Toto’s engineering aesthetic, largely shaped by producer/engineer Al Schmitt and mastered by Doug Sax (on early pressings), relies on dynamic range. Listening to "Africa" or "Rosanna" in lossy compression crushes the stereo imaging.

The first album without Jeff Porcaro (who tragically died in 1992, but this was his final studio work). It is heavier, bluesier. The guitar distortion on the title track has high-frequency harmonics that alias (break down) in MP3. FLAC preserves the "hair" on the guitar perfectly.

The following table details the primary studio albums released during this era:

A rock-heavy experiment before their commercial peak.

: A heavier, guitar-driven album with guitarist Steve Lukather taking over lead vocals. It was the last album to feature founding drummer Jeff Porcaro before his untimely death. Later Studio Works (1995–2006)