ONDE, QUANDO, COMO, PORQUÊ, CANTAMOS PESSOAS VIVAS

I see this album as, to the mellotron, the same as Thick as a Brick to the flute in rock. A single song with developments, recapitulations, changes, everything that a prog epic deserves, and, most of all, a magnificent mellotron from beginning to end. Both the standard strings sound as the less known flute sound of the mellotron are superbly used, so if you, like me, think the mellotron is not an imitation of strings, flute or whatever, but an original instrument with beautiful timbres, you should definitely listen to this album.

The lyrics in Portuguese are quite good, they seem to be based on a poem about the revolution that put end to a long dictatorship in Portugal. Verses like "Because the smile has returned to the face/Of those who were vigilant" and "The forbidden word/The forgotten word/Liberty" (my translation) can be very touching.

The arrangements and the sound, generally, seem to me very much improvised, not contrived at all, with minimalism. (yes, mellotron and minimalism can coexist!)

PS: It's a shame that Brazil and Portugal are so distant culturally. This is the only Portuguese album I've heard, I can't think of a Portuguese movie or TV show I've ever watched, and besides José Saramago, all portuguese writers I can think of have died more than 70 years ago. If there are other bands and writers on the same level of Quarteto 1111 and Saramago, it's a pity that we never hear about them in Brazil

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