O TERÇO (1990)

Sérgio Hinds was back with the name O Terço again in 1990. 8 long years after their 1982´s flop Som Mais Puro. Once again he was the only original member and decided to get back to the power trio format. A "back to roots" idea? It could be a good idea, but unfortunately this was not the case. In fact he decided to "modernize" the sound and the resulting album is full of mid to late 80´s cliches. O Terço in 1990 became a kind of glam metal/hard rock band. They even included a rap, called...Rap!

Ok, it is all very well done and competent. Hinds is still a great guitarist and the other two new members are excellent musicians too. But the problem is: why called this band O Terço? it has nothing to do with their orignal sound from the 70´s. Certainly their old fans were frustrated. And potential new ones wouldn´t even look at a band with such credentials to look for "modern sounds". Not that this CD is modern even for 1990´s standards. In fact it was already dated by the time it was released critics trashed the record and I can´t blame them. If they called themselves anything else they would probably find some resonance at the hard rock/heavy rock market. Hinds and co did have the chops and talent to do so. Just listen to the terrific instrumental piece that is Girando a Lâmpada. It would make several guitarist and bassists envy. But it´s not O Terço that we all knew and loved. Their previous one at least had some songs that reminded their trademark style. But you´ll find none of it here.

To top that we were given an ugly cover. I´m still wondering who were the ones who gave this CD 4 and even 5 (!) star ratings.For a hard rock/glam site I certainly would give a higher rating, but 5 stars? You make me laugh!

Final rating: 1.5 stars for the technical competence of all involved. But if you like the 70´s O Terço or anything prog, forget it. They are O Terço here just by name. A big mistake.