Search - Bonfiglio :: Through the Raindrops

Big dissappointment to me

ty7777 | USA | 09/03/2003

(2 out of 5 stars)

"Much of this music is aimless or meant to be background music.
The highpoints in terms of playing and originality I think are really more taken up by Bonfiglio's guitar player. Some vocals chimed in in some parts and alot of the music seemed to be weak and dated instrumental garbage. If there is no lyrics and voice, the music needs to pick up the slack from accompaniment to forefront take charge melody, rythm and beat. This album's music usually doesn't. Alot of the times the sound of a song changes but doesn't get better. It is just not very adventurous or captivating. It is really dissappointing to me and not really very creative [just weak in general ]. This 1992 recording reminds my alot of the eighties instrumentation that tried hard to distance itself from rough style rock and roll and ended as a cheap imitation of itself over and over again and doomed its future to elevators everywhere. I expected a special and haunting album full of one of my favorite instruments. I like about twenty percent of the album. Sleepwalk was nice to hear recomposed but Bonfiglio did not overtake the original [ though this is one of the few times where I was eager to hear a song really pumped up compositionally because I liked the core of it so much.]but rather underwhelms with his instrument. Such a capable musician with such little daring. Not nearly his best, though later recordings are often fantastic. Pass this one by There is a reason why most of his other recordings are sold out completely and this one is not. I can't recommend this effort."

Harmonica at the Nth degree

Merrill D. Bowan | Oakmont, PA USA | 03/07/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Say the word "harmonica" and most people think of a little kid huffing and puffing "I Came From Alabama" for the birthday crowd gathered around the dining room table...or a lonely cowboy under a starry canopy, next to the chuckwagon, chasing his loneliness away by droning "Get Along Little Dogies" on his 4" Hohner Chromatic.Get ready for a delightful surprise. Robert Bonfiglio matches neither of those images. Think "classical", think "artiste", think "masterful", think "transcendent", think "awesome", and none of those quite communicate the level of artistry that Bonfiglio has achieved with this often-discounted musical instrument. Combine one or two scoops of all those words and you start to imagine the tonal delight that awaits the listener's ear. After you have checked the samples here, take a low-calculated risk and buy Through the Raindrops as a first sample of what the rest of his collection has in store for you."