Toy Matinee Special Edition [Original recording reissued]

Toy Matinee | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (February 6, 2001)
• Original Release Date: 1990
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Original recording reissued
• Label: Rounder / Umgd
• ASIN: B000058TDD
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (54 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #151,851 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Last Plane Out

2. Turn It On Salvador

3. Things She Said

4. Remember My Name

5. The Toy Matinee

6. Queen Of Misery

7. The Ballad Of Jenny Ledge

8. There Was A Little Boy

9. We Always Come Home

10. Eenitam Yot Eht

11. Blank Page

12. Things She Said

13. There Was A Little Boy

14. Last Plane Out

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Music doesn't get better. Really., April 1, 2001

By 

Lord Chimp (Monkey World) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Toy Matinee Special Edition (Audio CD)

Toy Matinee is really nothing more than a highly sophisticated pop record, although its sublime excellence goes far beyond anything like it. Kevin Gilbert and Patrick Leonard have an unmatched sense of melody and canny pop sensibility, and -- with plenty of diversity from song to song -- they've whipped up the perfect album. I find this album's greatness impossible to express. Quite simply, the ears hear what words cannot describe. The English language would need countless synonyms for "great," but it wouldn't be enough.

I'd like to say more, but little comes to mind. Every song offers here something different and exciting, and every facet of the album is flawless. It's well-composed, well-crafted, clever, charming, and...perfect. Certainly one of the best albums I own.

(Note: Kevin Gilbert was by far one of the most gifted musicians around, and his untimely death is truly a tragedy. Check out Gilbert's other albums, Thud and The Shaming of the True, the former being great and the latter being an unequivocal masterpiece.)

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hold yer brain... THIS IS PERFECTION, October 2, 2001

By 

Jason A. Hoffman "uvulapie" (Fort Wayne, IN USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Toy Matinee Special Edition (Audio CD)

At the constant urging of a friend who annoyingly discovers music before me, I picked up the self-titled album by Toy Matinee back in 1991...and found, without a doubt, one of the best albums I've ever heard. After a number of years being out of print, it is being rereleased in Digital surround...

Centered around Patrick Leonard (who has produced and played keys for everyone from Madonna to Phil Keaggy to Michael Jackson) and then twenty-one Kevin Gilbert (who went on to co-write Cheryl Crows first album before his death in 1996), Toy Matinee is surely a work of collaborative genius. Each song is sheer perfection in songwriting, lyrics, arrangement, musicianship, and production. The album opens with "Last Plane Out" as Gilbert intones tongue-in-cheek "We've kept the good old vices/ And labored to invent a few" against a progressive pop groove in this anthem against the wasteland of modern Western culture. "Turn It On Salvador" honors the surrealist painter with a rubbery bass line, eerie keyboards, and a swanky, wobbly, raucous rhythm that fits in perfectly with this artists work. Taking a more acoustic turn, "Things She Said" explores the sad life of a woman stuck in indecision. Likewise, "Queen of Misery" is the sad tale of a woman who's "looking for someone to give the love that I denied" in the arms of strangers and "The Ballad of Jenny Ledge", the song that received local airplay on 103.9, is a true story of a woman who values financial security over love. The closing song, "We Always Come Home", is a heart-wrenching tribute to gritty life in a small blue-collar town with such succinct lines as "Father worked the lifts in the old Tobin mine/ He always loved the saxophone/ But he had to keep us all alive." As you may have surmised, most of the songs are stories dealing with innocence lost, chances not taken, and decisions not made.

Musically, there is outstanding keyboard, guitar, and bass parts ( I have to mention Guy Pratt who is always in the pocket on this CD) but these are arranged such that they never steal the spotlight and detract from the overall song. It's difficult to put this album into a single style although the entire album is quite cohesive in sound and up-tempo despite the often melancholy lyrical subject matter. Progressive keyboard pop/ guitar rock with a groove and great harmonies? How about just plain good! While it only enjoyed limited sales at its original release, I know of no one who has heard this album that doesn't rank it among their favorites. Make it one of your favorites... it's the best music you've never heard.

The bonus tracks are a nice addition, very surprising in how the songs changed from their initial concept.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "Greetings from Sodom, how we wish you were here..", May 2, 2003

By 

spiral_mind (Pennsylvania) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Toy Matinee Special Edition (Audio CD)

Just one album.. no followup, no tour (that I know of), no widespread recognition.. looking at the details, Toy Matinee seems exactly like a one-hit wonder without the hit. Far from it, however - this wonder may not have had any hits, but it's unanimously loved among those who've discovered it. Fantastic writing, intelligent lyrics and skilled production never go out of style, and this overlooked gem has plenty of them all to spare. It's as addictive as heroin, true, but as sweet and satisfying as your favorite kind of candy.

The music? Superlative pop. The album's first half is four of the most incredibly smart-yet-catchy, well-written and ear-pleasingly upbeat songs you could ever hope to hear. The tone of the others ranges between regretful and hopeful with nary a weak moment to be heard anywhere. "Things She Said" is wistful without descending into melodrama. The title track sadly wanders through a haunted playhouse of the mind. One of my favorite points is the way "Queen of Misery" and "The Ballad of Jenny Ledge" look at the situation of unrequited love from opposite sides, giving perspectives on both. (What can I say - I'm a sucker for an unromantic tune.) A few scattered extra tracks round things out: the extra "Blank Page" is as bleakly beautiful as "Toy Matinee" itself, and the alternate versions give an interesting new perspective on some of the regular album tracks.

Almost everything resists sounding dated, although "Queen of Misery" and "...Little Boy" unfortunately have an unmistakable 1980s synth-pop edge to them. But I can look past things like that when the writing is good enough, and the fact that I greatly enjoy every single track despite my deep-seated psychotic hatred of 80s music says some good things indeed about this album. If you like well-done pop, you owe it to yourself to check it out.. and no matter what their taste, EVERYONE should hear "Last Plane Out" at least once, since it's simply one of the most perfect four-minute pieces of music mankind has ever created.

There will probably never be another Toy Matinee, and even if there is, it'll be without the distinct voice and songwriting talent of the late Kevin Gilbert (who I also heartily recommend to anyone who likes this disc). This is it, folks: it's a rarity, a shining gem all its own, and the only one of its kind. Everyone I've played it for has unconditionally loved it. Buy, listen and discover a treasure that the music world deserves to hear much more of.