Exclusive Preview: Two Tracks from Steve Lukather’s New Album ‘Transition’

Toto guitarist and session superstar Steve Lukather releases a new solo album entitled 'Transition' today (Jan. 22). To celebrate, we've got exclusive streams of not just one, but two of the album's tracks -- 'Judgement Day' and 'Right the Wrong' -- for your listening enjoyment.

Both show the guitarist developing more as a singer, while displaying two very different sides to his music. 'Judgement Day' begins with an atmospheric keyboard intro that leads into clean chording on the guitar, then transitions into a heavy guitar-driven chorus.

Married to a lyric about coming to terms with past mistakes, the recording makes interesting use of light and shade, resulting in a track that could perhaps be best described as an amalgam of progressive rock and ambient pop. The ambitious track comes in at more than seven minutes.

Of course, it wouldn't be Steve Lukather without a great guitar solo, and he does not disappoint, providing a lyrically melodic instrumental turn in the middle of the song and riding the outro with another solo that features some interesting and different choices in terms of note patterns and pick articulation.

'Right the Wrong' is a slightly shorter track (at 6:20) that's more in keeping with the kind of radio-friendly pop-rock fans might expect from Toto, but it still shows Lukather stretching out in arrangements, putting together elements of smooth jazz with multi-layered vocals and a strong chorus. The musician employs dramatic shifts in dynamics to keep the listener interested throughout, and he's definitely emerging as a lead vocalist, too, while adding another giant, trademark guitar solo.

Overall, the mood of the two tracks show a musician in . . . well, perhaps "transition" really is the best word for it. So it's an appropriate title for an album that ought to be of interest to Lukather's past fans, but breaks enough new ground to hopefully attract a few new ones, too.

Hear 'Judgement Day' by Steve Lukather

Hear 'Right the Wrong' by Steve Lukather