Livro

Caetano Veloso | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 1, 1999)
• Original Release Date: June 1, 1999
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Nonesuch
• ASIN: B00000IPXN
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (40 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #61,292 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #15 in Music > World Music > Latin Music > Brazilian > Tropicália

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Caetano Veloso has been tied in a kind of historical knot for decades with Gilberto Gil, with whom Veloso helped spur the Tropicalia movement in the 1960s. And just as Gil's moved on to reference and discuss a panoply of themes in his music, so too is Veloso on an extended foray into nonmusical subjects. The sprawl of this package, with its lengthy, swirly-painted accompanying booklet, is aided by Veloso's essay on pop culture in his native Brazil. And while the points he makes--mainly about what literary theoreticians call the "simulacrum"--are cogent, you can't really hear the mark of his ideas in the music. No matter, really, since the music itself is a vertical stack of styles that's both tall and thick. On top of Bahian rhythms, frequently played in the style of drum troupe Olodum, are strong, swaying samba elements. On top of that are riffing, sometimes mellifluously floating horns, and on top of that is Veloso's smooth voice, which moves at an eased speed that counters the thronging sound of all the instruments under his voice. As a whole, the sound is aptly luxurious, with flügelhorns and double reeds and strings, but there's always a rhythmic parade underneath. --Andrew Bartlett

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Still has it!, January 31, 2000

By 

Douglas (New York) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Livro (Audio CD)

I am not from Brazil, i am from NY but i love brazilian music and i am sort of an officinado to the people that know me. I love Caetano Veloso especially his older stuff. His musical career is as varied as a landscape, you can love him one second and not the next so do not judge the "music of caetano" by listening to one or two albums it is vast. If you dont have caetanos older albums and you just heard this but didn't like it, check out "Qualquer Coisa" or "Joia".

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Maybe his most beautiful album yet?, January 15, 2000

By 

Glenn Sherman (Hartford, CT USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Livro (Audio CD)

Okay, first the disclaimer: I am not Brazilian, I need a dictionary to read Portuguese, and my musical upbringing is more conducive to James Taylor than samba, bassa, tropicalia or mpb. None the less, I love good melody, voice and rhythm, and Caetano Veloso much more than fits the bill.

This may be Caetano's most beautiful album yet. It is a "mature" album -- maybe with too many string arrangments for people who love "Estrangeiro" or earlier albums -- but with beautiful vocals, stellar musical arranging and percussion beyond reproach. It is the work of an artist at the height of his powers and comfortable with his talent and status -- not unlike Duke Ellington later in his career.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The sublimation of a legend, March 20, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Livro (Audio CD)

This is one of the finest CDs ever released. No wonder it won a Grammy Award; the sophistication of the lyrics, the bewitchering voice, the magic of the rythms, I just don't know which one struck me as more impressive. Yes, Caetano Veloso is a legend and one of the finest singers in the world; but this album is simply superlative, even to his standards. HIGHLY recommended.