# Lukather

Lukather is the first solo studio album by Toto guitarist Steve Lukather. It was released in 1989 through CBS Records internationally but was never given a U.S. release due to tensions between Lukather and Columbia Records.

## History

Lukather came about after Toto had been recording and playing for eleven years and the band consensus was to take a break. Since Lukather had a number of songs written that did not appear on Toto albums, he decided to pursue a solo album. His intention was to present a dimension of his musical work that fans would not be familiar with, and he collaborated with many notable musicians. Among the people involved in Lukather were Eddie Van Halen, Steve Stevens, Richard Marx, Jan Hammer, and fellow Toto members Jeff Porcaro and David Paich.
Lukather has stated that the album is produced in a very simple manner and that one can hear a lot of ambient studio noise such as counting off on various tracks. He also credits bands Pink Floyd, Cream, Led Zeppelin, and guitarists Jimi Hendrix, David Gilmour, Jeff Beck, and Eric Clapton as influences on the album. Much of the material was debuted live in late 1988 when Lukather did a number of solo live dates in the Los Angeles area while the album was being recorded.

## Track listing

* "Twist the Knife" (Lukather, Eddie Van Halen) – 5:24
* "Swear Your Love" (Lukather, Richard Marx) – 4:00
* "Fall into Velvet" (Lukather, Cy Curnin, Steve Stevens) – 9:03
* "Drive a Crooked Road" (Lukather, Danny Kortchmar) – 5:20
* "Got My Way" (Lukather, Randy Goodrum, Michael Landau) – 4:57
* "Darkest Night of the Year" (Lukather, Stevens) – 5:19
* "Lonely Beat of My Heart" (Lukather, Diane Warren) – 4:17
* "With a Second Chance" (Goodrum, Lukather) – 4:36
* "Turns to Stone" (Goodrum, Lukather) – 5:35
* "It Looks Like Rain" (Tom Kelly, Lukather, Billy Steinberg) – 4:21
* "Steppin' on Top of Your World" (Kortchmar, Lukather) – 5:41

## Personnel

Adapted from album's liner notes.
* Steve Lukather – lead vocals, backing vocals (1, 2, 4, 6, 8), guitars (1–3, 5-9), guitar solo (3, 4, 10), "backwards" guitar (3), synthesizers (4, 7–9), keyboards (9), drum programming (9), acoustic guitar (10), 12-string guitar (10), lead guitar (11), rhythm guitar (11)
Additional musicians
* C.J. Vanston – keyboards (2)
* Jan Hammer – Hammond B3 organ (3), synth solo (3)
* Eric Rehl – synthesizers (3, 6), effects (3, 6)
* Randy Goodrum – synthesizers (5, 9), synthesizer programming (8), drum programming (8, 9), backing vocals (9)
* Aaron Zigman – synthesizers (5)
* Kim Bullard – keyboards (7)
* David Paich – organ (7)
* Jai Winding – keyboards (10)
* Steve Stevens – guitars (3), guitar solo (3)
* Danny Kortchmar – rhythm guitar (4, 11), backing vocals (4), keyboards (11), percussion (11), sequencing (11)
* Michael Landau – guitars (5, 10)
* Eddie Van Halen – bass (1)
* Neil Stubenhaus – bass (2, 7)
* Will Lee – bass (3, 6)
* John Pierce – bass (4, 11)
* Randy Jackson – bass (5, 10)
* Leland Sklar – bass (9)
* Carlos Vega – drums (1)
* Prairie Prince – drums (2)
* Thommy Price – drums (3, 6)
* Jeff Porcaro – drums (4, 11)
* John Keane – drums (5, 7, 10), backing vocals (5, 9)
* Lenny Castro – percussion (1, 3, 5, 10)
* Warren Ham – backing vocals (1), ad-libs (1)
* Richard Marx – backing vocals (2, 7)
* Cindy Mizelle – backing vocals (3), ad-libs (3)
* Stan Lynch – backing vocals (4, 11)
* Tom Kelly – backing vocals (5, 10)
* Tommy Funderburk – backing vocals (7)
* Ivan Neville – backing vocals (12)

## Production

* Steve Lukather – producer
* Eddie Van Halen – producer (1)
* Richard Marx – producer (2)
* Steve Stevens – producer (3, 6)
* Danny Kortchmar – producer (4, 11)
* Randy Goodrum – producer (lead vocal on 5), producer (8, 9)
* Richie Zito – producer (7)
* Tom Kelly – producer (10)
* Billy Steinberg – producer (10)
* Michael Bosley – assistant engineer
* Charlie Brocco – assistant engineer
* Rick Clifford – assistant engineer
* Paul Dieter – assistant engineer
* Ken Felton – assistant engineer
* Clark Germain – assistant engineer
* Mike Kloster – assistant engineer
* Jay Lean – assistant engineer
* Bob Loftus – assistant engineer
* Danny Mormando – assistant engineer
* Duane Seykora – assistant engineer
* Brett Swain – assistant engineer
* Mike Tacci – assistant engineer
* Shari Sutcliffe – production coordinator, music contractor
* An Rafferty – art direction, design
* Jeff Katz – photography