ONDE, QUANDO, COMO, PORQUÊ, CANTAMOS PESSOAS VIVAS

In 1997 I bought the Art Sublime CD reissue of José Cid's 10.000 Anos Depois Entre Vénus e Marte and it came with LP-sized packaging including the full-color fold-out booklet that has the lyrics to all the songs (and unlike the original LP, it also included English translations). It also had a small description of who José was and I didn't realize he was such a big pop icon in his native Portugal, although most of what he's recorded is of little interest to progheads (example: "Um Grande Grande Amor", a 1980 single for the Eurovision Song Contest and it's pretty dreadful). It had some incorrect information, like 10.000 Anos being his first solo album (it wasn't, it was a self-entitled album released in 1971). It did mention him being in Quarteto 1111 and how a lot of their music was banned under the Salazar and Caetano dictatorships. It also mentioned Cantamos Pessoas Vivas, being Cid's first exploration into prog rock and the Mellotron. I own the original LP on Decca and it's so great to have in my collection. It was too bad Art Sublime never got that one a reissue, but then the original LP didn't have much in the way of a cover or packaging, it looked like something the record company slapped on and then released it. No mention who was in the band, although Cid's name is mentioned. Apparently Scottish-born Mike Sergeant was one of the members and he appeared on 10.000 Anos. This sounds quite different from 10.000 Anos, for one thing it sounds like only one synth is being used, a MiniMoog, and plenty of Mellotron. While Cid seemed to use only the tron choir setting on 10.000 Anos, here he uses strings cello, and flute. The music has a lot of that Romantic feel to it, not too terribly different from the Italian scene around 1973. It sounds like a concept album, and it appears to be political (this was when the dictatorship collapsed, a year before Spain's ended, but in their case, it was with the death of Franco). The album seems to be just two side-length pieces, sort of like Jethro Tull's Thick as a Brick (but obviously sounding nothing like it at all, of course) and how it goes through different changes. It's also a fairly accessible album; it's not like Gentle Giant. This album only demonstrates how José Cid had a love for progressive rock, and while he continued to release some pop singles, he did release a full-on prog EP with Vida (Sons do Quotidiano) and of course 10.000 Anos before staying in the pop realm (I'm sure he's done a few detours since). Portugal has never been a big hotbed of prog rock, and even people from there into prog agree on that (even to this day, you won't find too much new prog from that country, including Bandcamp). Cantamos Pessoas Vivas is the beginning of Cid as a prog artist, and while lacking the spacy feel of 10.000 Anos and having a more Romantic feel to it, it's still a great album worth getting.

Social review comments

Review related links

• Send comments to Progfan97402
• Report this review (#3193376)
• Buy QUARTETO 1111 music online with PA partners
• Show all QUARTETO 1111 MP3/Stream
• Go to QUARTETO 1111 page for videos, full discography with ratings, reviews and much more
• Go to Onde, Quando, Como, Porquê, Cantamos Pessoas Vivas page for more details, where to buy and ratings/reviews
• Search the Forum for QUARTETO 1111 related discussions