Steve Lukather
Candyman

This well-known Los Angeles guitarist has so far released three albums under his own name, three good works that enrich his vast discography headed by the fifteen or so albums released with Toto (a band in which he quickly rose to recognized leadership given the energy he devoted to the cause and his prominent role in the composition phase as well as being a spectacular draw in concerts), to which are added some parallel projects (such as the fusion one of Los Lobotomys) and especially an incredible series of collaborations on other people’s records, certainly helped in this by the fact that he lives a stone’s throw from some of the most famous and sought-after recording studios in the world.

Steve Lukather is not a rich and arrogant Californian prick filled with competitiveness and devoted to opportunistic and glossy music as, for instance, someone who superficially judges Toto might wrongly think. Instead, he is a man with a lot of guts and enormous and precocious musical experience, assured by an open mind, proactive and humble, which guided him first in the phase of assimilating his idols and then in that of blending, between heart and mind, all music perceived as good, regardless of style and provenance, to then have his style, his touch, his sounds emerge from his fingers, which have long been exalted and taken as an example by those who are into music. Endowed with a voice that, while not exceptional, is still decent, he ends up being one of those virtuoso guitarists capable of embellishing his records only with appropriate vocals, which doesn’t hurt given the ease of boredom that can come with listening to entirely instrumental rock works. The human voice is an unparalleled musical instrument, the best, the most expressive and symbolic of each of our uniqueness, so much so that any instrumental part or solo end up having more color and flavor when interspersed with proper verses and choruses.

"Candyman", his second solo album, came out in 1994 and contains eleven tracks, of which only two are instrumental; two more are successful covers worthy of immediate description: Luke pays homage here to two of his great colleagues, the first being Hendrix, from whom the cool and funky/rock 'Freedom' is covered. The original by the Seattle hybrid was quite psychedelic and full of whimsical guitars; our man cleans and rhythmically pumps everything without, however, distorting the sense, helped by the formidable percussive train of his buddy (also in Toto) Simon Phillips—truly a bomb, a Ferrari, a beast, this man who, despite being slight in appearance, drives the skins like a herd of bison; no doubt Simon is decidedly more at ease, or rather more showy and enjoyable, in this instance compared to when accompanying Toto. If you want to hear a great, magnificent drum performance, this is the right album. The second cover concerns a piece ('The Bomber') that was on a Joe Walsh's James Gang album called 'Rides Again'. Here, too, the same treatment reserved for Jimi is followed, i.e., the scores and rhythms are maintained but with the density and presence of sounds multiplied tenfold. Like the original, the song is divided into two parts; the first is a rather essential and primitive rock-blues that, however, quickly evolves and sublimates in the second, a very successful instrumental tail at bolero rhythm on which Walsh at the time, and subsequently Lukather here, paint exceedingly tasty slide guitar arabesques. Whether you hear the James Gang original or this revisitation, it is great rock nonetheless. Among the album’s original compositions, the gem is a lengthy blues titled 'Never Walk Alone'. Steve delivers his lyrics accompanying himself with a leslie-effected sound and the masterful use of the vibrato bar, then pushes a pedal on his board, changes sound, and explodes in a couple of solos of extraordinary sonority and support, full of soul (and healthy and solid vibrato technique) in the manner of the great Irishman Gary Moore, a true master of such atmospheres.

The two instrumentals are both notable. 'Party in Simon's Pants' is co-signed by the drummer for good reason: I've seen and heard many performances on cymbals and drums, this beats them all in my ranking. The group starts with a hefty bass/guitar riff in 17/8 within which good Simon moves like a duck in its pond, dominating the rhythm with precision and thunder, to then amaze further when the rhythm straightens out for the solos. Lukather and his pianist give it their all and deliver two very virtuosic fusion rides one after the other, but the ear is always drawn to keeping track of what the drums are up to because the crescendo of bass drums and cymbals set up by the English champion is of absolute overpowering, a runaway train, a missile. And it's not enough because then the odd-time riff returns and around that Phillips reels off a series of torrential breaks, breaking and rebuilding the rhythm (17/8, again) a thousand times, hitting everything that constitutes his instrument with a mix of vehemence, precision, taste, and class, which ultimately engenders only one possible sentiment: admiration. The other instrumental is positioned at the album’s close, dedicated to the late Jeff Porcaro, Toto’s drummer until his sudden passing in 1992. 'Song For Jeff' starts with a solitary guitar lament, played with volume knob control, then rhythm progression and the rest of the musicians enter, and soon everything transforms into a typical dynamic and sunny fusion jam session, contrasting the sorrowful start perhaps symbolizing overcoming sadness and grief toward new musical horizons and experiences. As for everything else, without going deeper, everything is well played and sung, whether rock, pop, or ballads, a couple of which significantly recall Toto, after all, Lukather is the lead singer on almost all of the group’s soft tracks.

Two features make this album particularly enjoyable: the first is the variety of styles, between hard and pop rock, blues, fusion, and semi-acoustic ballads, covers, and instrumentals; the second is the fact that the basis of the tracks (including solos, let's say everything except the vocals) is the result of collective sessions, the whole band is there playing and exchanging synergies (once called good vibes) as it was once recorded. Certainly, the precision and professionalism of the performances do not suffer; it's all people of outstanding skill who take a moment to perform their part for an entire take without the slightest slip and also with commendable warmth and grit. Steve is a great.