MISTÉRIOS E MARAVILHAS

Portugal was never a country flooding with prog rock. Likely because the country was under two right wing dictatorships, that is Antonio Oliveira Salazar and Marcello Caetano. But one of that country's big pop stars, JOSÉ CID made good with prog rock in the mid to late '70s with the last efforts of his old band QUARTETO 1111, and his two solo efforts (the EP Vida and the LP "10.000 Anos Depois Entre Vénus e Marte", from 1977 and 1978 respectively). TANTRA was also wanting to explore the world of prog rock, and they gave us "Mistérios e Maravilhas" in 1977 on the EMI label.

The album gets more hype than it really deserves. A lot of the album is that tiresome fusion-influenced noodling that bothers me, often just to show off the talents of drummer Tózé Almeida. But there are two killer cuts with mentioning, "Á Beira do Fim" and "Sempre Partir". The former features some great keyboard work and goes through several changers. The later features some great drumming, phased keyboards, and a totally mindblowing middle passage. The vocals only appear on those two cuts, and the rest in instrumental. If you like fusion-influenced prog, get this album, if you don't at least you'll like the two songs mentioned. Not essential, but still worth having.