Seeing Music – Toto

Arts

This is part of a series of posts in which I try to visualise music using generative AI tools like ChatGPT and Claude. In the last post I covered Dire Straits. Now I move on to Toto. I wasn’t a huge Toto fan until recently. I first listened to Rosanna in the 80s and liked the chorus, but wasn’t blown away by the song as such. Then I heard Africa, which I liked better because of its beats, and because I thought it was African music, which I had never heard.

More recently I had been exploring what it means to be an audiophile, which bands are considered to have good recordings, and found Toto to be appearing frequently in audiophile lists. A common reason for their selection is their “studio precision” along with the likes of Steely Dan. I have never understood what that means, despite lengthy explanations, including by generative AI. The closest I got to appreciating the concept was in a video by Rick Beato where he explains why Rosanna is such a great song. That somewhat got me appreciating the song and the band more. I believe in the same video (or another?) he also hosts Steve Lukather who strikes me as a very likeable and reasonable person. I listened to more Toto songs and found that there is more to them than Rosanna and Africa. However, like Dire Straits, I struggle to describe their music and if I were to name another band similar to Toto, I wouldn’t be able to. Let’s hear what AI has to say about them.

ChatGPT

A late-70s/early-80s Los Angeles villa perched on the hills, with wide glass windows overlooking the city. The air is warm, breezy, with palm trees swaying. There’s a pool that glows turquoise at night, and inside the house are sleek modern interiors — polished wood floors, chrome accents, and racks of pristine studio gear.

The setting hums with polish and precision — like a luxury recording studio blended with a lounge, where everything is meticulously in place but still has a sense of fun.

By day: bright, sunlit California — highways to Malibu, convertibles, a dash of beach sand stuck to expensive loafers.

By night: city lights, cocktails, and the glimmer of sophistication, but always with a playful undercurrent.

In short: Toto’s music is a glossy, West Coast dreamscape — smooth, technical, luxurious, yet easygoing — like California itself at its most cinematic

I thought ChatGPT was being rather miserly with its description. With a paid subscription I want more bang for my buck. So I asked “What makes Toto’s music special?”

Toto’s music stands out because it blends technical mastery with pop accessibility — something few bands managed as well. Here are the elements that make them special:

1. Session Musician Precision

Toto was formed by some of the most in-demand Los Angeles session players of the 1970s (Steve Lukather, Jeff Porcaro, David Paich, Steve Porcaro, David Hungate). They had already played on albums by Steely Dan, Boz Scaggs, Michael Jackson (Thriller), and countless others. That background gave Toto:

  • razor-sharp timing,
  • sophisticated arrangements,
  • the ability to move between genres effortlessly.

2. Genre-Bending Versatility

Unlike many rock bands, Toto didn’t stick to one lane. Their albums jump between:

  • polished arena rock,
  • soulful ballads,
  • funk-inspired grooves,
  • smooth jazz inflections,
  • even world music touches (Africa being the prime example).

This versatility made their records rich and unpredictable.

3. Jeff Porcaro’s Drumming

Jeff Porcaro was a legend — his groove on “Rosanna” is a textbook example of half-time shuffle and studied by drummers worldwide. His subtle swing and effortless precision defined Toto’s sound.

4. Studio Gloss + Emotional Punch

They had the sheen of 80s studio technology — crystal-clear mixes, layered harmonies, polished production — but underneath it, the songwriting often had warmth, soul, and even a bit of melancholy (I’ll Be Over You, 99).

5. Chameleon-Like Vocals

Instead of one “rock star” frontman, Toto rotated vocal duties. That gave them flexibility — Bobby Kimball for power rock, Steve Lukather for heartfelt ballads, Joseph Williams for smoother AOR hits.

6. Balance of Musicianship & Pop Appeal

They managed to make complex music (odd time feels, jazz-influenced chord changes, intricate arrangements) sound radio-friendly and catchy. That’s a rare balance.

In short: Toto’s magic lies in turning technical brilliance into something approachable, emotional, and timeless — music that can impress musicians and still fill arenas.

Hmm. That is good. Now for the visuals:

Very nice. ChatGPT was able to visualise its own description quite well. Now time to move to Gemini.

Gemini

If the music of Toto were a physical setting, it would be a hyper-real coastal metropolis at the peak of its technological and aesthetic glory, captured in the brilliant, high-definition light of a late afternoon sun.

The Cityscape: Imagine a city where the sun-drenched gloss of 1980s Los Angeles meets the architectural ambition of a futuristic world’s fair. The buildings are vast structures of gleaming glass, polished chrome, and immaculate white concrete, arranged with breathtaking geometric precision. This is the music’s production: dense, layered, flawlessly clean, and widescreen. There is no grit or decay; every surface reflects the sky.

The Sky (The Keyboards): The sky is the domain of David Paich and Steve Porcaro’s keyboards. It’s a vast, dynamic canvas. Sweeping, atmospheric synthesizer pads create a sky of impossibly deep cerulean blue. Sudden, majestic synth-brass stabs are like lens flares catching the edge of a skyscraper. Intricate, cascading piano runs are the shimmering “heat haze” rising from the boulevards, or the play of sunlight glinting off a thousand windows at once.

The Circulatory System (Jeff Porcaro’s Drums): This city’s lifeblood is its perfectly synchronized, impossibly complex circulatory system. This is the legendary drumming of Jeff Porcaro. It’s not just a beat; it’s the multi-layered network of bullet trains on elevated tracks, helicopters gliding between buildings, and luxury cars flowing down multi-level highways in a flawless, intricate dance. The famous “Rosanna shuffle” is the city’s signature rhythm—a complex, deep, and undeniable groove that is the very engine of metropolitan life. It’s the pinnacle of sophisticated, powerful engineering.

The Main Artery (Steve Lukather’s Guitar): Running through the heart of the city is a spectacular six-lane coastal highway—this is Steve Lukather’s guitar. When he plays a rhythm part, it’s the funky, syncopated grid of the downtown streets, full of life and expert navigation. But when a solo hits, it’s a cherry-red convertible opening up on that highway. The sound is a roar of pure power, soaring melody, and virtuosic control, with a sustain that stretches all the way to the horizon. It’s the main event, the vehicle that carries the city’s raw, emotional power.

The Districts (The Genre-Blending): This metropolis isn’t monolithic; it’s a collection of diverse, specialized districts.

  • The towering downtown core, with its complex angles and soaring heights, is their Jazz-Fusion district.
  • The sleek nightclubs and chrome-and-leather lounges thrumming with energy are the Hard Rock sector.
  • The beachfront promenades, with open-air cafes and beautiful people, pulse with smooth Pop and R&B.
  • And then, inexplicably but magnificently, on the very edge of this high-tech urban sprawl, the city gives way to a vast, ancient savannah under a sky full of stars. This is, of course, the district known as “Africa,” a territory of mythic scope and profound soulfulness that coexists with the slick modernity around it.

The Voices (The Vocals): The voices of Bobby Kimball, Steve Lukather, and others are the public address of the city itself. They are not the whispers of an observer but the clear, powerful, and emotionally direct broadcasts that ring out from every corner. Sometimes it’s the anthemic roar from a stadium concert; other times it’s a soulful, late-night radio confessional. The harmonies are the perfectly blended chorus of the city’s populace, speaking with one polished, unified voice.

In essence, Toto’s music is a city engineered to perfection, built not from concrete and steel, but from immaculate soundwaves, where every single element is a virtuosic performance. It’s a place of unabashed grandeur, technical brilliance, and heartfelt, cinematic emotion

I am throughly unimpressed by Gemini’s visualisation, both in words and in the image. This looks like a screenshot from one of those city simulator games. That is not how I imagined Toto’s music to be. But it seems like there is a consensus emerging . The common themes are California, sunshine, gloss, precision, sophistication. . Let’s see if Claude agrees.

Claude

I’d envision Toto’s music as a pristine, high-tech recording studio that opens onto a tropical paradise – where technical perfection meets organic warmth and adventure.

The physical elements:

  • A state-of-the-art studio with gleaming mixing boards, vintage synthesizers, and perfectly tuned instruments – representing their virtuoso musicianship and studio craft
  • Floor-to-ceiling windows that dissolve into a lush, sun-drenched landscape – that California/tropical fusion
  • Palm trees swaying against impossibly blue skies with scattered clouds
  • A infinite horizon line where ocean meets sky – that sense of vastness and possibility
  • Polished hardwood and chrome alongside natural bamboo and flowing water features
  • Layered spaces – you can see multiple rooms at once, each with different atmospheres, like their complex arrangements

The atmosphere:

  • Brilliant afternoon sunlight – optimistic, clear, energetic (not moody like Dire Straits)
  • Perfectly balanced temperature – comfortable, polished, radio-friendly
  • 70s/80s California sophistication – think yacht rock meeting session musician excellence
  • Both intimate and expansive – tight grooves that open into soaring choruses
  • Precision with soul – everything is meticulously placed but never cold

The feeling:

  • Clean, bright, professional but never sterile
  • A sense of journey and adventure (literal and metaphorical)
  • Technical mastery worn lightly – effortless virtuosity
  • Pop sensibility with prog-rock/jazz complexity hidden underneath
  • Romantic without being saccharine

It’s a place where everything works perfectly, where craft and emotion are in complete harmony, and where you can simultaneously feel the studio craft AND the tropical breeze.

Mistral

A Neon-Lit Sunset Drive on Mulholland, 1982

The sky is a gradient of electric purple and tangerine, bleeding into the horizon like the synth pads of “Africa.” The air smells of warm asphalt, coconut sunscreen, and the faint metallic tang of a freshly tuned Yamaha grand piano.

You’re cruising in a cherry-red ’79 Corvette, the top down, the wind tousling your hair as the punchy, gated reverb of Jeff Porcaro’s drums thumps through the speakers like a heartbeat. The road ahead is a ribbon of gold, reflecting the last rays of sunlight, shimmering like the arpeggiated guitars in “Rosanna.”

To your left, palm trees sway in perfect time, their fronds casting shifting shadows that dance like the syncopated grooves of “Hold the Line.” The radio hums with static before locking into a crystal-clear FM signal—Toto’s harmonies so tight they feel like they’re woven into the fabric of the evening itself.

Up ahead, a glowing neon sign flickers: “The Studio”—a sleek, glass-and-chrome building where the air is cool, sterile, and charged with creativity. Inside, David Paich sits at a grand piano, his fingers moving with precision, layering chords that feel both mathematical and soulful. A wall of synths and rack-mounted effects blinks in time with the music, their lights pulsing like the staccato brass stabs in “99.”

Outside, the Pacific Ocean stretches endlessly, its waves crashing in perfect 4/4 time, mirroring the tight, groove-heavy basslines of “Georgy Porgy.” The water’s surface glitters under the moonlight, a thousand tiny reflections of the polished, radio-ready sheen of Toto’s production.

This is a world where every detail is meticulous, every note intentional—where jazz fusion chops meet pop sensibilities, and where the line between human warmth and studio perfection blurs into something timeless. It’s not just music; it’s the sound of a golden era, frozen in amber.

I quite like this image too. ChatGPT and Mistral were quite similar in terms of the ‘mood of the image’. I also feel that this setting goes better with “I’ll be over you” than the original setting of the song.

That’s it for Toto. I am loving this series. Next in line is a very different band, from across the Atlantic – U2.