Toto-Hydra (1979)

After the enormous success of Toto's self-titled debut album, the American band decided to continue exploring new sounds and avoid becoming stuck in melodic rock geared towards radio hits. Unlike their debut, on their second full-length album, keyboardist David Paich didn't unilaterally take the reins of songwriting, as he had on their first album. Here, of the eight tracks, four are credited to the rest of the band, while Paich himself wrote the remaining four and co-wrote the other four. Due to David Paich's affinity for progressive rock, "Hydra" features more complex and ambitious tracks, such as the opening, progressive title track, "Hydra", which culminates in the following track, "St. George and the Dragon", in a kind of small conceptual suite. With “99”, the band returns to its comfort zone: melodic and addictive AOR, closing the first side with the epic and dynamic “Lorraine”. For the second side of the album, the band reserves its more rock-oriented tracks, such as “All Us Boys”, a hybrid of hard rock and melodic rock, the powerful “Mama”, the potent “White Sister”, and the ballad “A Secret Love”. These tracks bring to a close a release that, despite being musically far superior, received less commercial success than their debut. Even so, “Hydra” would reach high positions on the charts, achieving both gold and platinum status.