Customer Reviews

Faluas De Tejo

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

 

 

This apparently is a "Copy Controlled" by EMI CD. Great.

Any CDs I buy these days, I personally tend to rip to mp3s so I can listen to on the portable player I use. Oh well. Won't work on things like many car CD players, either.

Buyer beware. 5 stars for Madredeus and their music. F- for the music industry pulling stunts like this that harm the average consumer's personal use while the "bad guys" get around things regardless.

If only they'd spend more time and effort finding and developing more acts like Madredeus in the first place.

Don't buy this particular version unless you're ready for some hassles. Ugh....

In Faluas do Tejo, Madredeus presents a collection of songs about the city of Lisbon. The arrangements are mostly simple and folksy, showcasing Teresa Salguero's voice in its purest form. The synthesizer does not play as prominent a role in this album as in their last, so the sound is cleaner and less heavy than in Um Amor Infinito.

"Lisboa, Rainha do Mar" opens the CD with a light barcarole-sounding song that immediately conjures images of the Tagus river.

"Nevoas da Madrugada," my personal favorite, carries a simple melody and light musical arrangement. It reminded me of some of the material on Ainda, their movie soundtrack album.

"O Cais Distante" is a moody, almost bluesy meditation.

"Na Estrada de Santiago" is a speak-sing number that reminded me of "Vislumbrar O Canto Encantado," but this one was better because Teresa sings a beautiful background melody that reinforces the power of her spoken parts.

"La de Fora" stands out as a happy, almost danceable tune that has an alternating root-fifth bass line (as far as I can tell). I believe this is the one tune that Teresa actually sort of danced to in Madredeus' London concert.

"O Canto do Saudade" finishes the CD with a seaside, drink-in-hand feel that makes you want to start all the songs over again from the beginning. Notably, Teresa sings in a lower range for this song and you get to hear a different tone that is much more comfortable to the ear, especially if you don't like her very high parts (although I very much do).

Please buy this album and enjoy the virtual trip to Lisbon.

I have nothing but praise for Madredeus, but I'm perturbed that my disc is copy-guarded so strongly that I can't even put it on my iPod. In fact the only way to even play it on a computer is to install the player provided on the disc...which pegs my CPU activity to the point where I can't perform any other computer functions (this happened on one computer but not another for some reason). What about reasonable fair usage of the music? All I can say is that I will avoid any CD that is marked "Copy Controlled". This tidbit of information should be clearly listed on any affected CD so that the consumer can make an informed decision. This is crippling technology that limits how we, as bona fide purchasers of the music, can actually use it. In that respect, I feel cheated.