Customer Reviews

As Quatro Estacoes

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Ok, so if you're like me, unlike most Americans you don't depend on the radio to discover good music and you're not so ignorant as to beleive that music can only be enjoyed if it's sung in English. If this is your mindset and you love bands the likes of U2, the Smiths, REM, and the Cure - then you'd be a fool not to buy this and any other album by Legiao Urbana. These guys are Brazil's (and South America's for that matter) best alternative rock/80's era band. It's just a shame that the American music market never gave these guys a chance just because they weren't willing to sell out as their Brazilian counterparts Sepultura did and sing their songs in English (which, by the way, they could have done if they wanted to since lead singer Renato Russo is tri-lingual in Portuguese, Italian, and English - but instead they were true to their Brazilian heritage and sang in their mother tongue - for which I applaud them). Seriously, Legiao Urbana blows most 90s "alternative bands" out of the water with the richness of their melodies and their intricate, layered and diverse sounds. Buy this album today!

Without a doubt,this album is INCRIVEL! (Incredible!) Renato Russo demonstrates his poetic brilliance in this classic rock album. Russo's personal struggle with AIDS and tragic death, only further intensifies the artistic message of As quarto estacoes

The most sucessful rock band of Brazil, and their album "As Quatro Estacoes", "The Four Season" in english. Comparing to the three albums that they had prevously made, this CD shows a complete change of style, with songs with words about love and feelings of the human being. Well, many disliked the changes, mainly the punks, but is still their most sucessful album, and, most of all, their best.
All the songs there turned in big hits when the album made its debut, mainly "Ha Tempos", "Monte Castelo", "Pais e Filhos" and "Meninos e Meninas". And is good to see how much talent Renato Russo had (he was the composer of 90/95% of the songs of the band, and also the vocalist and far away the main character inside the band). His voice was incredible and his words expressed the true feelings of the teens.
Of course that all the other albums of the band are very good, mainly "Legiao Urbana", "Dois", "Que Pais e Esse" and "V". Although Renato is dead since 1996 and the band does not exist anymore, is incredible the fact that they still sell 350000 per year. But the fact that all the songs (no exceptions) are very well made, and turned in very big hits that continue to be listened in most radios of Brazil (the album made its debut in 1989) is sufficient to make this album the best that Legiao Urbana could have made in its career. Simply amazing.

The cd "As Quatro Estacoes" is one of my favorite cds in my collection. The Pais e Filhos track tells it how it is. My favorite line in the song talks about you blame your parents for everything this is wrong their children like yourself and what will you be when grow up? I think that Renato Russo was saying here that we all are learning and it's not easy being a parent and we all know it's not easy growing up.

This is a wonderful CD from the late Legião Urbana, with very catchy and moody songs. Just listen to "Pais e Filhos", where Renato Russo tells us about what he feels about father and son relationships, weaving a soulful and broad panel of all kinds of situations: divorced parents kids, abandoned children and spoiled, selfish and ungrateful ones.
"Ha Tempos" reminds us of the rough times we're living, with AIDS taking its toll and desperation driving the more tender souls into taking their own lives.
"Monte Castelo" was originally a poem by St. Thomas Aquino, beautifully enhanced by Renato's music and very soulfully sang.

I lived in Brazil for two years, so I am very familiar with Brazilian music. Legiao is by far the best Brazil has to offer. The first time I heard Legiao on the radio, I fell in love with their sound. Renato Russo wrote wonderful lyrics and the guitar chords remind me of Johnny Marr of the Smiths. Don't buy this album if you have a tight budget because if you do, you'll buy all their albums.

The voices are a shadow of noise, one cannot always hear what they sing because the voices are cluttered in a shadow of noise.
More than 70% of what is sung cannot actually be understood for lack of sound detail.
The instruments lack the detail of their sound and texture, you can't hear the notes for lack of pitch.
One can see this is a great piece of music, it is! But it's just wasted by such a bad recording.
Much worse than the mono recordings of the Beatles from 1961.
My CD is made in "Polo Industrial de Manaus, Brasil", that's probably a hint.

Passei minha infância ouvindo legião, e no dia que o Renato Russo morreu em Outubro de 1996 (eu tinha 10 anos), minha mãe ficou muito triste. Hoje entendo porque ele era tão querido e porque minhã mãe ficou tão triste. Hoje possuo todos os CDs do grupo. Cada CD representava fases de sua vida (rebelde, CD1; romântico,Dois e as Quatro Estações; politico, Que país é esse; e depressivo, A Tempestade; e assim por diante), e algumas músicas lembram fases de minha infãncia e adolescência. Renato Russo era um grande poeta que morreu jovem, mas que ainda faz muito sucesso. Não fico surpreso ao ver crianças hoje em dia cantarolando suas músicas que já tem mais de 20 anos e que são temas de comerciais e novelas aqui no Brasil. Todos os albuns são recomendados, mas para quem quer começar a coleção, sugiro os seguintes: As Quatro Estações, Dois e Que País é esse. Depois vai de gosto pessoal...

Let me focus only in the lyrical aspect in this review. Legiao Urbana's songs feed not only your soul, but also your intelect. They are by far the best brazilian rock band of all times. By studying their lyrics (most of them written by the leader and vocalist Renato Russo) their influences in this album can be traced to Sigmund Freud, The Bible (and Buddhism), Camoes, Ivan Turguenev (the Russian author whose book "Fathers and sons" gave name to the second track of this album, "Pais e filhos") and many many others.

This album was a shift in their carreer. The band spent at about one year to record the whole album, in which they approach polemic subjects as homosexualism (in the song "Meninos e meninas", or "Boys and girls" in a literal translation) and suicide in "Pais e filhos". If you want music to feed both your soul and intelect, Legiao Urbana is what you're looking for.

This CD is very very good. Each music is a music, each one make me remember many things. I love "Eu Era Um Lobisomem Juvenil", "Monte Castelo" and "Há Tempos". They wrote "Feedback Song For a Dying Friend" for their friend, Cazuza, other great brazillian singer, who died some years ago.