LogFAQs > #908755234

Chewster posted...

It's kind of... I don't know the word for it. Corny/cheesy? Not quite, but something like that. Like it's not a genuinely terrible song but it's almost perfectly in-between where I can't tell if people like it legitimately or it's an ironic/guilty pleasure type of thing

Toto was a a pop-rock group conceived solely as an outlet for the (extremely talented) musicians that formed it by writing the same kind of corny music they were used to playing as a living. So that's not far off. Especially since they did actively want to make their own name for themselves instead of standing on their portfolios working in the industry, and pop is an easy way to do that since you can throw literally anything into it (Toto is supposedly a reference to their eclectic session work -- "in toto").

Jeff, Paich and to a lesser extent Lukather are all amazing in terms of both technical ability and musicianship (i.e. an "ear" for it). No matter what I think of of their lame writing, that will always be true. I always thought "Africa" itself is was exactly the kind of dumbed-down tune fishing for easy radio play via it's angle --supposedly ethnic or whatever-- but that doesn't mean it's not enjoyable. Its hook is very powerful and that's literally all you need for a pop song. It's just when compare it to other their other hits like say, "Hold the Line," you can see those other examples have more in common with their contemporary acts (Journey, Foreigner, Boston, although the latter 2 are more rock oriented). And as a drummer, the song is disappointing unless Simon Phillips was playing it live, because Jeff (and Lenny) specifically toned it down for "Africa" despite being the beast he was.

Dunno about the millennial resurgence in its popularity though. "Rosanna" is better anyway, so I don't know why latch onto "Africa." Blame the usual suspects, the cancerous meme culture of children on the internet?

DrunkCaveman posted...

I don't understand the point of the cover, that song already exists and they have no reason to recreate it in its same form. I get playing it at a concert but not recording a 1 for 1 recreation

because Weezer's fanbase asked them to? Or was that Rosanna? Personally don't like it, but I'm not a fan of "covers" that make the song quite different either. That's called an alternate rendition. They (sometimes) aren't bad but they aren't one and the same. Smooth Criminal by MJ and AAF have two completely different appeals and might as well be completely different compositions, for example. Look at how badly Sheryl Crow mangled GnR's "Sweet Child o' Mine," etc. Some people should be shot for what they do to other group's hits. And she earned a grammy for that shit.
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