Mike definitely had plenty of chops, and too many people dismissed him because he was exceptionally solid and played within the song, an ability lost on most of the bass wannabes that roam these threads. He wasn't a soloist, he wasn't about flash and making himself stick out from the band, he was about being a cohesive part of the band, another trait of a real musician lost on most of the "I'm not cutting through" guitarists on bass.
When people call Toto's music cheesey, that's like calling Brahms another piano player. They wrote the songs they wanted to play, the music they enjoyed for the purpose of advancing their careers and making a good living doing what they loved. That's not cheesey, it's called being musical. It may not be everyone's favorite music, but it is what they wanted to play. You start demeaning musicians for playing what they enjoy playing, and you just damage the view of music even further than it has already been damaged by all the wannabe "Artists" on these websites.
