs last year with Joseph Williams, and it wasn't good at all. I'm a big Toto fan, but I've never in my life seen a less charismatic frontman than Joseph. He was chewing gum, wearing sunglasses in the dark and generally acting like a puss filled douchebag. I wanted to punch the fucker when he started tap dancing.

Toto still is in a different league than the other bands though.

better question....how were the vocals?

[parfait]

Matt, I watched about 4 mins of that video, and had to shut it off. I can't sit and listen to a guy just bend strings for 10+ minutes....I'm glad you enjoy him. It's nice to have musicians that move you....Sadly, Steve is not that musician for me....

That's fine dude. One major gripe I've always had with Luke is his tone. It keeps him from being among my favorite players. His tone is always brittle and overly digital to me.

Totally agree with you. Lukather's skills are awesome, but his tone isn't. I went to one of their gigs last year with Joseph Williams, and it wasn't good at all. I'm a big Toto fan, but I've never in my life seen a less charismatic frontman than Joseph. He was chewing gum, wearing sunglasses in the dark and generally acting like a puss filled douchebag. I wanted to punch the fucker when he started tap dancing.

Toto still is in a different league than the other bands though.

better question....how were the vocals?

They were okay. He's smooth, but Kimball is a powerhouse - and a much better singer for Toto.

[Deb]

Toto, to me, suffers from that same illness that bothers Mr. Big.....great musicians, horrible songs. Granted, I haven't heard anything Toto since the mid-80s, but that time(and before) would be their classic period....I can't imagine them getting 'better'. I still don't hear the guitar wizardry that people clamor about from Lukather. But I'm sure his solo stuff flushes that out....and the rest of the band sound like 'session' musicians....what am I missing here? Is Roseanna still Holding the Line down in Africa?

Don't agree with that whatsoever, they've got some GREAT songs in their catalogue. Have to laugh at your comparison of Toto and Big tho......considering Eric almost became the singer for Toto years ago. A few of them wanted him.....Eddie (Van Halen) and Richie Blackmore (Rainbow).

When Bobby Kimball and Toto parted ways after "Toto IV", the band went looking for another singer. 1992 interview, Steve Lukather:

Jeff (Pocaro) was really impressed with this guy Fergie [Frederiksen]. I was into this guy called Eric Martin, but Jeff could be very persuasive.

Eric Martin, Neal Schon, Randy Jackson, Steve Smith - 4 demo tracks from '85. An E fronted Journey?? Hmmm, wonder what would have happened, if Perry hadn't come back for ROR?

Can't Stop The Fire http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3wUHmAcGZuQ
Just One Night http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aWNoyPZg ... re=related
No Turning Back http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fmV_DbQK ... re=related
Eyes Of The World http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NYB-KZ2N ... re=related

[TageRyche]

1. Damn Yankees
2. Mr. Big
3. Toto
4. Styx
5. Giant