TOYZ
''THE INFINITE ROAD''
APRIL 27 2012
58:16
1. Departure/5:16
2. Face the Mirror/4:13
3. Tears of Joy/5:03
4. Mindscape/5:21
5. Introsection/1:30
6. Intersection/4:15
7. Far Away/5:49
8. Shifting Gear/4:00
9. Dream On/4:29
10. Rock On Wood/3:48
11. Thermal Winds/7:07
12. Interseccao/7:29
REVIEW
by Alan Jones
Every so often a disc shows up that looks just the same as a million others – classic prog-rock cover, picture of the band looking completely normal, track-list titles that would sit on any other album; ‘Departure’, ‘Face The Mirror’, ‘Far Away’, etc.
Then you sit down to listen and it just blows you away. Trust me, this blew me away.
Toyz are a Dutch instrumental progressive rock band (ring any bells?) and ‘The Infinite Road’ is their self-released sophomore effort.
Try, if you can, to imagine Focus (minus the yodeling) with Joe Satriani and Jeff Beck joining Akkerman on guitar duties and you start to grasp what’s on offer here.
Instrumental albums per se tend to get a bit samey as they progress but such is the quality of the writing and instrumentation here that interest never flags for a minute.
The album is chock-full of anthemic riffs, soaring keys and absolutely stunning guitar work from Peter van Heijningen that propels the music to a very special place.
The best example of this (although there are ‘best examples’ all over this album) is the second track ‘Face The Mirror’ where the guitar not only works as the ‘singer’ but also gives notice of the magnificence to come. Other highlights include the Jeff Beck inspired ‘Tears Of Joy’, the Satriani slash and burn of ‘Dream On’ and the distinctly Floydian ‘Thermal Winds’ – although, to be honest, the selection of ‘highlights’ is entirely fatuous with an album this good.
It’s a shame that GRTR reviewers had to list their ‘Best Of 2012' before this gem showed up as it would certainly have been up there.
In short, ‘The Infinite Road’ is not just a prog-head’s dream but a definite must-have for all fans of classic guitar rock exceptionally played.
Oh, and a perfect example of not judging a book by its cover…
ABOUT
Toyz was formed in the spring of 1996 by Peter van Heijningen (guitars)
and Mark Smit (keyboards). The line-up began to take shape in 1997 with
the addition of drummer Robert van Kooij en bass player Ron van de Bas.
Nowadays Toyz consists of (left > right): Arjan van Gog (keyboards),
Robert van Kooij (drums and percussion), Jeroen van Boldrik (bass) and
Peter van Heijningen (guitars).
THE STORY OF TOYZ, SO FAR...
In 1997 their efforts were initially confined to the practice room, building an impressive instrumental repertoire in a short amount of time. That changed when the band had their first appearance, participating in a festival named 'De Platina Plug' (The Platinum Plug) in Dordrecht. The very melodic rock that Toyz had to offer was very much appreciated by both audience and jury and resulted in the band winning the festival contest. The ensueing media attention won them invitations to several established open air festivals, including WantijPop in Dordrecht and Westerpop in Delft. In addition they were asked to do a live performance for the local radio station in Dordrecht.
The Westerpop event was a great success as well, with Toyz once again winning the first price of the talent scouting competition. That price included a chance to perform on the main festival day of Westerpop in 1999, studio time and a gig at Speakers in Delft.
The price money from the Platina Plug contest was invested in recordings for a new demo. These recordings took place in the fall of 1998 and resulted in the demo CD 'Remember'. By then performances were taking place in quick succession, including the highlight CD presentation event in Speakers and further appearances at Westerpop, Flowerpop in Naaldwijk and Trailerpop in Rotterdam, 1999.
Mid 2000 a female singer was recruited and the band started working on new material. A new demo was recorded, early 2001, again resulting in many performances in cafes, pop/rock venues and several festivals, with the Bospop performance in Weert topping it all. Work had already begun on recording a complete CD when the old cliche happened: because of musical differences the band fell apart.
Peter, Ron and Robert attempted to continue, recruiting an American singer/songwriter living in the Netherlands, and had several performances under the Toyz name. However, their attempt failed: the fire was gone and the band finally called it quits in 2002.
But a fierce fire like this is hard to put out and obviously kept on smouldering. The band members stayed in personal contact and the CD 'Remember' was and is still being played on Arrow Classic Rock, one of the nations national radio stations. Early 2004, Peter, Ron and Robert, together with new keyboard player Arjan van Gog, decided to resurrect Toyz and to pick up where they left off, with both old and new instrumental repertoire.
Armed with heaps of motivation and inspiration, Toyz is set to take on the stage once again and to live up to their promise. Several appearance have already been scheduled for this year and many, many more are yet to come...
''THE INFINITE ROAD''
APRIL 27 2012
58:16
1. Departure/5:16
2. Face the Mirror/4:13
3. Tears of Joy/5:03
4. Mindscape/5:21
5. Introsection/1:30
6. Intersection/4:15
7. Far Away/5:49
8. Shifting Gear/4:00
9. Dream On/4:29
10. Rock On Wood/3:48
11. Thermal Winds/7:07
12. Interseccao/7:29
REVIEW
by Alan Jones
Every so often a disc shows up that looks just the same as a million others – classic prog-rock cover, picture of the band looking completely normal, track-list titles that would sit on any other album; ‘Departure’, ‘Face The Mirror’, ‘Far Away’, etc.
Then you sit down to listen and it just blows you away. Trust me, this blew me away.
Toyz are a Dutch instrumental progressive rock band (ring any bells?) and ‘The Infinite Road’ is their self-released sophomore effort.
Try, if you can, to imagine Focus (minus the yodeling) with Joe Satriani and Jeff Beck joining Akkerman on guitar duties and you start to grasp what’s on offer here.
Instrumental albums per se tend to get a bit samey as they progress but such is the quality of the writing and instrumentation here that interest never flags for a minute.
The album is chock-full of anthemic riffs, soaring keys and absolutely stunning guitar work from Peter van Heijningen that propels the music to a very special place.
The best example of this (although there are ‘best examples’ all over this album) is the second track ‘Face The Mirror’ where the guitar not only works as the ‘singer’ but also gives notice of the magnificence to come. Other highlights include the Jeff Beck inspired ‘Tears Of Joy’, the Satriani slash and burn of ‘Dream On’ and the distinctly Floydian ‘Thermal Winds’ – although, to be honest, the selection of ‘highlights’ is entirely fatuous with an album this good.
It’s a shame that GRTR reviewers had to list their ‘Best Of 2012' before this gem showed up as it would certainly have been up there.
In short, ‘The Infinite Road’ is not just a prog-head’s dream but a definite must-have for all fans of classic guitar rock exceptionally played.
Oh, and a perfect example of not judging a book by its cover…
ABOUT
Toyz was formed in the spring of 1996 by Peter van Heijningen (guitars)
and Mark Smit (keyboards). The line-up began to take shape in 1997 with
the addition of drummer Robert van Kooij en bass player Ron van de Bas.
Nowadays Toyz consists of (left > right): Arjan van Gog (keyboards),
Robert van Kooij (drums and percussion), Jeroen van Boldrik (bass) and
Peter van Heijningen (guitars).
THE STORY OF TOYZ, SO FAR...
In 1997 their efforts were initially confined to the practice room, building an impressive instrumental repertoire in a short amount of time. That changed when the band had their first appearance, participating in a festival named 'De Platina Plug' (The Platinum Plug) in Dordrecht. The very melodic rock that Toyz had to offer was very much appreciated by both audience and jury and resulted in the band winning the festival contest. The ensueing media attention won them invitations to several established open air festivals, including WantijPop in Dordrecht and Westerpop in Delft. In addition they were asked to do a live performance for the local radio station in Dordrecht.
The Westerpop event was a great success as well, with Toyz once again winning the first price of the talent scouting competition. That price included a chance to perform on the main festival day of Westerpop in 1999, studio time and a gig at Speakers in Delft.
The price money from the Platina Plug contest was invested in recordings for a new demo. These recordings took place in the fall of 1998 and resulted in the demo CD 'Remember'. By then performances were taking place in quick succession, including the highlight CD presentation event in Speakers and further appearances at Westerpop, Flowerpop in Naaldwijk and Trailerpop in Rotterdam, 1999.
Mid 2000 a female singer was recruited and the band started working on new material. A new demo was recorded, early 2001, again resulting in many performances in cafes, pop/rock venues and several festivals, with the Bospop performance in Weert topping it all. Work had already begun on recording a complete CD when the old cliche happened: because of musical differences the band fell apart.
Peter, Ron and Robert attempted to continue, recruiting an American singer/songwriter living in the Netherlands, and had several performances under the Toyz name. However, their attempt failed: the fire was gone and the band finally called it quits in 2002.
But a fierce fire like this is hard to put out and obviously kept on smouldering. The band members stayed in personal contact and the CD 'Remember' was and is still being played on Arrow Classic Rock, one of the nations national radio stations. Early 2004, Peter, Ron and Robert, together with new keyboard player Arjan van Gog, decided to resurrect Toyz and to pick up where they left off, with both old and new instrumental repertoire.
Armed with heaps of motivation and inspiration, Toyz is set to take on the stage once again and to live up to their promise. Several appearance have already been scheduled for this year and many, many more are yet to come...
