Customer Reviews

Toy Matinee

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

 

 

I'd seen the ads for this album when it first came out. The title and the cover art made me think it was probably just another 80's piece of fluff. It wasn't until years later that I finally heard the album by accident...and was completely blown away. Sadly, Kevin Gilbert died years ago, but he left a legacy of pop music brilliance that ranks up there with Lennon/McCartney and Brian Wilson. His subsequent solo album "Thud" is even better. The sound of the recording (good old analogue tape) is rich and warm without tons of studio effects and reverb, allowing the guitars and drums to heard with a clarity unmatched by most recordings of this era. Gilbert's lyrics are witty and intelligent.

Its a rare recording that, listen after listen, one continues to discover musical nuances and creative tidbits that seem timeless. I listen to this record consistently and the melodies and lyrical content continue to stay fresh. Death robbed us of an emerging musical genius in Kevin Gilbert whose stylings can also be appreciated on his Live Thud recording at the Troubadour. Being in the pro audio world, we continuely use this record to demo extremely high fidelity speakers and PA systems and are constantly asked, "who IS this..." It's hard to believe this record is almost 20 years old as it stands up there in creativity, mixing, recording quality and clever melodies...

I had a copy of the Toy Mattine album before I purchased this copy, I bought it the same week it was released in 1990.But this new copy has some extra songs and I just wanted to hear them. This album is in my opinion one of the best albums ever made, the fantastic melodys with extremly impressive fantasy and K.G:s incredible vocals make this a milestone in popmusics history.It was 19 years since the album was released, but I still listen to it with great pleasure and I still love this album. To you who have not heard the album, you have a supersession ahead of you. Thank you and enjoy, Christer Karlbom from Sweden.

Toy Matinee was a one-time recording collaboration between Patrick Leonard and Kevin Gilbert. Leonard had found international success writing and producing Madonna on True Blue; Gilbert was a multi-instrumentalist who'd recorded a pair of progressive rock albums in the late `80s as Giraffe, and would become a key player in the Tuesday Music Club from which Sheryl Crow's debut album sprang. The crossing of Leonard's commercial instincts and Gilbert's prog-rock background resulted in an album that leans towards the progressive pop of Steely Dan, Utopia and Genesis, complete with top-notch instrumental chops and a slight air of sterility. The album's most emotional tunes, including "Toy Matinee" and "There Was a Little Boy," the acoustic lined "We Always Come Home," and the demo "Blank Page," shake off the studio-bound sound. Those who enjoyed Gilbert's later solo work on Thud and The Shaming Of The True will be happy to find this earlier work back in print. Noble Rot's reissue augments the original album's nine tracks with the same quartet of bonus demos offered on the 2001 CD reissue, but minus the previous reissue's lengthy booklet. [©2009 hyperbolium dot com]

I've been meaning to review this recording since I first purchased it in 1990. I still have my original vinyl copy, followed by the release of the CD, followed by the Special Edition CD. I saw these guys perform for MarK & Brian(KLOS radio, Los Angeles) when Toy Matinee was unknown. I was blown away by the musicianship. The studio recording is amazing. This is one of the few recordings I never tire of. Yes, it's got a pop sound, but listen to the instrumentation, listen to those harmonies, listen to those lyrics, and that song craftsmanship! It is flawless and stands up to anything being done by anyone today. Actually I amend that, it's better than most anything done today. It's smarter, more accessible, and will last longer than most anything being done today. I've read comparisons in quality and sound to some of our greatest artists, including the Beatles. I couldn't agree more. Sadly, we only have this one record. Tragically, we lost a true genius, just beginning, and the soul of this band, when Kevin Gilbert died. He has a couple solo offerings, check out Thud, which is superb. I also appreciate Third Matinee. A great recording. Some of the feel is there at times, and I am a Richard Page fan, but the partnering of Leonard/Gilbert was more Lennon/McCartney, and I have not found a band since to have a record that approaches the Toy Matinee recording in this genre of music. One listen and this will get its hooks into you. A couple times and you'll find other music of this type failing to please on so many levels as this one does. Do yourself a favor, BUY THIS RECORDING.

I discovered this album upon its original release, bought on a whim, however I was familiar with "Last Plane Out" which was then played on a local rock radio station... This album is a KEEPER! Excellent musicianship. I am taken back to find it is being re-released.

(See my review for Owsley.)