ONDE, QUANDO, COMO, PORQUÊ, CANTAMOS PESSOAS VIVAS

To celebrate the 42th anniversary of the event that lead to the creation of Quarteto 1111's final album, the end of the political oppression in Portugal that lasted more than 40 years, I decided to review it.

It has become a tradition for me to listen to this album on this day, since it's the most genuine expression of freedom and what it truly means, unlike the long speeches sketchy politicians give on this day!

Instrumentally, it's a mixture of Symphonic and Folk in a very Italian Prog way, with plenty of Mellotron, Moog, pastoral acoustic guitars and José Cid's voice at its most powerful state. Another curious thing about it is how the drums are in foreground, which sounds surprisingly good with the epicness of the music, I couldn't imagine it any other way. This was due to the fact that Vítor Mamede, the drummer, was responsible for mixing it.

Lirically, it's as beautiful as the music: it was based on a poem by José Jorge Letria which José Cid continued. It speaks about important values, not only freedom but also education, equality, tolerance and respect for others (and maybe nature, since it's so frequently mentioned). It also gives the idea that the struggle didn't end with the revolution of 1974, that the country should be built anew with these ideals in mind and people should be simple and honest (as the compositions and cover suggest) in order to live in harmony as a community. It's too bad the message of this album was ignored.

Maybe the importance of this day faded in the memory of people but the feeling was immortalized on this record. It is one of my all time favourites and I can't rate it with less than five stars.