One and done. Despite his stratospheric tenor vocals, the late Fergie Frederiksen was sadly gone from Toto nearly as soon as he’d arrived. He left, however, with a parting gift: Frederiksen’s soaring background vocals on “Could This Be Love” — a rare treat that Toto fans would not get to hear again until 1997, when he and Bobby Kimball both contributed background vocals on Joseph Williams’ solo version of “Goin’ Home.”
All that said, Williams lays down his own stellar lead and Fergie Frederiksen’s background vocals act as a perfect counterpoint. That strong counterpoint is echoed by distinctly different keyboard stylings from David Paich and Steve Porcaro. As would be expected, the rhythm section is as tight as ever and Steve Lukather lays down a delightful, if brief, guitar solo.
Toto has always been a band that knows less is more, and Lukather realized “Could This Be Love” was more about showcasing Joseph Williams’ vocals and really establishing him as Toto’s vocalist after Fergie’s all-too-brief tenure, so the brevity of his guitar solo is understood and works perfectly within the context of this track.
Perhaps the only complaint I could muster for this track is that it has perhaps not aged as well as some of Toto’s other ’80s material, and the production does sound slightly muddy. Luckily, The Seventh One cleaned up that muddy production.
“Could This Be Love” in particular, and 1986’s Fahrenheit in general, didn’t just introduce Williams as Toto’s new lead vocalist. This album laid the foundation for The Seventh One, when the band managed to knock it out of the park again.
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