Hydra

This is IMO the greatest Toto album of them all. Just the perfect blend of Prog, pop & jazz. Wow. Such an underrated band!

Bought this album and it’s epic, hydra and st George songs are my favorite...but I was surprised that I liked the whole thing.

If I could describe in two words about Jeff Porcaro and his drumming talent it would be Wow! Simply awesome. He knew how to utilize all of his drums and cymbals. Pick any song by Toto and you'll understand why he had such a complete mastery of his instrument. All that is evident in hits like Rosanna.Hold the Line and many more. Even though he is gone. His legacy lives on forever He will always remain the number one drummer who appears every night in my dreams playing drums on my heartstrings forever and ever. Meow . I love him

This album is the "Empire Strikes Back " of Toto albums for me. Steve Lukather's lead on White Sister still makes what little hair I have, stand on end .... 70's were so great

This album was the follow-up to Toto's hugely successful eponymous debut album. Given their background as session Musicians par excellence, it's little wonder so many musical influences of the time are heard hear (Styx, ELO, etc...) The rock critics of the day had their talons out for TOTO since day one and they savaged this album. That said, there are some fantastic songs and Moments on this album and live, songs like "hydra" and "white sister" come alive.

I also disagree with the official review here. This album is terrific and the sound is distinctly Toto. David Paich wrote (or co-wrote) each of these songs and he knows how to bring out the best in this band.

My favorite album from this group.

I'm not a huge fan of pop/rock music but I can tell you that Toto has several songs that are on my all time favorites list. I don't know what it is about the song "99"; it just takes me far away when I listen to it. I remember hearing it on the TV countdown show, "Solid Gold" when I was much younger and over the years, I've listened to it more and more. It gets a lot of play in my iTunes library.

I'd totally forgotten about this album. I know I had it on cassette when I was a kid. I agree with everyone else here, the iTunes reviewer got it totally wrong. Toto only sounds like Toto. Yes, they were one among many power pop bands from the time period, but they had a style all their own, distinctive vocals and went places in their music most other power pop bands couldn't go. These qualities made Hydra, their 2nd album, a breath of fresh air and an interesting shift from their first. It definitely was not re-tread and so, didn't do well with people who wanted more of the same.

A favorite of mine. I had this on cassette back in 79 and listened to it repeatedly. The music still holds up well. A tribute to the songwriting ability of this amazing group. Updated post, 12/8/11: The sample currently playing on Itunes appears to be a remix of the original album version. Although the vocals are more clear, their higher mix changes the structure of these songs. If you are used to the original mix, these new versions with the crisper vocals will sound a bit odd.