SECOS & MOLHADOS

It�´s hard to picture nowadays the impact this album had in Brazil�´s music scene at the time. The mix of rock music to brazilian rhythms and styles were not exactly a novelty: Tropicalia is a good example of giving a modern and psychedelic treatment to MPB (the letters standing for brazilian popular music, in portuguese), but it didn�´t reach a big audience at the time. Secos & Molhados debut album, on the other hand had an immediate and profound impact. The mix of national folk music and rhythms with rock, blues and prog was so perfect, seamless and subtle no one dared call it a sell out to "american music", like all the other attempts up till then were. And their visual was extremely bold for the time, even dangerous: three androgynous men with heavy make up and outrageous clothes, making provocative poses at the height cold war and military government. It certainly appeal to the "glam"youth, but to a lot of people they just looked like a bunch of weirdos (or worse). Yet, their music captivated just about everybody: from hippies to squares, from adults to children. It was the bestselling album of the decade and one the biggest musical and cultural phenomenons in the brazilian music history.

Looking back, some details can be seen more clear: they had the songs (Jo�£o Ricardo was a gifted songwriter), an excellent and fluid backing band and, more than anything else, an extraordinary singer in Ney Matogrosso. His unique vocal style made many people think it was a woman singing. Small wonder he is regarded as one of MPB�´s living legends with an ongoing solo career after all these years. The lyrics were a novelty too: they actually chose to put music into already written poetry, some of it penned by Jo�£o Ricardo�´s father, portuguese poet Jo�£o Apolin�¡rio. The result was some of the most intelligent and poignant words to be put into music at the time, like Rosa de Hiroshima (Hiroshima�´s Rose), a well known poem about the effects of the atomic bomb on Japanese people written by famous poet Vinicius de Moraes.

As almost anything that arrived too much too soon, it would not last long: the band dissolving about an year latter, among bitter fights regarding money, jealousy and bloated egos. But their legacy was a lasting one. And their music still stands as one of the best to ever grace popular radio and the charts. For once quality music, with sophisticated lyrics, was a big hit, both with intellectuals and the common men. A rare feat indeed. But it did happen. And I still love this CD to this day.

Rating: for all the sheer quality, groundbreaking novelty and historical importance, anything less than five stars would be criminal. Liking it or not. A real classic of the 70�´s.