Review:
3rd Matinee only recorded one album, but it was essentially a follow-up to the solitary eponymously-titled Toy Matinee album in 1990. That effort featured vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Kevin Gilbert alongside producer/keyboardist Patrick Leonard, drummer Brian MacLeod, guitarist Tim Pierce, and bassist Guy Pratt. “After Patrick Leonard broke with Kevin Gilbert, he carried on” AZ with the other players while Richard Page, the former lead singer of Mr. Mister, takes on the vocal duties.
The album was even less successful than its barely-scratched-the-radar predecessor, but the group’s principals enjoyed some songwriting success nonetheless. Leonard, who’d notably done production work for Madonna, teamed with Page to write “I’ll Remember,” which was a #2 hit for her in 1994.
Meanwhile “does not sound like a Madonna album minus Madonna, however.” WR With Gilbert now replaced by Page, “Meanwhile doesn’t sound like Toy Matinee, either. So, what does it sound like? It sounds like a Richard Page solo album produced by Patrick Leonard.” WR “You’ll hear ballads, spirituals and even a little folk alongside Leonard’s trademark, alternative pop-rock sound.” AZ “Page has a throaty, expressive voice that reportedly earned him invitations to join Chicago and Toto after Mr. Mister split up. Instead, he teamed up with Leonard, and, from the sound of this album, the two spent a lot of time listening to Peter Gabriel and at least a little listening to Steve Winwood and Sting.” WR
“The result is an album of evocative, sophisticated pop/rock full of yearning and moodiness, albeit without real depth,” WR “the work of talented musicians lacking a true spark of their own creativity.” WR
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