VIDA (SONS DO QUOTIDIANO)

"Vida (Sons Do Quotidiano)" is the only solo progressive EP of José Cid and was released in 1977. The line up is José Cid, José Moz Carrapa, Zé Nabo and Guilherme Scarpa Inês.

"Vida (Sons Do Quotidiano)" became to be Cid's first journey into progressive rock world as a solo artist. Quarteto 1111, the original band of Cid, broke up and then he decided go solo and continued on, in the progressive rock direction. However, before he released his so acclaimed sci-fi album "10.000 Anos Depois Entre Vénus E Marte", first he released an EP in 1977 called "Vida (Sons do Quotidiano)", which is also loaded with lots of Mellotron, Mini Moog, and string synthesizers. So, we can say that somehow "Vida (Sons Do Quotidiano)" was a prelude, a kind of a test, precisely in the year before, for what would appear in the following year, his only solo progressive rock album.

At the risk of being wrong, since it's a personal interpretation, I really think that "Vida (Sons Do Quotidiano)" has a very personal and political attitude of the composer. This became to be a special EP for Cid and, I would even dare to say, very important for the new attitude that the country needed to take after 25 April 1974, the day of our revolution, the day that brought to us the hope we needed so desperately. "Vida (Sons Do Quotidiano)" is widely considered as a prequel to the masterpiece, "10.000 Anos Depois Entre Vénus E Marte" and one of the greatest music hits of Cid's career.

However, "Vida (Sons Do Quotidiano)" has nothing to do with the concept of "10.000 Anos Depois Entre Vénus E Marte". This time we don't have a sci-fi story but an earthly story, a story of everyday life so common to many of us. "Vida (Sons Do Quotidiano)" is a conceptual EP with more than 12 minutes, following the path of life from birth to death. The lyrics are once more in Portuguese, a trademark of almost all the Portuguese progressive rock bands in the 70's. It starts with the doctor who performs the birth of a child and ends with the automobile accident that interrupts the life of the adult, with clarity and common lyrical mastery in all progressive discography of Cid. However, the most magical and even more political moment on the EP is reserved for the little phrase of the girl with the reference to "love, freedom and peace among men", a very usual motto used in Portugal after the April revolution, adding to this EP, the same political subject of the album of Quarteto 1111, "Onde, Quando, Porquê, Cantamos Pessoas Vivas".

This release follows the same musical direction of his predecessor album with Quarteto 1111, "Onde, Quando, Como, Porquê, Cantamos Pessoas Vivas". The presence of the synthesizers and the mellotron extend the musical connection with all these instruments holders of a sound very often used by the large and best progressive rock bands of the 70's, such as King Crimson, Genesis, Yes, Pulsar, Le Orme and Van Der Graaf Generator, only to mention a few of them. As a conceptual album the music flows naturally and progressively all over the theme, despite the usual cut between the two sides of the record. The symphonic progressive component of the album is more pronounced in the final phase of the track after the car accident. However the entire track has a more symphonic sound than the early psychedelic aspects of the beginning musical career of Cid with Quarteto 1111. It follows the more symphonic path of the previous album of Quarteto 1111, "Onde, Quando, Como, Porquê, Cantamos Pessoas Vivas" and opens the door to his next album "10.000 Anos Depois Entre Vénus E Marte", an album strongly influenced by the symphonic progressive rock bands of the 70's.

Conclusion: Despite being perhaps a farfetched interpretation and even exaggerated of the EP, what is really important in my perspective, is that all progressive discography of Cid circulates around the values of life, liberty and feelings. We have racism and immigration one the first album of Quarteto 1111, we have freedom and peace on their second album, we have self-destruction of the human race on his solo album and we have the life of an ordinary person on this EP. So, it wouldn't be so surprising that Cid had intended to portray life in one of the most turbulent periods in Portugal, and add a more political component to a song that tries to cover the life of a human being in just over 12 minutes. By the other hand, the increase of the quality of his music, in terms of progressive rock music, is perfectly seen on this EP which would be even more evident on his following album "10.000 Anos Depois Entre Vénus E Marte". This work with only 12 minutes long of Cid is really an amazing piece of music. It's short, and we progressive rock fans for sure wanted that he could make much more. And as that didn't happen, what we really can do is enjoying this great short working that gets us out of our daily sounds in an incredible way. However, what can impress me most are the regularity and the increasing of the quality of his working in Quarteto 1111 and as a solo artist. That always impressed me very much. I always thought that Cid was born in the wrong time and place. If the circumstances were somehow different, maybe he could be one of the greatest names of the progressive rock music in the 70's. Maybe.

Prog is my Ferrari. Jem Godfrey (Frost*)

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