The progressive American rock band Toto recently released its latest album, XIV. How it is perceived in terms of a follow-up, however, depends on who you talk to among the current lineup of highly respected and globally recognized musicians playing with the ensemble.

“This (album) is opposite of going through the motions. We are treating this like it is Toto V, our follow-up to TOTO IV," said Keyboardist Steve Porcaro on the band's website.

But in an exclusive chat with The Newtown Bee earlier this week, ahead of Toto's August 7 stop at Grand Theater at Foxwoods, Toto co-founder and long-time keyboardist, arranger and songwriter David Paich had a different opinion.

"If you ask me, I think this is the follow-up to TOTO VII," Paich said. "You have the same guys - myself, (Steve) Lukather, Steve Porcaro and Joseph Williams. The other albums you have permutations and different lineups."

Paich did admit that there were a few other overlaps between his band's seventh and 14th project.

"Whenever you put a group of people together and say we're gonna do a band-written album - when you have a Simon Phillips and Joe Williams in the room with a Steve Lukather and myself - you're gonna get some overlap, but you're always going to get some interesting music out of us. As you mix different people together, it's like mixing different chemicals.

"Quincy Jones calls it 'mixing the stew,' bringing in different musicians is like mixing ingredients - hopefully it's going to be good. Fortunately, that's always been the case with Toto."

Paich said the greatest similarity to TOTO IV, is the number of original founding members who are on the new record, as well as out on the road with the band on its current world tour.

The latest founding member to rejoin Toto is bassist David Hungate.

"Before Hungate was a bass player, he was a guitar player," Paich recalled. "So he has very well developed melodic chops and does all these kind of double stops and harmonies like you hear on our new song "Chinatown," or on "Africa." He's very melodic and very inventive. I have to give Lukather credit too because he is a great bass player and played on a couple of my favorite songs on the new album."

The sessions were co-produced by CJ Vanston, who said he was completely thrilled to be a part of TOTO XIV. Paich calls him a dear friend, and consummate producer, especially for a band like Toto.

"He's been around for a long time as a keyboardist and producer for awhile - so he has a lot of experience producing, and playing, and songwriting, so he's a triple-threat for us - yet at the same time, he knows when to stand back and let Toto do it's thing," Paich said.

He said Vanston is a genius on the production system, performing intricate computerized "gene splicing" and fitting the occasional disjointed but necessary elements together to make Toto's newest material as good as anything the band has produced to date.

"It was really a feather in our cap to get this guy - he works as that kind of invisible songwriter who you can bounce lyric ideas and melodies off of," Paich said. "I can't say enough about him - it's like having a Quincy Jones or a George Martin working with us."

And Paich should know, since he's worked with both of those famed producers as the principle keyboardist on Michael Jackson's Thriller album, and on the recording of the USA for Africa project, "We Are the World."

Historically, few ensembles in the history of recorded music have individually or collectively had a larger imprint on pop culture than the members of Toto, according to the band's advance.

As individuals inside and indpendent of Toto, the band members imprint can be heard on an astonishing 5,000 albums that together amass a sales history exceeding half a billion - that's billion with a 'B'.

In addition, Toto's collective members have generated material that have earned 225 Grammy nominations, and it is estimated that based on their collective exposure - particularly on "We Are the World" - 95 percent of the global population has heard a performance by a member of Toto.

"I think it doesn't come as quite a shock to us as much as those stats surprise other people because everybody wants everything quantified these days," Paich said. "I mean, we've been playing on million selling records since we were in our teens. So it's funny when you hit the subtotal button it comes down to about half a billion - and nobody has bigger smiles on their faces about that than us if you know what I mean."

TOTO XIV is available now at most retail and on-line music sites. The band's next area gig is at the Barclay's Center in Brooklyn, NY on August 11.

David Paich and Steve Porcaro perform "Africa" at the 2015 NAMM convention's Yamaha Concert.

Check out the video for Toto's new single "Orphan."

Toto rocks a June 28 audience in Sofia, Bulgaria with their monster hit "Rosanna."