Jumping the track, staying in the groove
neillcalabro.com | Atlanta | 01/21/2000
(4 out of 5 stars)
"This album is different than other music from Marquez that I've heard. He was folky back in the mid 80's and then went into more of a rock phase.In the Big Showdown, Marquez is again changing styles but as always he has a gritty vocal tone with a good dose of lyrical sensitivity on his introspective view of being alive.The boy in him also remains as you listen to his music and get the sense that he never lets a mirror go by without checking his hair.60's "cool" mixed in with 80's pop makes for a very interesting record that has Marquez adding orchestrations that his former straight ahead rock music lacked. You can hear Prince and Gary Numan heavy string lines on some songs which seem to need more of a layering effect to give the music more fatness. In the right studio and the proper financial backing, The Big showdown could be a monster-sounding record.The other two drawbacks that keeps this record from being 5 stars is that some of the vocal lines seem similar and slightly strained, and the bonus track "Something Good" comes at you with a 90's rawness that, for me, doesn't fit the overall mood.This CD is best listened to while you're driving at night with the top down in a big city highway that's deserted. Also repeated listenings can inject nuances that you won't pick up the first couple of times. This is because his influences are diverse and he can have garage sounding guitars, bouncy drum machine programming, dreamy piano lines, and a funky rhythm to his vocal line all in the same song."
Track Listings (9) - Disc #1