Customer Reviews

Caetano Veloso (Irene)

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This fantastic album continues down the musical path of the Tropicalism movement, begun on his first eponymous solo release and on the collective album "Tropicália - Ou Panis Et Circensis." After the passing of the institutional act n.5 at the end of 1968, artistic freedom in Brazil became very limited. The radical ideas presented in Tropicalism resulted in the arrest of Caetano and Gilberto Gil for allegedly disrespecting the Brazilian flag and national anthem. While in confinement in Salvador, Caetano recorded the guitar and vocal parts of this album and then sent them to São Paulo for Rogério Duprat to make the arrangements. Released in 1969, it is the only album to not have Caetano's picture (his characteristic head of hair was shaved by the military after the arrest), featuring instead his signature on an all-white cover. The tracks display a wide range of styles, from traditional Brazilian rhythms to tango to Beatles-inspired psychedelia. This album still sounds amazingly fresh today, and should appeal to fans of other genre-mixing acts such as Beck, Frank Zappa, David Byrne, and Ween. With the recent renewed interest in fellow Tropicalists like Os Mutantes and Tom Zé, hopefully we will eventually see Caetano's early Brazilian releases become more widely available here in the states. In the meantime, treat yourself to this disc and experience one of the most innovative Brazilian artists in perhaps his most creative period.

If you are just starting to collect Caetano's work, this album should be among the first few that you buy. It is loaded with history, and shows his versatility as very few other of his albums do. In many ways, it is like the 1967 album on steroids. It's what happens when you mix Caetano's young, budding genius with a prison sentence. The Empty Boat is one of his greatest songs ever, which is remarkable in that it was his first English song. Os Argonautas, Irene, and Carolina are also classics. Be warned that Acrilírico is Caetano's Revolution 9. Comparisons could be made to the Beatles' Revolver and Dylan's Bringing it All Back Home to emphasize what a defining event this album is. Even if you aren't a big fan of Caetano's early work, this album should be bought for historical perspective, at the very least.

i could not agree more with the two well written reviews already posted. this cd should be a part of any brasilian music collection.it should also be a part of any decent psyche collection as well. people who ejoyed this cd should proceed straight to gilberto gil's 1969 album (also available). gil's album features the same back up band and, in my opinion, is even better.

Most of the breakthrough recordings of the Tropicalia movement had been made by the time Caetano recorded this disc, and the hindsight allowed him to cannibalize those recordings as the original recordings cannibalized a vast range of influences: "Sergeant Pepper", Hollywood's orchestral kitsch take on Latin American music, European and African styles which had entered into the bottomless syncretisation of Brazilian society, and the more obtuse elements of the classical music tradition, especially as formed by maestro Rogerio Duprat, who arranged this disc and many of the other Tropicalia discs as well.

The weight of this contradictory mass is sometimes felt, but for the most part the tracks flow seamlessly from one to the next. Recorded not long before he and Gilberto Gil were expatriated, Veloso's lyrics reveal a more experienced activist than the one who recorded "It's Prohibited to Prohibit" with The Mutantes, which is a roundabout way of saying they are more subtle, depending on metaphors such as The Empty Boat and The Argonauts, rather than the broader statements he had made a couple of years earlier. A suave avant-gardism tinted by populist sentiment is at the core of Veloso's best work, and this disc solidly belongs in that category.

One of my other Amazon reviews called Jorge Ben's 'África Brasil' the greatest Brazilian album ever recorded; if there were to be a contender, this album would probably be it. Released in 1969 after the commercial success of its excellent but less cohesive predecessor and at the height of the Tropicália movement; Caetano's so-called 'white album' delivered two massive hit singles in Brazil at the time: the uplifting perfect 60s pop of ''Irene'' and the carnival-esque ''Atrás Do Trio Elétrico''. The album also includes one of Caetano's most famous and widely performed tracks, ''Não Identificado''. It is incredible to believe that at the time of writing this song is 40 years old because it has defied age and musical trends and could have been recorded yesterday. It is everything good music should be: emotive and capable of lifting and transporting you to another level. If you ever wondered why Brazilian music has managed to transcend language and cultural barriers; albums like this are the reasons why. Now if only some label would release a remastered SACD version of the album and throw on his remake of Jorge Ben's ''Charles, Anjo 45'', released as a single in Brazil the same year as the album, then that would be the ultimate edition!

An absolute masterpiece. One of Veloso's sweetest, most delectable albums. Essential listening to anyone who wants to check him out. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.