A SAGA DE CLARA CROCODILO

Shame on all of you prog fans for not having heard this one!! This is a live album, containing songs from the totally Avant-guarde 1980 "Clara Crocodilo". I'll tell you: Zappa would think again if he heard this album, or any other Arrigo's. The level of expressivity and musical virtuosism (composition and execution) is something I had never heard before!!! As I Said, this is a live album arranged for string quartet, winds and rock band. Arrigo plays Piano on this one too. the composition are totally atonal, dealing with serialism and twelve tone technique. As a musician, I think it's out of any question trying to play it, unless you can read sheets as a maestro. Anyway, another very strong point of this album is the lyrics. Arrigo loved comix and based most of the themes of his songs (the form of the text really) on them. Arrigo's lyrics describe dark, smoky and dirty places, men with prostitutes, aberrations, sexual deprivation and so on. Its a very urban, apocalyptical scenario, but humoristic too. Arrigo lived in São Paulo, the biggest city in South America and one of the biggest in the world (4th or 5th maybe). Try to find the lyrics in english if you can, you will know what i'm saying. The album finishes with the Clara Crocodilo suite, the story of an ofiice-boy that turns into this strange monster. The arrangement of this part is an astonishing composition, with frightening, tense moments and explosions... An expressionist, I might say. This is an album for advanced prog (and music in general) listeners. I couldn't say more about it. Listen to it and tell me I'm wrong!! More than 5 stars!!!!!!

See Ya!