Background and recording
While Toto IV was a massive, Grammy-winning success, Toto elected not to mount a U.S. tour for Toto IV, the album, a decision Steve Lukather has since regretted as a missed opportunity to become a "US-arena rock band." [9] Part of the reluctance to tour was the ongoing drug-related, legal, and personal problems of lead vocalist Bobby Kimball.
As the band began sessions for Isolation, Kimball reportedly struggled badly with his vocals. [9] While Kimball would argue in later years that he sang lead on all the tracks on the album, [10] Lukather has stated that he only recorded one lead vocal, for the track "Lion." [9] Even that reportedly required weeks of work, primarily because of Kimball's tendency to not show up for sessions and, when he did, to struggle with the vocals which were at the top of his range. [9]
Ultimately, Jeff Porcaro fired Kimball from the band. Before his firing, Kimball penned the song "Lion" with David Paich and recorded background vocals for three songs on the album. Kimball also offered the song Right Part of Me", which ended up the Toto XX album.
The usual practice of the band using multiple lead vocalists from the band on their albums, e.g., Lukather, Paich, and even Steve Porcaro, The fact the band used multiple lead vocalists on their songs, including David Paich and Lukather and even Steve Porcaro mitigated some of the impact of losing Kimball as the high lead vocalist. Nonetheless, it was a significant change for the band. Over the course of the next year, Toto would focus on other projects, notably the soundtrack for the film Dune.
When the band finally began auditioning potential lead vocalists, the job was first offered to Richard Page, who ultimately declined the offer because he had a contract for his band, Mr. Mister. [9] Lukather then wanted to offer the job to Eric Martin, later of Mr. Big, but Jeff was interested in Fergie Frederiksen, then lead singer of the band LeRoux. [9] The gig went to Frederiksen, who contributed not only vocals to Isolation, but co-wrote the tracks "Angel Don't Cry," "Isolation," "Mr. Friendly," and "Change of Heart."
The first cover design for Isolation was created by David Lynch, with whom Toto had worked on Dune. Though the band reportedly spent $25,000 on the work, [9] the members were ultimately disappointed in it and did not use it. Jeff ultimately persuaded the band to use a surreal image by artist Robert Kopecky.
While the band was proud of the finished album, Lukather has noted that it was clear Isolation did not "sound like the work of the same band that had made Toto IV." [9] Toto wanted to release the track "Endless," on which Frederiksen sang lead, as the first single. However, Columbia Records opted for "Stranger in Town," sung by David Paich and thought to be more similar to the hit "Africa." [9] While "Stranger in Town" was a Top 30 hit, it was a disappointment compared to the chart topping success of the singles from Toto IV. The promo music video (featuring actor Brad Dourif) for the track was, however, nominated for MTV Video of the Year.
The tour to support Isolation was disastrous; Toto had been booked into arenas based on the success of Toto IV, the 10,000-seat venues were sparsely attended and, according to Lukather, the band "lost their shirts" on the tour. [9] A tour of Europe was ultimately cancelled and Toto fired their booking agents.
Isolation would eventually achieve gold status in the United States and triple platinum status in Japan, but was nonetheless seen as a commercial failure. Although Frederiksen would begin work with Toto on their sixth album, Fahrenheit, he struggled with the vocals for the first track, "Could This Be Love," and the band moved on to Lukather's childhood friend (and son of Academy Award-Winning Composer John Williams) Joseph Williams.
