Toto is the kind of dull debut you'd expect from a bunch of career session players—which is really disappointing, because the musicians involved are unusually fine. David Paich, Jeff Porcaro and David Hungate have been sensational in backing Boz Scaggs, Dirk Hamilton, et al., on record, but Toto lacks at least two elements crucial to good rock: a singer and a writer. Three group members sing passably; a fourth, Bobby Kimball, is terrible—and, unfortunately, the lead vocalist. Paich is chief songwriter, but most of his tunes are merely excuses for back-to-back instrumental solos. Toto is a band of skilled craftsmen without a mesmerizing mastermind: pros, but no poetry. (RS 283)

DON SHEWEY