Customer Reviews

Acoustic

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3 star:		(2)
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If you are looking for a place to start either with Gilberto Gil or just with Brazilian music, you've found the right place. This is collection of just about everything from ballads with Gil's sweet crooning to the upbeat samba beat trademark to this region's sound. Most of Gil's most notable classics can be found on this cd and the recording definitely captures the energy of the live performance. I personally love Gilberto Gil's voice and could listen to this cd over and over without tiring of it. I would recommend it to anyone interested in expanding their tastes to include something with a little more flavor.

This isn't your neighbor's Brazilian music - it's so much more. This is soul music in the purest sense. Reggae, samba ballads, rhythym, funk.

Live performance excitement, and good feelings all the way around. Gil loves his art and his music, and the sincerity shows. Performer, musicians, and audience are all on the same wavelength. A great performance.

Doesn't matter when, or with whom. I just play this CD and it's always right, always good.

I first heard about this album when it was reccomended to me by a Brazilian pen pal I happened to meet in Seattle during her visit here on business. She insisted that I purchase it for myself and I am really glad that I did. I first heard him on "Beleza Tropical" volume 1, a compilation of different Brazilian artists' greatest classic hits put together by David Byrne (former Talking Head). Gilberto Gil has that wonderful combination of technical talent on the guitar, as well as a soft, expressive singing voice best-described as "cloud-like." (soft, fluffy and delicate) It's amazing when you begin to measure the tone of his voice with the content of his songs, though. Gil wrote all of the songs on this album (with the exception of his cover of "The Secret Life of Plants" written by Stevie Wonder for the film of the same name). He tackles some very intense topics (including mythology, the delicate state of the ecosystem and reconciliation)

My favorite cuts include "A Novidade" (a song about a beautiful mermaid which is a metaphor for the ravaged state of planet Earth and the devistation of the physical environment we are destroying through carelessness and lack of compassion), "A Drao" (a thoughtful, introspective song to his love), "Expresso 2222" (a cautionary song about the new millenium) and "Palco" (which sounds largely autobiographical).

The beauty of Gil's music is the mixture of contemporary guitar riffs and the use of the Brazilian berimbau and tradional percussion instruments. Share this with friends and family!

It's seems to be a rarity to find an artist who has such a combination of integrity, musicianship, and an obvious love of music unincumbered by any of the trappings of the industry. Gilberto Gil has it all, and it is never so clear as on Acoustic. Gil's variety ranges from Reggae, to Ballads, to Party Samba always with the rhythmic and tonal complexities which make Brazilian music so special. His working of Stevie Wonder's "The Secret Life Of Plants" is a truly spiritual experience as well as providing the only English sung on the album. The rest is marvelous Brazilian Portuguese which enables Gil to prove once and for all that the human voice is also an intricate percussive instrument. Yet Gil is not the only player, the whole band including Gil is a fantastic sextet of musicians delivering fine performances throughout. Of special note is Arthur Maia whose bass work borders on perfection. Overall, I prefer this album to Quanta Live merely because the acoustic setting provides a more personal interaction with the artist. Also recommended is the studio album Quanta.

If I had to reccomend a CD to someone who wanted to start discovering Brazilian music, this would definitely be it. From Brazilian reggae to great rythms or sweet ballads, this CD has it all. I saw an acoustic performance by Gil in which he included most of the songs on this CD, the recording really catches Gilberto Gil's fantastic energy on stage. The musical arrangements are exquisite (giving beautiful parts to a flute or even the triangle!!). Definitely a must-have in your Brazilian CD collection.

gilberto gil es uno de los mas grandes cantautores de la musica de brasil. Este cd es particularmente atractivo, porque recrea una muy buena seleccion de sus mas bellos temas. La grabacion acustica , le da un diferente cariz a sus melodias, que hace valga tenerlo, aunque uno posea las mismas canciones en sus versiones originales. Dentro de los muchos cd que poseo de gil es uno de mis predilectos

The joy of life and music is just the impression that one gets from this CD - what a treat to get this quality from a popular music performer. Of course it takes a second to get used to the portuguese, but if you know spanish, italian, french etc - just by a port. dictionary and jump in, porque a poesia e' linda mesma! Check out the groovy bass solo introduction in 'Palco' and the melodic 'beira-mar' and the raucous 'Aquele abraco' and 'Toda menina baiana' It gets better every time.

This is actually the first Gil CD I ever bought, and what a wonderful introduction it was! This is a nice representation of 27 years of music, with an acoustic vibe. Songs such as "Drão" are given much better treatment than their '80's pop studio counterparts. There are Caetano songs ("Sampa", "Beira Mar" from Gil's first album) and "A Novidade"--a wonderful version of the song first recorded by Os Paralamas do Sucesso. Gil's band is first rate (I've seen this line-up twice)--prodigy bassist Arthur Maia being the stand-out. Check this CD out--great songs, great arrangements and Gil--what more can you ask for? (The video for this show is great, too, if you can find it).

If you forget the lyrics, this is a benchmark cd by it's music, ritmics, sound quality and artists performance. It is the best of pop music in the whole word. If you add the lyrics, its outstanding'... a great poet, touching songs of love and protest. Please ... if were are not from Brazil and never have heard about Gil, buy this CD and, after this, you don't realise how you could have lived without this music. A must.

I got the Brazilian release of this album (called 'Unplugged') two years ago, and it's still an absolute favorite for both myself and my wife. There is an exquisite balance of voice and instruments, and the musicians' love of music and joy in life really shines through.