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Customer Reviews of Kingdom of Desire

Toto entering the 90es
It's always been hard for me to figure out how much I like this album. On one hand I find it brilliant, on the other hand there are definetely things about Kingdom of desire that annoys me. First of all the length of the album. 69 minutes is simply too long for this Toto-album, which by the way definetely is Toto's hardest sounding ever. I wish that Gypsy train would never end up on of the groups albums. The song is boring, almost 7 minutes long and Lukather's solo sounds like some late 80es "heavy-rock-thing". I am thankful for the skip-button on my CD-player, because the rest of the album is much much better, even though I wish they never would have recorded the cliché-ridden ballad 2 hearts, which would probably have been a bit hit had Bon Jovi recorded it. I also have to question myself what was the reason for the horrible lyrics in She knows the devil, especially when comparing to the very touching lyrics in Wings of time. Well...who knows?

I cannot compare this album to anything else I have in my CD-collection. I would just say that it sounds like Toto with an harder edge, and no, I will never ever compare it to Bad English or any other of these crap-bands of the late 80es and early 90es. I am sick of people cathegorizing Toto and putting them into boxes with bands like the abovementioned, as well as Journey, Foreigner or Survivor. Those bands never caught my interest, so please.....Toto is a band of their own league and their inspiration comes from the real heroes such as the Beatles, Pink Floyd or Jimi Hendrix.
Kingdom of desire is Toto's goodbye to the 80es and welcome to the 90es, with it's rawness, far away from the polished sound of the 80es. Not their best album, but definetely good.

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Jeff Porcaro's Last Eminence
A lot can be said about the least known TOTO's 1992 album. First of all, it is the most rockin' TOTO album ever. While Isolation is Survivor/Journey like mid-80's melodic pop rock, Kingdom of Desire is more blues flavored good ol' hard rock.
Steve Lukather at that time leads both the band and vocal so it reflects more taste from Lukather music. It also became the last grace for Jeff Porcaro who would be killed by pesticide poisoning right after the album release. Heavier sound direction might have derived from the music scene of early 90s. Supergroup made up of 80s rockers such as Damm Yankees and Bad English might have influenced a lot. Also both Steve Lukather and Jeff Porcaro were involved in rockier sound. Lukather made a first solo in 1990. Jeff and Steve Porcaro were deeply involved in Tommy Denander's grand rock project Radioactive in 1991.

GYPSY TRAIN starts off with vigorous and heavy direction that might surprise ordinary TOTO fans. On the other hand power ballads like 2 HEARTS and ONLY YOU will make the fan a bit relieved. Jeff Porcaro gives magic touch in drums in such tracks as NEVER ENOUGH, KICK DOWN THE WALLS, and JACK TO THE BONE.

Overall the song quality is a bit sacrificed because of Lukather leading vocals and their heavy-riffed approach. But TOTO fans must have this! Bad English, Damn Yankees and Hardline fans might enjoy this TOTO album most.

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A Rare Toto Gem!!
"Kingdom of Desire" is a lost treasure in Toto's large body of work. Released in Europe in 1992 and in the U.S. one year later, this album was only in print for a relatively short period of time. This is rather unfortunate because "Kingdom of Desire" is quite a strong effort and shows an edgier side to the band that's not always present in their other works.
After a short-lived disastrous stint with South African singer Jean-Michel Byron as their front man, Toto temporarily disposed of having a lead vocalist and carried on as a solid four-piece group consisting of drummer Jeff Porcaro, his brother Mike on bass, keyboardist David Paich and guitarist Steve Lukather who handles all the lead vocals on this album. The absence of a front man brings out more of Toto's solid musicianship and extended instrumental passages (only two of the album's 12 tracks are under five minutes with the rest being between 5 and 7 minutes long). Lukather's guitar work is at its best here and he proves to be no slouch as a vocalist singing both the ballads and the rockers.
Standout tracks includes the metal-rocker "Gypsy Train", "Never Enough", "Two Hearts", "Wings Of Time", "The Other Side" and the instrumental "Jake To The Bone" which combines elements of jazz, improvisation and odd-progressive rock time signatures. This is a showcase for drummer Jeff Porcaro's precision-based playing and David Paich's dexterous keyboard work.
Although it is out-of-print, "Kingdom of Desire" is worth searching for especially if you're a Toto fan. This album has personally grown on me since I first heard it 10 years ago. I used to think that this was the band's worst album. Not so anymore. There really isn't anything on this album that sounds like "Rosanna", "Hold The Line" or "Africa" however, the tight musicianship and solid group playing is extraordinary.
Sadly, "Kingdom Of Desire" wound up being Jeff Porcaro's final album with Toto. In the summer of 1992, Jeff died of a chemically-induced heart attack. He is still missed by many but his drumming as well as his band live on. This final album includes what is arguably his best drumming - another reason to seek out this album.