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O TERÇO (1970)

O Terço

Symphonic Prog


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O Terço O Terço (1970) album cover
2.87 | 29 ratings | 2 reviews | 7% 5 stars

Good, but non-essential

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Studio Album, released in 1970

Songs / Tracks Listing

1. Na
2. Plaxe voador
3. Yes, I do
4. Longe sem direcoo
5. Flauta
6. I need you
7. Antes de voce... eu
8. Imagem
9. Meia-noite
10. Saturday dream
11. Velhas histórias
12. Oh! Suzana

Line-up / Musicians

- Sergio Hinds / bass, vocals
- Vinicius Cantuaria / drums, percussion
- Jorge Amiden / guitars



Releases information

Soma

Thanks to ProgLucky for the addition
and to Tarcisio Moura for the last updates
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O TERÇO O Terço (1970) ratings distribution


2.87
(29 ratings)
Essential: a masterpiece of progressive rock music(7%)
7%
Excellent addition to any prog rock music collection(10%)
10%
Good, but non-essential (38%)
38%
Collectors/fans only (34%)
34%
Poor. Only for completionists (10%)
10%

O TERÇO O Terço (1970) reviews


Showing all collaborators reviews and last reviews preview | Show all reviews/ratings

Collaborators/Experts Reviews

Review by Atkingani
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR Honorary Collaborator / Retired Admin
4 stars It had to be! O TERÇO had to exist as an affirmation of the progressive rock made in Brazil....

Well, a bit of history: Brazilian popular music (known by the acronym MPB) was shaken in the end of the 50s when some skilful guys "created" a new sound, blending traditional sambas with jazz, the bossa-nova, and just in the same time, rock 'n' roll anchored here. What seemed so distant should prove to be able to amalgamate in the future. Then, in the beginning of the 60s an increasing power of the regional music (Brazilian country) was observed and later when bossa-nova furor was fading, other urban styles: samba, choro, modinha, valsa, etc, were revitalized thanks to a new generation of composers, singers and musicians. Also the old dancing and juvenile rock 'n' roll was to be overwhelmed by a new rocking mood, the "classic" rock and we all learned that this novelty wasn't more an exclusivity of USA, instead Britain, Italy & France took the vanguard. By 1966, the first echoes of psychedelics were heard here....

The year of 1967 started with many artists trying new sounds and tunes and then emerged a stunning movement, Tropicalismo, that pushed the frontiers of MPB far from its original lines: a mix of everything done before, including external adoptions and influences, all heavily spiced with a plenty of healthy madness and intriguing questions, sometimes delightful, sometimes unreasonable but therefore a solid cultural impact. The following year we saw the first hints of another great movement, Clube da Esquina, this shift more introspective but promoting the rescue of dormant Brazilian roots. All these trends were drained accordingly with the sounds coming from outside our borders: rock - and along 1968 / 1969, the chords of we now know as prog-rock.

Then many bands and artists were doing a sound that we can call unmistakably "prog", like Mutantes, Som Imaginário and others lost in the dust of time. But we lacked the rise of the real progressive-rock band - in this fertile context, O TERÇO appeared. The three original members came from different garage bands from a medium-size fair city a little apart from the important Rio & São Paulo cultural axis but not so far in order not to be influenced but also not so close that other influences couldn't be apprehended - they form O TERÇO 'historical' line-up, recognized so by their fans. Working as a trio or with some invited fellows they recorded a bunch of songs in 1968 (?) and 1969, which were to form their first output: "O Terço", released 1970. The official LP was followed in years to come by independent re-releases and bootlegs, keeping the original track list but adding some live performances or also new songs.

The original track list (the one listed here) is fair and interesting, containing pleasant short songs, where band seem obsessed with vocal arrangement, a really band registered mark. 'Nã', the opening track shows a certain Mutantes influence and consequently bears a undeniable psychedelic aroma; 'Plaxe voador' is simple and agreeable; 'Yes, I do', sung in English, adds few but the good band musicianship can be heard; 'Longe sem direção', although only average, is a real proto-prog song and stamped with O TERÇO brand, more noticeable in the following years; 'Flauta' is a nice song with bucolic passages, a grave flute accompaniment and fair vocals; 'I need you', is a psychedelic rock, not really great - but the agogo solo part is funny; 'Antes de você. eu" has ironic lyrics (in Portuguese) and a touch of songs from the 20s which reminds us some McCartney's granny songs; 'Imagem', a pure prog song, is probably album greatest - now vocals and instrumentation reach their highest point, however the main theme could be better explored by O TERÇO; 'Meia-noite' has a samba beat, giving the song a kind of funk-like tune - pleasant; 'Saturday dream' is soft and pastoral and influences coming from international artists can be easily noticed; 'Velhas histórias' has a folk atmosphere and a rare vocal solo (in fact, Vinícius Cantuária got a hit with this song, years later, when he adventured in a solo career); 'Oh, Suzana', the well-known song, got a funny parody with lyrics in Portuguese.

Unfortunately, the original album version does not include 3 other songs (bonus tracks?) normally added in bootleg versions: 'Visitante', a great prog-song; 'Tributo ao sorriso', an uprising track, a real anthem, the song that made O TERÇO known and allowed them to have their first album released; 'Adormeceu', a precious jewel, magnificent (although really a 1971 song, much more fitted for the band second output). The two last songs formed a single, fairly succeeded, released also in 1971. This LP deserves urgently a CD release with all bonus tracks included.

One last word: today, O TERÇO is almost unknown for the majority of the Brazilians but when people hear their songs they recognize them. It means that O TERÇO is clearly part of the Nation's Collective Unconscious. In the end, they WON!

This is in fact a good album, deserving a solid 3 stars rating, but this is also a milestone when researching the history of progressive music in Brazil, hence an essential piece for all prog collections. Final rating: 4.

Review by Tarcisio Moura
PROG REVIEWER
2 stars This was a hard album to find. O Terço´s debut release is a rather quite obscure work. For many years most people thought their second (called Terço, without the "O") was really their first. However I recently could get a copy of it. And I was surprised to know that the brilliant guitarist Sérgio Hinds (and only remaining original member throughout their whole career) started out as a bass player. Jorge Amiden was on the guitar and was the founder of the band and main songwriter in the beginning. Vinícius Cantuária completed the trio on drums (he would have a succesful, but brief, solo career in the early 80´s)

A rather good and promising start. Although there was still a long way to go. Their sound at the time was a mix of various influences that still needed to gel: psychedelic rock, MPB and folk-rock. The closest comparison is without doubt Os Mutantes. That group from São Paulo was quite an influence for those emerging bands of the period. some orchestrations and arrangements are quite close from the Mutantes style. Not really a copycat, but hardly original. Even the mixture of portuguese and english lyrics, sometimes both on the same tune, is present here, something Os Mutantes were famous for. There must be guest musicians playing here beside the trio, plus several orchestrations, but the cover gives no clue of who they were.

What seemed to set them apart from the very beginning was their am in delivering good vocal harmonies, something most brazilian bands at the time lacked badly. Contrary to most rock bands that played only rock music, O Terço was always backing other brazilian non rock acts and among them were Sá & Guarabyra, a legendary folk-rock duo which was crucial for their future development of their sound and, most important, their vocal style.

Overall I found this work to be more interesting than really good. The sound is leaning more on the tentative side of things. The band had yet to find their own sound, even if a few hints of what they would do in the future can be found here and there, like the acoustic Longe Sem direção, Flauta and specially Velhas Estórias (penned by the aforementioned Guarabyra).

Rating: 2.5 stars. Good psychedelic brazilian rock with very good vocals, but little prog on it.That part was meant for the future releases.

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