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"A Tabua de Esmeralda"--Portuguese for the Emerald Tablet--references a key text in alchemy, whose varied goals included turning base metals into gold and discovering elixirs of immortality and eternal youth. Eternal human concerns, to be sure: trying to make common things valuable, and enjoy them for as long as possible. And Jorge Ben Jor's lyrics (according to Google translate, anyway) reference alchemists and their craft, and theories about earth being populated by ancient alien astronauts, but also touch on the more mundane but equally marvelous areas of magic and mystery--the lure of love and obsession, two forces which musicians never tire of describing in all their strange familiarity.
Just as musicians love singing about love, music critics love making lists--year-end bests, decade-end highlights, and so on and so forth. Unfortunately, the longer the timeframe, the more stagnant the opinion; rather than risk being criticized themselves, they fall back on unimaginative but otherwise unimpeachable choices, rotating lineups of the usual suspects--the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan and the like. Great artists, all, but the world's best music isn't the exclusive province of the 375 million or so human beings whose first language is English. (I can't completely hate on lists; I discovered this album because it was #6 on Rolling Stone of Brazil's list of that country's 100 best albums. And to be fair, it's probably impossible to assimilate the entire world's output of recorded music and come up with a single unbiased list that truly weighs everything fairly regardless of origin.) If such lists were truly fair, though, this album would rank up there with, say,
Revolver
or
Sticky Fingers
.
It's a gorgeous piece of work, full of intricate guitars, stunning strings, and lovely vocals, all assembled in amazing arrangements. (Jorge Ben Jor's been making a living making music for a half century, and earning a worldwide audience in the meantime, and by his own estimation, this is his best work.) One needn't speak Portuguese to fall in love with it, though; the melodies and rhythms are infectious enough that the songs work even if you don't understand them. (On second thought, "work" is too weak a word for what these songs accomplish; if you're like me, they'll cast their spell on heart and mind until the album's an indispensable part of your collection, no matter how large it may be. You'll end up entranced by it, listening to it multiple times some days, and thinking of it fondly when you're not.) It may be impossible to turn lead into gold chemically, or to achieve immortality and youth through the same means, but it is at least possible to discover musical gold, and albums that make you feel young and happy every time you listen to them--albums destined for immortality.
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Top reviews from other countries
ROGERIO LAVANDIER
Very good this vinyl
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 24, 2018Verified Purchase
Julien Crepin
CANDIDAT A L'ILE DESERTE.
Reviewed in France on April 23, 2012Verified Purchase
tommy
よい
Reviewed in Japan on September 4, 2020Verified Purchase
