PARA SEMPRE

Another rather poor compilation from this great band. Once in a while they put out these kind of stuff. This time is Para Sempre (forever) series of 2001. Although most of their classics are here, there is also a lot that was left out (including such major songs such as their quintessential instrumental epic 1974). At least they limited the selection to their 70´s releases, but their first two CDs and early singles (some of them they recently incorporated to their repertoire) were completely forgotten. Since this CD time is only around the 56 minute mark, there were enough to put songs like Queimada and Jogo Das Pedras, not to mention others. Worst still, they did include no less than 4 tracks from their weak 1978 release, Mudança de Tempo. A cut like Blues Do Adeus, with its long 7 minute boring running time is something that should never been chosen if they really wanted a representative record..

The booklet is very weak, with only reference to the tracklist and writing credits, nothing more. On the other hand the overall sound quality is very good (they must have remastered all the tunes). If only they had the same criteria to select the material they had on their hands, it would be a different story...

I can´t recommend this compilation to anyone. Although the music itself is very good, the selection is one of those cases that seemed to be done by someone who didn´t understand the band´s music and/or importance. There are better ones around.

Rating: 2 stars.