Customer Reviews

Ritual

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

 

 

This is an amazing collection of fados. As a fado guitarrist, I was drawn to this CD by its musicians: Carlos Goncalves on the guitarra and Joel Pina on bass, both who were Amalia Rodrigues' players during the latter part of her career. However, I was taken aback not only by the superb and emotional performance by the musicians, but also by Misia's interpretation of these classic fados with new poems. There is more emotion in her performance than with nearly any other fadista today, leaving the listener with a direct feeling of the anguish and pain she is conveying. The impact is even more powerful when you concentrate on the words. Misia and the musicians have breathed new life into classic fado, and in the process have shown that classic fado, when performed with conviction and emotion, is a powerful art form.

The production and engineering staff also deserve special credit, for this recording contains minimal studio polish and all the tracks were cut "live" with no overdubs or punch-ins. Although you occasionally hear tuning problems with the guitarra (or in one instance, the vocal), the result is a true performance with all the impact that fado can have. The minimal polish and the continuity and integrity of the performances greatly enhance the communication of the feelings expressed through these fados.

You don't need to know a word of portuguese to get the impact of this CD. Just listen and let yourself be drawn into Misia's fados. It will be unforgettable.

I am not an expert on fado, but: (1) my CD library includes one by Amália Rodrigues; (2) I can generally distinguish between the fado styles of Coimbra and Lisbon (the latter more "emotional"); and (3) the concept of "saudade" ("yearning" is the closest translation) is not entirely foreign to me. I bought this album after the New York Times ran an article on July 7, 2002, about Mísia and this album (Ritual) entitled "Drawing Tears In Any Language." The article by Johanna Keller begins "her voice can be like smoke, velvet or acid," which was intriguing. (If you don't want to buy the article on the Web site of the Times, you can find Jacki Lyden's July 13, 2002, interview of Mísia at the National Public Radio site.)

After Amazon shipped me the CD, I discovered what the NYT reporter meant. What emotions, what a beautiful voice, what intelligent (but mostly downbeat) text! Here are the titles of the songs in English, with some brief excerpts to show how depressing the words are: 1) "I Don't Long for Life"; 2) "Shawl of Silence" ("pained by the flame of bitterness"); 3) "Two Moons" ("they are both crossed"); 4) "Despair"; 5) "Decision" ("we die for the dead who kill us"); 6) "Moon Colour" ("this lake of Longing has no bottom"); 7) "Ant" ("I ordered the guitar to play to show the gentlemen that I forget all pain"); 8) "The Verse in Which I Sin"; 9) "Tear" ("full of sorrow"); 10) "Lunar Mystery" ("woe to anyone who never dreamed in order not to suffer"); 11) "Even So" ("it still wasn't pain and it was hurt"); 12) "In the Nearness of My Street" ("I folded my voice with the wounds"); and 13) "Living Without Me." The CD includes a MPEG video of "Duas Luas," the visuals of which are more buoyant than the lyrics.

The only aspect that was a little hard to take was the Portuguese guitar ("guitarra"), which at times sounded to me like an out-of-tune plastic-stringed toy ukulele (maybe it's my cultural idiosyncrasy). I liked the regular and bass guitars better as accompaniment, as well as the piano (on track 13 only). In summary, this is no fluffy pablum. It's great, serious adult music to be listened to attentively when you want to be in a longing mood.

BTW, don't confuse this Mísia (note the accent over the first "i") from Portugal with the Japanese singer Misia. In reverse chronological order, this Mísia has recorded the albums "Paixões diagonais" ("Diagonal passions"), "Garras dos sentidos" ("Claws of feelings"), "Tanto menos tanto mais" ("So much less, so much more"), "Fado," and "Mísia." You can buy several of these at Amazon.com!

Be prepared. This is a woman baring her soul. You don't have to understand the Portugese language to hear this in her voice. This isn't self-pitying, as much as opening up and letting the emotion show.

I can tell you that these songs are fados, but I can't explain what fados are. This is a form of music which I believe has to be heard and experienced, not explained. I have heard other Portugese singers including the form in their CDs, but Misia has a special poignancy in her delivery. Her voice is controlled, but vibrant and highly emotive.

This is world music at its most personal and its best.

I discovered Misia's music a few years ago when I bought her album Paixoes Diagonais (based only on a review I read in a magazine). No regrets here! I have since then purchased Garras Dos Sentidos and Misia. She is an extraordinary talent and has an unusual and lovely voice. Unfortunately, her lastest "Ritual" falls way short. Most of the songs are uninspired and each performance sounds the same as the next (there's nothing special in this collection). I agree with the reviewer from "Bawstin" - this recording (for whatever reasons) does not do justice to her voice. I still look forward to her next release and hope it is on par with her past successes. Please skip this one. If you wish to experience Misia buy Paixoes Diagonais and Garras Dos Sentidos - they are so far her best recordings available in the USA.

There are records, of which you can name all tracks in the right order and you can sing the first 10 seconds of each one of them. I think this can be a nice criterion for separating impressive from unimpressive items in a cd collection. In this sense, 'Ritual' turns out to be unimpressive to me.

On the other hand, on some records all of a sudden only a handful of bars can take you to heaven for a split second. On 'Ritual', I have this experience at track 2 (Xaile de Silêncio) when Mísia sings the words 'Que os Fados te embalou, ...'. This sure is a personal thing, but it can fully justify the amount of money I paid for a record.

You can skip 'Ritual' when you are in search for a cd full of innovations and surprises. Having said that, i think that the craftmanship of the album as a concept, the artwork, the arrangements and the singing is just second to nothing. Even the somewhat loosely sung 'Formiga' shows an outstanding amount of dedication and perfectionism.

Mísia never fails to deliver top-quality records, and this one is no exception. For those people who want fado to the max, 'Ritual' will not disappoint.

I must agree, that this disc falls short of highlighting this amazing talented voice's true vocal range and capabilities.

But don't worry. For the Fado fan and the Misia fan, try the CANTO disc to get a true feeling, and I do mean FEELING, of this emotional powerful talent.

Misia guides us through an amazing trip of her voice.Places where
only a smooth and caress voice can be.