Customer Reviews

Prenda Minha

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

 

 

Caetano Veloso is like wine, the older the better. This album recorded throught his latest show - Prenda Minha - is a confirmation that Caetano is essencial the best in Brazilian comtemporary popular music. His new arrangements and interpretation of old and new songs are superb, and with a great team of musicians, he makes this one of his finest moments in his career. I have been his fan for years and I am delighted to attend his latest show in New York and DC and to listen to the album over and over again. His music is universal, being at the same time the best translation of several forms os brazilian music. His style is innovative and uplifting, with lots of carisma and intensity. For someone who would like to be introduced to his music I strongly recommend this album.

Although Caetano has produced quite a few excellent live albums in the last ten years this one is probably the best (I would also recomend Fina Estampa Ao Vivo). It has been recorded in 1998 in Brazil and available for almost two years now, but this year Caetano presented this same show (with a few changes in the acoustic part of the programme) to some lucky Europeans as well. I had the chance to attend the concert in Udine, Italia, and I (together with the rest of the crowd) enjoyed every second of it. Caetano's voice has never sounded stronger live, he's a born performer and the 12-piece group (including 4 Bahian samba drummers) is amazing. The show was full of wit and passion. The CD brings most of the best moments of the 2-hour show, including the selection of Caetano's solo acoustic performances (like Drao or Saudosismo), powerful reneditions of Terra and Mel, I only miss the wonderful Manhata from Livro. Like all Caetano's live albums this one brings us much more than just live versions of the last studio album (Livro). There are, as always, many surprises, including nods to Jobim, Jorge Ben, Djavan and Gilberto Gil among others, which makes Prenda Minha really a must buy for any true fan of Brazilian music.

This is undoubtedly my favorite CD, and I have a lot of CDs. Caetano is always great, but this album is more than great. Maybe because its live and you can feel his energy and the energy of the crowd, it really draws you in and lifts your spirits. You won't be disappointed by this one!!!

I am a great fan of Caetano Veloso, but this CD is not as special as others. If you want to know the true Caetano I would reccomend a compilations of traditional hits or "Tropicalia 2". The recording is not able to reproduce the special intimacy of his typical performance

A very good collection of Caetano's acoustic and percussion rhythms. For those portuguese speaking/understanding, Caetano's prose on #6 is a special dedication to a long time friend, quasi-brother - Gilberto Gil...

Djavan, Tom Jobim and Gal Costa (amongst others) are also interpreted by Caetano.

My favorites on this album are "Sozinho", "Linha do Equador" and "Luz de Tieta".

You can't go wrong by pressing play, and then repeat-all on your CD player!! :-) :-) :-) :-) :-)

Rich Ford São Paulo, Brasil

PS: Alê, essa é pro cê!

I was in my last year of high school when I first heard the song "Estrangeiro" (Foreigner) by Caetano Veloso. It was love at first sight (at first hearing, actually). Initially, I was struck by the power and uniqueness of its sounds. Later, the intelligence and sophistication of its lyrics inspired me. At that time, I was already a Caetano's fan. That song, though, made me start my Veloso's record collection and go to his concert for the first time.
The CD named after the song I fell in love with was the first of a great sequence of albums that Caetano released throughout almost a decade. Followed "Estrangeiro" (1989), among other album, the masterpieces "Circuladô" (1991), "Circuladô Vivo" (1992), "Fina Estampa" (1994), "Fina Estampa ao Vivo" and "Livro" (1997) - the last winning "best album of the year" in the Latin Grammy Award. I bought all of these records and went to all his concerts during the decade that followed. The sequence of good albums was so amazing that I started to believe that their author was infallible; that whatever he produced was unquestionably good. And I don't think I was alone; during the 90s Caetano became a national, maybe even international, unanimity.
Nevertheless, the CD "Prenda Minha" (1999) came to reinforce the Brazilian popular saying that declares that "all unanimity is dumb". The album is not that bad, but Caetano raised our standards to such a level that we always expect his works to near the perfection. Were this record signed by other artist, maybe, I wouldn't be as critic.
This album has actually a very good beginning. I love the sequence composed by the first four songs. The CD opens with a version of the tune "Jorge da Capadócia" by Jorge Ben. The song starts smoothly and grows along with the introduction of more and more percussion instruments - it starts with hands clapping and progresses to a complete group of percussion. The second song appears after an incredible transition in which the intense sound of drums and timbales is replaced by an ensemble of brass instruments that opens the mellow tune of the title song "Prenda Minha". A not less impressive transition brings the beautiful "Meditação" (Meditation) - a composition by Tom Jobim and Newton Mendonça. The fourth song, "Terra" (Earth), is an excellent re-record - rich in a new arrangement (credited, as "Jorge da Capadócia", to all the band - all other arrangements are signed by Jaques Morelenbaun) and strong interpretation by Caetano, who is backed up by the versatile band under maestro Morelenbaun's command. But that's it. What comes after the fourth song does not tells me much. They are 14 more tunes. Most of them re-record of old successes, which bring little or no excitement to me, neither in the arrangement, nor on the lyrics.
When I got "Noites do Norte" (Nights of the North), the latest work of Veloso, the first authorial since "Livro", once again, I was disappointed.
I really like when Caetano shows us his experimental side, as he did in "Circuladô", "Livro" or "Estrangeiro", but I felt that this time he "lost the hand". For instance, that happens when he sings/recite the beautiful text by the Brazilian abolitionist Joaquim Nabuco, the title song "Noites do Norte". It's not the first time Veloso attempted to "sing" prose - he did it before successfully in "Circuladô Vivo" ("Americanos") and "Prenda Minha" ("Verdade Tropical"). All the bravura of the century old essay (1900) didn't help in this case - he should just have kept his original idea and put the excerpt in the insert of the CD.
The homage to Raul Seixas (precursor of Brazilian rock)"Rock'n'Raul" has a nice rock arrangement that brings to Caetano's MPB some contemporary rock and techno flavor. The rhymes of the lyrics, however, don't do it to me ("Esbórnia na Califórnia/Dias ruins em New Orleans/O grande mago em Chicago/.../Uma plantation de maconha no Wyoming"), as Veloso's vacillation as he tries to sound like a rock singer.
Having said that, I should add, or reiterate, were this someone else's recording, I would probably find it very good. But I expect more from Caetano. This, however, didn't keep me from giving "Noites do Norte" another chance. Likewise most of Caetano Veloso's other albums, this one grows with time. The repeated audition bring to light details, nuances that we didn't perceive before; we notice certain musical texture, inaudible in the first try; we detect certain messages that are only reveled to us through the impregnation of the lyrics in our memory. This record is, after all, an adequate sample of the diversity and musical opulence of this who is one of the fathers of the Tropicalism and the Brazilian Popular Music as we know it, and who has brought so much beauty to the four corners of the world.

You know, you gotta have Caetano, no mattter what he puts out in the market. There's no regrets and this album is no exception. I went to see his presentation in Los Angeles to introduce this album, and it was simply great. buy it.

A lo largo de la discografía de Caetano podemos encontrar versiones en vivo de sus más famosos temas. Sin embargo, muy pocas producciones (salgo algunas grabaciones Tropicalistas en LP) se pueden comparar con la energía mostrada en "Prenda Minha", en canciones como "Odara", "Na Linha Do Equador" y en el cierre "A Luz de Tieta" se luce en voz y música, en definitiva, uno de los mejores que he escuchado de Caetano Veloso

Manuel Linares
www.manuel-linares.com

His rendition of "Terra" is absolutely mesmerizing, the lilting, swaying rhythm and the way he phrases the lyrics - absolutely awesome! And his big hit from a couple of years back "Sozinho" is another jewel to be treasured. This man is the music! Try it - you might be hooked the way I've been hooked since I saw him in Brazil many years ago.

I love this CD- I agree that it may not be as experimental as many of his others but it is hard not to still get transfixed just by Caetano's voice and the simplicity of many of these tunes. I particularly love this performance of Sozinho and Caroline. There is something very peaceful I find about this album- great to relax to. His voice is beauty.