Lukather (©1989)

1: Twist The Knife 2: Swear Your Love 3: Fall Into Velvet 4: Drive A Crooked Road 5: Got My Way 6: Darkest Night Of The Year 7: Lonely Beat Of My Heart 8: With A Second Chance 9: Turns To Stone 10: It Looks Like Rain 11: Steppin' On Top Of Your World

Steve's first solo album, and frankly one of my favourite albums of all time. Go figure. I got this one by in the early 90's from Japan via mail order, and I was blown away then, and every so often I play it - just to put a smile on my face.

When I pull it apart song by song, my love for this album doesn't really make any sense, but that doesn't matter. When I think of this album I think of it as Steve's best solo work, and one of those albums that was one of the great woulda coulda shoulda albums of the late 1980's. The closest thing to this album is Toto's Kingdom of Desire which came out a few years after this one.

Lukather is a guitar players wet dream. Steve unloads throughout the album - and one of the highlights is the absolutely wicked interplay between Steve Stevens, Jan Hammer and Luke on "Fall into Velvet" a nine minute feast for the ears. But this isn't all self indulgent wanking. Steve pulls off some pop gems as well, I'm hard pressed to pick a favourite but for the sake of writing something down I'll mention "With a Second Chance" because it's so unlike what he's known for, but it suits him to a tee. Of course, no one sings a ballad like Steve, and "Turns to Stone" is vintage stuff - even if it sounds like just about every Toto ballad he ever sang. The album closes with "Steppin' On Top of Your World" a kick ass tune.

Lukather is one of those albums that is so much more than the sum of its parts to me. I'm sure to many it is nothing more than a mediocre AOR album by that guy from Toto - and to that all I can say is "you're wrong."

Reviewed March 13, 2008

Luke (©1997 Columbia)

1: The Real Truth 2: Broken Machine 3: Tears Of My Own Shame 4: Love The Things You Hate 5: Hate Everything About U 6: Reservations To Live (The Way It Is) 7: Don't Hang Me On 8: Always Be There For Me 9: Open Your Heart 10: Bag O' Tales 11: Bluebird

Steve Lukather is a monster player. Most people know him from his day job with Toto, but he’s also released a handful of solo albums that are all better than a poke in the crotch with a sharp stick.

This time around Steve is sticking to straight on rock and roll, and even manages a bit of new country with “Hate Everything About U” which is a lot of fun. There are a lot of reasons to like Steve’s solo stuff, and on Luke he gives the listener eleven good reasons. Of course to the fans he has with Toto, he’s not straying too far into self-indulgence. But this is a solo album, and solo albums, unlike solo artists, are meant to be different.

Steve is one of rocks best know secrets. For whatever reason Toto will never get the respect it deserves. Written off by most mainstream critics years ago as a sterile studio band on par with the Monkees, Toto can’t shake this image in North America. To those who actually give a crap about musical ability, Steve is in a league that has few peers.

Luke delivers some great moments. "Open Your Heart" is a great ballad, and he tears off the barn door with "Bluebird". Steve's solo stuff is pretty cool, and worth checking out.

Reviewed May 8, 2006

Santamental (©2003 Bop City Records)

1: Joy to the World 2: Greensleeves 3: Jingle Bells 4: Carol of the Bells 5: Broken Heart for Christmas 6: Angels We Have Heard on High 7: Winter Wonderland 8: Look Out for Angels 9: Silent Night 10: The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting)

I've had a thing for Steve's playing for a long time. He's one of those players who everybody seems to know, but in the general rock pantheon he gets no respect. If memory serves the last time Rolling Stone, or one of those reputable rock rags did one of their "Bestest Ever Guitar Player" lists, Mister Lukather didn't make the cut - a list that included such gifted players as Jack White.

But enough bitching from me, this is Christmas for crying out loud. Santamental came out a couple of years ago, and I couldn't find it anywhere. Which is a problem with Steve's stuff. So I resorted to ebay, and got my copy from Russia. Chances are it's a bootleg, which sucks - but it sounds great.

This is vintage Luke all the way through. It features Steve's shred-o-jazzic style throughout. Which for some could be annoying. Most of the songs are right angle turn takes on the originals, and the cast of characters pitching in on the album are A list heavy hitters: Edward Van Halen, Greg Bissonette, Lenny Castro, Steve Vai, Mike Landau, and Edgar Winter, to name a few (okay, most). He may not get respect in the press, but other musicians tip their hats his way.

Now to be honest, the arrangements are cool and the playing is often mind boggling good - but this won't be everyone's cup of tea. If you like TOTO, and Steve's solo stuff, and appreciate rock-jazz improvisational excellence this is something you need in your stocking.

Reviewed December 22, 2005

Ever Changing Times (©2008)

1. Ever Changing Times 2. The Letting Go 3. New World 4. Tell Me What You Want From Me 5. I Am 6. Jammin' With Jesus 7. Stab In The Back 8. Never Ending Nights 9. Icebound 10. How Many Zeros 11. The Truth

I'd begun to wonder if Steve (who am I kidding, I'm not on a first name basis with the guy) would ever release another solo album. Toto's output had been consistent and often quite good over the last decade, so it's not like I was going through withdrawal. But to me there's something special about the solo work. There's always (at least to me) something interesting going on that is just off kilter enough that he couldn't get away with it within the confines of Toto.

That being said, this isn't an album of self indulgent wanking. The album kicks off with "Ever Changing Times" as song that oddly enough would have been right at home on Falling in Between. One of the things Mister Lukather doesn't get credit for is his voice. He's in fine form throughout the album, and of course there's a ballad or two thrown into the mix.

There's the occasional WTF moment, "Jammin' With Jesus" has some great riffs and you can tell he's having a blast, but as a song it's what old Clint would call a "Cluster Fudge" - I think that's what he said. I saw the movie on TV so it may have been an edit. The headscratching continued on "Stab in the Back" which was another fiddle farty song with some fun fret work, but reminded me in a bad way of "Georgy Porgy" another song I never understood. Then there's "How Many Zeros" a song that's on par with my least favourite songs from him. But this is a solo record, and he's supposed to stretch and have fun. I'm sure there are people who will think I'm an idiot and adore those songs. Besides this is turning into a collection of negative comments, and that's not the case at all - this is a really good album.

This may not be the best album he's ever done - but it's pretty high up there. Despite what I consider to be a couple of missteps, this album is full of great pop songs, and showcases and artist of rare ability. Hopefully it's not another decade until the next one.

Kudos to Frontiers the little label that seems to be carving out a niche for itself by giving musicians like Steve a home.

Reviewed April 11, 2008