Customer Reviews

American Matador

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Another guitar virtuoso that combines awesome technique with the ability to compose stirring and emotional musik. The playing is second to none and shows restrain were it is called for. Bonilla doesn't decent into noodling and every note has a valid place that serves and enhances the composition. If you like HOEY / TIMMONS / FIRKINS / ZAZA or anything of that nature, you will love this CD.

First, please read my review of Bonilla's "EE Ticket" album - that one is a MUST buy. Now that you've read that review...
This is a good album, and if you liked EE Ticket you'll like this one. But after EE Ticket, Matador is a bit of a letdown - it feels like Bonilla had a half an album worth of stuff and needed to stretch it. The "good half" is just as fresh and inventive and invigorating and amazing as "EE Ticket". But the "other half" isn't quite as good, and feels like filler, and leaves you wishing he had been able to create more genuinely stuff. "I Am The Walrus" isn't as good as "Commotion", and we didn't really need 2 versions of "Whiter Shade of Pale" (in fact we didn't need EITHER version). Bonilla sings on one song ("Wake the Baby"), and he's surprisingly good. Glenn Hughes sings "Walrus", and I don't really care for him. In fact, despite Bonilla's strong work on "Wake the Baby" I would prefer the album to have NO vocals - one of the great things about "EE Ticket" was that it's purely instrumental, and "Matador" makes you realize that the instruments are so good that you don't want any vocals with his music.

This is a solid piece of rock that lifts the listener through a variety of moods and textures. It isn't just Bonilla's virtuosic skill as a pure player that is so impressive; it is, even more, the range and scope of sheer sound that he coaxes, cajoles and rips out of his instruments.

Bonilla, who produced the release and wrote most of the songs, has a graceful, powerful hand that creates music at once moving, inspiring, and exhilarating. It's hard to pick a standout piece as the quality of the album is so high. His title track ("American Matador") shows Bonilla's remarkable range in a thrilling metal instrumental with prog rock and flamenco roots. "Get Off the Fence" (an ode to Harley-Davidson), "Mephisto" and "Vette Lag" fill ears with indelible sonic images. Glenn Hughes' vocals on "A Whiter Shade of Pale" mix well with Bonilla's deft delivery of rock-charged soul music; this blues metal mix is even more apparent in his haunting "The Vanishing Road." Bonilla himself steps up to the microphone for brutal insight into the insanity of societal violence ("Wake the Baby"). Would that all rock records were made with the same care, the same passion and invention. David R. Bannon, Ph.D.; author, "Race Against Evil."

Guitarist Marc Bonilla's second solo album, originally released in 1993, is reissued here as part of a four-CD set framing the works of Toy Matinee. Toy Matinee's self-titled 1990 debut spawned a touring company with Bonilla on guitar, and his relationship with Toy Matinee's songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Kevin Gilbert led to the solo debut EE Ticket and a year later this follow-up. Bonilla would return to the Toy Matinee fold as part of the 1994 reunion (sans Gilbert) 3rd Matinee on the CD Meanwhile.

As on his solo debut, Bonilla sticks primarily to jazz-tinged heavy rock instrumentals that demonstrate his talent for shredding with blistering fusillades of rapid notes and his ability to lay back and create unusual atmospherics, such as the loping tempo and varied tones covering the Beatles' "I Am the Walrus." Though most of his playing is electric, there's an impressive flat-picked acoustic passage on "Mephisto" and a lovely dual-acoustic take on Ravel's "Prelude" that show Bonilla's range to extend well beyond prog-rock.

Bonilla's vocals on the original "Wake the Bay" and a cover of Procol Harum's "A Whiter Shade of Pale" (which is also offered in a purely instrumental version) are adequate, but don't compare in reach to the guitar playing. Fans of Robin Trower, Jeff Beck, the myriad progressive guitarists of the `70s and their more metallic '80s and `90s descendents will find much here to enjoy. 3-1/2 stars, if allowed fractional ratings. [©2009 hyperbolium dot com]

A short while ago I scored Marc Bonillas' EE Ticket on the cheap and liked the sprightly electric guitar playing and it's playful touches quite a bit. So it was only a matter of time (quite a short time in fact) before I quaffed more of this guitarists brew.

American Matador was initially released in 1993 and is the second solo release to come out under the mans name. It comprises 13 tracks (one not listed on the rear cover) of lively electric guitar playing which - to compare him to other guitarist around the traps - has some of the smooth fluidity of Joe Satriani with less shred and some of the playfulness of Steve Vai with far less `weird' stuff going on and a far stronger commitment to the tenets of song. The production by Marc himself and Michael Scott is very natural sounding to my ears and in contrast to his first album there are a number of vocal tracks on this album. Marc, as it turns out, can see just fine thanks -as per track Wake Up The Baby - and none other than Glenn `God of Voice' Hughes parked himself in the studio to provide his touch to A Whiter Shade of Pale. This latter track appears twice on the disc, firstly as track 4 in vocals format with the aforementioned Hughes and tacked onto the end in purely instrumental format. Not a gambit I would normally agree with but the beguiling nature of the song itself does somewhat justify such a move.

Musically this is somewhat varied, a few passages sound a little twee and Marc pretty much avoids use of shred, preferring to use this album to show a fair degree of restraint and overall `musicianly' mindset. Perhaps it's pedantic, but it should be pointed out there is some programming on this album but it didn't jump out at me and given the way the whole album keeps the focus on our six string slinger it shouldn't affect your enjoyment of proceedings.

And that's about all there is to report on this album. If you enjoy instrumental guitar music of a lively nature without the shred or overt `clinic' accoutrements then this may just be the album for you to pick up. Truth to tell if you like this sort of thing then why not just take the plunge and buy yourself both this and EE Ticket. Both are good given even on his debut Marc knew what he was about and you should be able to pick up the discs cheap enough.

I finally got around to listening to Marc Bonilla's second and only other solo album. It was brilliant if not technically as showy as some other guitarists. He is, however, an excellent songwriter and manages to give the listener some variety. The title song is the best on the album and I absolutely loved his take on the old Beatles song "I Am The Walrus". This album is slightly better than his debut "Ee Ticket" and it's a shame he never got around to making more albums. That, of course, is because this guy is virtually unknown and probably only survives as a session musician. That's a huge shame. Considering all the crap that does make it out there it's not really fair brilliant stuff like this is overlooked. By the way, I find it oddly pleasing that Marc Bonilla is lefthanded, just like the famous Jimi Hendrix. What a doozy!

Very gifted guitarist. If you like Satriani vibe, you will love Bonilla too. Also his playing with Keith emerson band is great. Recommended.