Toy Matinee

Although I would not go as far as saying this album is a "masterpiece" as some have implied, I think it comes close to that title. It has plenty of euphoric moments and showcases the writing talents of Kevin Gilbert and Patrick Leonard.Let me say this right off the bat.This release led me to the creative genius that is Kevin Gilbert. It has given me plenty of listening pleasure, and its impossible to put that into a monetary value. It hasn't left my leather CD case for over a year now.I come back to it after a month or so and it sounds fresher and better than it did the listen before.It was originally the song "The Ballad Of Jenny Ledge" that drew me in and got me hooked on all things Kevin Gilbert. I expect nothing different from you if you give his music a chance."Last Plane Out" seems like the perfect tune to start off an album, and "We Always Come Home" it's perfect ending. In between you have some wonderful songs that end up in your subconscious."Turn it on Salvador" (In honor of Mr. Dali) , "Things She Said" (w/ Julian Lennon on background vocals, the incredible "Remember my name",& and "There was a little boy" are among the highlights.Some incredible chemistry going on throughout and it shows the promise of what could have been if this group of individuals had been able to see this through and continue on releasing albums. We've got some serious talent involved here on the playing and producing front, as well as plenty of inspiring moments, delightful melodies, and song structure.I discovered Kevin Gilbert well after he had left this world.Sometimes while listening to this great artist, I think to myself how much seminal music we all missed out on with his passing.I'm happy we still have the music he made while still here on earth. He has inspired me, provoked me, challenged me, and instilled me with so many thoughts, emotions, and visuals like all great music should.I wish it were so much easier and less expensive to listen to this great band/artist. I wish more material would be made available to the public to feed my appetite! RIP Kevin. You made some beautiful noise while you were here.

This is a tremendous album. Pat Leonard and Kevin Gilbert (look 'em up) backed by Tim Pierce (look him up) and other session wizards have produced a masterpiece. Yeah I know the word's overused, but in this case it's justified. Do yourself a favor and acquire a copy while they're still available. You're welcome.

This album has gained some popularity over the years, as Kevin Gilbert is no longer with us, and he was an introspective, yet ambitious musician. The version I have is on DTS surround sound, and this is the way I prefer to listen to this recording, although the overall quality of sound is excellent, even in stereo. All the instruments are clear and precise, as Gilbert was obviously a perfectionist, and the quirky interludes give some insight as to his frame of mind. I first learned about Kevin from a video recording of his concert at a prog festival (Progfest '94) where he and his band(Giraffe) did outstanding performances of Genesis material, specifically the Peter Gabriel/Lamb Lies Down on Broadway album. Complete with costumes and make-up, Kevin right then convinced me that his music was worth checking out. Highly recommended to any serious music listener.

First, I should say that this is indeed a DVD, not a CD. It is actually a DVD-Audio, which means that it is meant to be played on DVD-Audio players. It does play on a normal DVD player, it just sounds as good as the CD...unless you have DTS, then it really becomes something magical. This is the first DTS music DVD I have owned and I'm dying to try more. I DO NOT have a DVD-Audio player, but it still sounds great with just the normal DVD in DTS.If you don't know about Toy Matinee, you're in for a real treat. Check out the reviews on the Toy Matinee CD and see how great everyone thinks it is. Kevin Gilbert was a tremendous talent and this is one of his and Patrick Leonard's finest examples of that. If you have a DVD with DTS, this is really a must have DVD. I can't think of a better way of demonstrating a great entertainment system then with one of the best CD's played in DTS! Make sure to try to find the rest of Kevin Gilbert's stuff. It's not easy to find most of it, but Thud is available here on Amazon.

I am not going to comment on the quality of this CD or it's content. Read the other reviews for that. I just want to clarify to anyone who might buy this that this is NOT a DVD-Audio disc. There exists no encoding on this disc that you can access with a DVD-Audio player that you cannot access with a regular DVD player. In fact, this is technically not even a DVD. It has no menus, and the DVD remote has no effect other than play, FF, Rew, etc. This is an audio CD encoded in DTS 5.1. That's it. I have a Pioneer 578A which plays every type of disc there is, and it identifies it as such. When I insert a disc, it will say on the front panel, "DVD", "DVD-Audio", "CD", "VCD", "SVCD", "MP3", "SACD", etc. When I insert this disc, it says "CD". I even put it in my portable boombox, and while it obviously could not play it (it was all static), it did recognize the number of tracks and the total time of the CD when I inserted it.So yes, a DVD player with DTS is required to play this disc, but it is NOT a DVD-Audio disc. It does play through my DVD 6-ch analog inputs (used for true DVD-Audio), but it is only playing what is already being encoded from the player itself.

I didn't even know about this release before I watched the Guy Pratt Youtube channel. What a fantastic recording! Imagine a mixture of Beatles, Steely Dan, Tears for Fears and Yes put together by a superband sounding like a 'real' band.

AOR masterpiece! In vein of Styx, Jellyfish, Jude Cole & It Bites.

Der erste Karrierehöhepunkt im Leben des genialen Musikers/Songwriters/Prodocers Kevin Gilbert, der 1996 kurz vor seiner Audition bei Genesis verstarb, bietet durchdachten, anspruchsvollen Pop-Rock in der Tradition von Ten CC, allerdings mit starkem amerikanischen Einschlag. Wen das am Stil der Zeit orientierte Sounddesign nicht stört (gegatete Snaredrums, ultracleane Keyboards, Lexicon-Reverb usw), kann sich an einem reichhaltigen Buffet voller intelligenter und doch eingängiger Song-Kunststücke laben. Für mich war der Kauf ein Experiment, allein der Name Kevin Gilbert gab den Ausschag, und ich bereue nichts. Amen.

splendido,come tutta la produzione di kevin gilbert.Un po difficile da trovare........da acquistare assieme a cio che trovate di kevin gilbert e il gruppo giraffe