Customer Reviews

Brazil Classics 1: Beleza Tropical

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

 

 

I've owned this CD for over ten years and it remains one of my favorites. The Brazilian music featured here manages to be both instantly accessable and yet at the same time exotic and new, from the stripped-down funkiness of "Ponta de Lança Africano" to the majestic "Equatorial" to the melancholy harmonies on "Fio Maravilha." I suppose the reason for this is the fact that these artists grew up immersed in their rich musical traditions, but at the same time they were exposed to the music of the Beatles, Simon and Garfunkel, James Brown, etc. I don't like most of what falls under the "world music" umbrella, but this collection really hits the spot for me.

Also worth mentioning are the excellent liner notes and bilingual lyrics. Honestly, my only complaint is that this CD inspired me to go out and look for more Brazilian music but I've been unable to find anything else that I loved as much as this.

What a great CD. I have all of Byrnes Brazilian discs and wish he would issue more. He really captured what makes Brazilian music great with his first three discs in this series. Still, this one is really special. The fourth and fifth disc in this series are dedicated to the artist Tom Ze who is brilliant in his own weird way. This first disc makes you just want to dance all over your living room. I wish Byrne would release more. Of course I now have a lot of the cds by the original artists, but this is the one that hooked me. Buy and enjoy.

This is one of my all time favorite albums, and I am a music snob! I'm not a connoisseur of Brazillian music by any means, but I simply love all of these songs and in the past 10 plus years have never tired of them. Perhaps I'm biased, but I don't think these songs sound dated and I think they have a timeless quality to them. I always think of what the liner notes say about young and old listening to the same music together- it makes Brazil sounds like an even more magical place.

I did get the Beleza Tropical Vol. 2 that David Byrne released later, and it wasn't anywhere near as good. Stick with this one and you won't be disappointed.

Your Brazilian music collection can start right here. Just download this album, enjoy it, and then explore each of the artists highlighted here.

David Byrne put this compilation together in the late 80's, exploring some of the key artists of the Brazilian scene. This is not the Bossa Nova music of the early 60's -- it's mainly from the next generation of artists that grew up in the late 60's and became successful in the 70's onward.

Every track here is a classic, and every artist is a master. It's a hugely enjoyable listen that I come back to over and over, and it's a compilation that introduced me to some great artists.

There are several other albums in this series -- all are worth buying.

I was given this album by a friend. I'm not a connoisseur of international music, but I must say I was instantly captivated by this musical compilation. The songs have a catchy, relaxing quality to them.

I bought the original about 15 years ago in cassette tape form
(yeah, I am getting older:). Even though I agree that Byrnes should have updated it with younger and more current artists, these classic songs still move me.

This is an amazing collection of beautiful Brazilian music. I purchased this when it was first released many many years ago and have never tired of it. It's unusual sounds and rhythms more than make up for the fact I can't understand a single word of Portugese! The whole Luaka Bop collection of international music has made such an impact on my musical tastes. Buy it!

The first time I heard this album, I was in modern dance class listening to crooning of Maria Bethania and Gal Costa on "Sonhu Meu," (track #2) on this luscious album. I knew I had to have it! The soft, seductive samba rhythm and the beautiful harmonies made me think of the shores of Sao Paulo (I had never been there, but in my mind I had taken the journey many times whenever the song was played!). I would say that 95% of the songs on this album are just as a hypnotic. The exception is "Equatorial" by Lo Borges. It just sounds like a bad knock-off of a disco/pop song. The music sounds very 1970s and canned. However, the rest of the songs are great! Everything from "Umabarumba" by Caetano Veloso, to "Calice" by Milton Nascimento (Popular Music of Brazil) were engaging and beautifully written. Though, I speak no Portuguese the liner notes in the CD are bilingual. Some of the lyrics are the prettiest poetry I have ever read! This album is a great combination of uptempo danceable songs to slow ballads. Now, that I have learned more about the styles of Brazilian music in my Ethnomusicology class I can tell you that it covers a great cross sections of music. We have the samba, MPB (Musica Popular de Brazil), batucada and even some jazz thrown into the mix. Thank you, David Byrne! Yes, the same David Byrne from Talking Heads, who made this compilation possible. This is only a small sampling of the immense talent of musicians from Brazil. There are so many more out there that couldn't fit! Gilberto Gil, Gal Costa, Caetano Veloso, Maria Bethania, and others should have been introduced to the "Estadounidenses" long before.....This music is something you could never replicate in this country. Every musician is truly in a class by themselves.

this is in my top 5 of albums I could listen to over & over

I've owned this CD for almost 20 years, and it's still one of my favorites. "Ponta de Lança Africano" is a track that I could listen to again and again if I were trapped on an island. This album introduced Brazilian music to me, and that alone is reason enough for everyone to own it.