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QUARTETO 1111

Eclectic Prog • Portugal


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Quarteto 1111 biography
Founded in 1967 in Estoril, Portugal - Disbanded in 1977 - Brief reunions in 1984, 1987 and 2007

The original formation, made up by Miguel Artur da Silveira (drums), José CID (vocals and keyboards) and brothers António Moniz Pereira (guitar) and Jorge Moniz Pereira (bass guitar), began work as a garage-band. In 1967 they get radio airplay with the theme "A Lenda d'El Rei D. Sebastião". Shortly after they launched their first EP.

The time spent between their first EP and their first LP was spent producing other EP's and singles, as well as taking part in a national Song Contest.

1970 sees the launch of the band's homonymous debut album, a psychedelic-pop conceptual piece dealing with racism and emigration. The dictatorship's censoring machine has the album withdrawn the very same week of its launch. After this event, the band lauched further singles, this time sung in English as to better evade censorship. After a great commercial success with the singles "Back to the Country" and "Ode to The Beatles", they are asked to appear on the first edition of the now famous Vilar de Mouros music festival, along with popular names from the Portuguese traditional music scene, such as Amália Rodrigues, but from the international scene as well, such as Elton John and MANFRED MANN It was in this encounter with Manfred Mann that Cid first got to know the Moog.

After a few changes in line-up, the band, still under the eye of the censorship, records it's second LP with a popular Portuguese singer, Frei Hermano da Câmara. Cid decides to leave the group after the album, but reunites with the band after the revolution that reinstated democracy in Portugal and marked the end of the censors. With the new line-up of José Cid (vocals and keyboards), Guilherme Inês (drums), António Moniz Pereira (guitar), Mike Sergeant (guitar) and Tó Zé Brito (bass guitar), they record QUARTETO 1111's magnus opus, the two-piece symphonic album "Onde Quando Como Porquê Cantamos Pessoas Vivas". This was to become the last LP by the band, as Cid abandoned the group to pursue a very successful solo career that began with an adventurous but ill-received incursion further into Progressive Rock.

In mid eighties the original band got together for a few performances and managed to put out one final single in 1987, "Memo".
QUARTETO 1111 have a short but varied career. The began by playing a kind...
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QUARTETO 1111 discography


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QUARTETO 1111 top albums (CD, LP, MC, SACD, DVD-A, Digital Media Download)

3.22 | 22 ratings
Quarteto 1111
1970
2.25 | 8 ratings
Quarteto 1111 & Frei Hermano da Câmara: Bruma Azul Do Desejado
1973
4.34 | 96 ratings
Onde, Quando, Como, Porquê, Cantamos Pessoas Vivas
1974

QUARTETO 1111 Live Albums (CD, LP, MC, SACD, DVD-A, Digital Media Download)

QUARTETO 1111 Videos (DVD, Blu-ray, VHS etc)

QUARTETO 1111 Boxset & Compilations (CD, LP, MC, SACD, DVD-A, Digital Media Download)

3.10 | 2 ratings
A Lenda de El-Rei D. Sebastião
1996
3.05 | 3 ratings
Singles and EPs
2006
3.22 | 8 ratings
A Lenda do Quarteto 1111
2008

QUARTETO 1111 Official Singles, EPs, Fan Club & Promo (CD, EP/LP, MC, Digital Media Download)

4.33 | 3 ratings
A Lenda De El-Rei D. Sebastião
1967
2.09 | 4 ratings
Balada para D. Inês
1968
4.00 | 1 ratings
Dona Vitória
1968
4.00 | 1 ratings
Meu Irmão/Ababilah
1968
1.50 | 2 ratings
Génese/Os Monstros Sagrados
1969
0.00 | 0 ratings
Nas Terras Do Fim Do Mundo/Bissaide
1969
0.00 | 0 ratings
Back To The Country/Everybody Needs Love, Peace And Food
1970
4.00 | 1 ratings
Todo O Mundo E Ninguém/É Tempo De Pensar Em Termos De Futuro
1970
3.50 | 2 ratings
Domingo Em Bidonville
1970
3.00 | 5 ratings
Ode To The Beatles
1971
0.00 | 0 ratings
Memo
1987

QUARTETO 1111 Reviews


Showing last 10 reviews only
 Onde, Quando, Como, Porquê, Cantamos Pessoas Vivas by QUARTETO 1111 album cover Studio Album, 1974
4.34 | 96 ratings

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Onde, Quando, Como, Porquê, Cantamos Pessoas Vivas
Quarteto 1111 Eclectic Prog

Review by connoisseur Prog

4 stars

This is my first time writing here so I decided to choose this album because it's very striking.

I was researching Portuguese prog and I came across Jose Cid and in that research I came across 10. 000 years after mars and the experience of listening to this album was extremely transient and transcendent. Then I came across quarteto 1111 and when I got to this album my jaw dropped because this album has many things that strongly show the influence that prog had at that time, there are only two songs but it's a real trip inside moog, the vocals here by jose cid are clear and sentimental,the band in its instrumental moments is very sharp there is an incredible contrast of moog + guitar and a gigantic bed of keyboards making everything an interesting listen and giving us a message that life is worth living and that every moment is precious.

Well, I hope to write a lot more here. PEACE AND LOVE TO ALL

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)

 Onde, Quando, Como, Porquê, Cantamos Pessoas Vivas by QUARTETO 1111 album cover Studio Album, 1974
4.34 | 96 ratings

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Onde, Quando, Como, Porquê, Cantamos Pessoas Vivas
Quarteto 1111 Eclectic Prog

Review by Warthur
Prog Reviewer

4 stars Quarteto 1111's sound evolved a lot over their existence, with their roots being in psychedelic pop, but this swansong is unambiguously a stab at symphonic prog combining extensive use of electronics and synths by José Cid (who'd go on to have his own solo career evolving on this style) and a mellow, pastoral style. It would sit particularly well amidst the Italian prog scene, which by this point had effectively developed a southern European twist on the genre.

The band may well have been deliberately pushing for a modern, outward-looking sound taking into account movements beyond Portugal at this time, since at the time they went into the studio the hardline regime that had run Portugal for years was in the process of unravelling, and the Portuguese transition to democracy was beginning; the air of wistful optimism running through the piece certainly suggests a band excited by the possibilities of a more open future.

The album consists of one epic piece running across its two vinyl sides, weighing in at a shade less than half an hour, and whilst José Cid is perhaps overall the star player, the whole ensemble offers something. António Moniz Pereira in particular having some dynamite moments on guitar when he lets rip (such as in the last five minutes or so of the first side and towards the start of the second side). On the whole, a nice little much-overlooked gem.

 Onde, Quando, Como, Porquê, Cantamos Pessoas Vivas by QUARTETO 1111 album cover Studio Album, 1974
4.34 | 96 ratings

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Onde, Quando, Como, Porquê, Cantamos Pessoas Vivas
Quarteto 1111 Eclectic Prog

Review by Argentinfonico

3 stars 𝗜𝗡𝗧𝗘𝗡𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡 𝗟𝗘𝗙𝗧 𝗢𝗩𝗘𝗥

Onde, Quando, Como, Porque, Cantamos Pessoas Vivas is Quarteto 1111's third and latest studio album, the piece where they have found and concretized the sound they were looking for.

The song begins with a growing and interesting riff whose style is a curious and intriguing miscellany between hard and dark rock. The instruments are added little by little and experienced melodies are landing on it in order to have their own atmosphere by the time the vocals come in. The vocalist presents a warm but passionate voice, with those high notes that are sung with fervor and chest voice (similar to those of the SBB vocalist). Somewhat flashy percussion, which in parts wants to take off. The organ arrangements give it an impression somewhere between melancholic and epic.

The song looks for the popular sound by means of rhythm breaks. This does not mean that they use them for it, but this first part is shaped and structured through divisions that contribute to the catch that the band is looking for. A lot of Premiata Forneria Marconi influence, specifically highlighted in the keyboards and acoustic guitar. The lyrics detach from the melody several times, getting out of the habit of balancing the sense between what is said and what is played. There are many instrumental fragments that are repeated a lot and feel like filler, lowering the quality a bit and slightly deteriorating the "epic song" stamp that the band seeks to achieve. It is also true that the energy is successfully charged as the song goes on. The instruments never manage to get along properly with the vocals in my opinion, and this is noticeable when there are no vocals and the successive musical beats invade the listener's ear infecting it with euphoria and immersing it in an ocean of [guitar] solos, an effect that does not succeed with the separate voice as the protagonist.

Side 2 continues synchronized with side 1 as it is the same song, and after a few seconds its aura evolves through airy sounds and the song moves on to inhabit a new space of temper where there has just been a great clash of energies. It reminded me of the "peace after the war" musical concept found on albums like "Halloween" or "Relayer", although in a quite different context. A much more European sound, and here the vocals do make a beautiful connection! Something that fills a bit that lack of musical coherence of the first part.

The sound is at times symphonic and at times melodic (sometimes more melodic than progressive!). It decreases a little the hierarchy of the album the stretching of some parts in order to reach a time close to half an hour. This song works quite well as a song, but not so much as a whole album. They had a good idea and forced it to a time that does not correspond to it, and this is, in my humble opinion as an enthusiast without wanting to correct some people's own art, a serious mistake. Still, the Portuguese have managed to create a melodic and optimistic epic quite decent and worthy to listen to again one or more times.

 Quarteto 1111 by QUARTETO 1111 album cover Studio Album, 1970
3.22 | 22 ratings

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Quarteto 1111
Quarteto 1111 Eclectic Prog

Review by koresea

3 stars Quarteto 1111 is the first album of the band of the same name, it's a important album to the Portuguese progressive rock scene, being one first representative of the genre of the country. Is a culturally relevant album too once was released during the Portuguese dictatorship, causing the album to be censored.

The reason of the censorship is that of the strong critic aspect of the lyrics, covering a certain range of themes, mainly the structural racism of the society and reflections on emigration.

The music is basically symphonic progressive with elements of psychedelic rock, one of the major influences of the group is the beatles (who they gonna create a song in homage later in theirs careers), this influence are felt especially in the song "Uma estrada para minha aldeia", that really looks like something out of Sgt Peppers.

Other potent influence of the group is the Portuguese folk, mainly the "fado", some type of Portuguese compositions based on slow, harmonic and emotional vocals accompanied by acoustic guitars, something kinda bardic.

The number of influences of the group is large, but this album is nothing really impressive in innovation, it's necessary to considerate the local scene on making this claim but comparing this record to the rest of the world at that moment there is nothing much innovative or experimental here. Is easy to create counterparts of the songs and other creations around the world, this lack of innovation in a record whose intention in clearly progressive bothers me a little but doesn't ruin the experience.

Overall, the music here is good, but not exceptional, if you like early progressive bands and want to get more deep into countries whose language are not English I recommend listening to this album once was essential to the creation of a Portuguese progressive rock scene. I pondered give to this album 2 stars but I cannot deny his cultural relevance, making his historical importance a factor to a prog rock fan listen to him. 3 stars

 Onde, Quando, Como, Porquê, Cantamos Pessoas Vivas by QUARTETO 1111 album cover Studio Album, 1974
4.34 | 96 ratings

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Onde, Quando, Como, Porquê, Cantamos Pessoas Vivas
Quarteto 1111 Eclectic Prog

Review by Floof-AN

5 stars Where could I begin? When will I be able to make this song justice? How could I even express what I feel properly? Why do I obsess so much over it?

Quarteto 1111, one of, if not my favorite Portuguese band. While I don't find that their previous albums can be exactly considered progressive, they are still high quality records that I enjoy at any time of the day. But this? this is even more special. Perhaps because of how beautiful the composition is? Maybe because of the themes explored in the song? Or is it because of how personal the Carnation Revolution feels to me? Having listened to this song, front to back, almost 50 times already. And having meditated about the reason why it cut so deeply into my soul, I found my answer.

The most obvious part to start, is the composition. I fear saying idiocies while pretending I am a master of music theory, therefore I will describe it in my own words. I have observed that a common point this song is praised for, is the use of the mellotron. I, personally, couldn't agree more, but I would like to go even further than that. The use of this vintage sampler is simply astonishing, that being an understatement. It is an incredible feat to have unleashed the power of an orchestra in the most intense parts of the track, followed by close and personal, even discreet flute and ethereal violins. While this would already be enough to make me consider this song as one of the best usages of the mellotron ever, there's more. The interplay is intrinsically important, and here, it is perfected. Synths, pianos, guitars, drums, bass, all of the instruments in this song feel like they were built around that mellotron. If all of these instruments were considered the bed you rest on, the mellotron would be your blanket; softly wrapped around yourself and bringing you the warmth and comfort you'd be lacking. Its use is pushed to a level of perfection, that on the first listens, I couldn't even understand what I was listening to. As time passed, I started to grasp the genius of this track, as a whole. The guitar solo bringing the two parts of the track together is one of the most awe-inspiring, as well as literally inspiring, pieces of progressive rock that ever graced my ears. In fact, it made me want to pick up my own guitar, to start playing again. Simply with that, the song would already be in my all-time favorite list, but there is still a lot to be discussed about it.

This song made me feel blessed for having a fairly decent grasp of the Portuguese language. The lyrics, while simple on the surface, are extremely powerful, as well as touching. A text does not have to be complicated to be poetry. Even by using the simplest of terms, if one expresses themselves in a way that matters to them, and conveys their feelings and emotions, it is, to me, a great piece of art. This song is the epitome of, as the song itself describes, the simple things that give me pleasure. Not only pleasure, but varied emotions as a whole. In a sense allying sorrow with hope, a deep sadness as positive as happiness.

For most of their lives, family members of mine lived under the dictatorial regime that reigned over Portugal. I heard stories about repression, stories about destruction, stories about the fights for liberty, and the prize that a lot of individuals payed to see their nation and people experience freedom. To me, this song is like one of those stories, or at least the ending to the novel of memories amassed by those who were oppressed for so long. Like the Carnation Revolution, this song is a bloodless triumph, a soft and bittersweet comforting thought, thanks to which the people can finally rest. José Cid's singing reflects what I take away from this song, from a gentle voice transporting you in a better world, to the passionate cries that never could exist for decades. From the dark moments that are strewn upon my life, to those of unrestrained euphoria, I feel a need for this song. While its main focus is on that ultimate liberty from tyranny, I feel that this song can be beyond even that, and reach the depths of my soul. Beyond its original meaning, this song feels, to me, like a deep expression of humanity, and it never ceases to make me look towards my own future with hope, and forever helping me bear the hardships of my life.

Quite possibly one of my favorite songs ever, a milestone in progressive rock for its composition; a milestone in art for the emotions it expresses; and a milestone in my own life, for helping my own hope bloom, like the flowers at the end of a rifle's barrel.

 A Lenda do Quarteto 1111 by QUARTETO 1111 album cover Boxset/Compilation, 2008
3.22 | 8 ratings

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A Lenda do Quarteto 1111
Quarteto 1111 Eclectic Prog

Review by VianaProghead
Prog Reviewer

3 stars Review Nº 107

"A Lenda Do Quarteto 1111" is a compilation of Quarteto 1111 and was released in 2008. It has songs released by the band on EP's, singles and also on their eponymous debut studio album, Quarteto 1111, released in 1970.

As I wrote before, the presence of Quarteto 1111 in the end of the 60's in Portugal represents the birth of progressive rock music in my country. Nothing was the same after them. They were a breath of fresh air in Portugal, at the time. Quarteto 1111 was a band strongly influenced by the British music of those days, mainly The Beatles, despite their lyrics were almost in Portuguese. They made music influenced by the British music with typical Portuguese features.

"A Lenda Do Quarteto 1111" has twenty tracks. The first track "Os Faunos" was released on their debut EP. It's a song about fauns, which was a rustic Latin god or goddess of Roman mythology. The second track "A Lenda De El- Rei D. Sebastião" is the title track of their debut EP released in 1967. It's about a Portuguese king who disappeared during the battle of Alcácer-Kibir, in Morocco, and Portugal lost its independence to Spain in the XVII century. The third track "Balada Para D. Inês" is the title track of their second EP released in 1968. It's about the tragic love of infant D. Pedro, the future king of Portugal, with D. Inês de Castro, a noble Galician, which was executed by order of the father's king, D. Afonso IV, the king of Portugal, in the XIV century. The fourth track "Partindo-se" was also released on their second EP. It's about anguish and sadness in our eyes when we see our beloved family depart to distant places in search of a better life. The fifth track "Dona Vitória" is the title track of their third EP released in 1968. It tells us about the contrast between those who lived well and had a good job and those who lived in the suburbs and had no job. The sixth track "Meu Irmão" was released as a single in 1968. It's a psychedelic song that speaks about love, solidarity, friendship and brotherhood among men. The seventh track "Dragão" was also released on their second EP. It's about the sad, dull, hard and routine life of any working man. The eighth track "Os Monstros Sagrados" was released on their single "Génese" in 1969. It's about the purity of nature against the human technology and its industrial applications. The ninth track "Génese" is the title track of a single released in 1969. It's about the beauty of nature in contrast with people that suffers because the different colour of their skin. The tenth track "Bissaide" was released on their single "Nas Terras Do Fim Do Mundo" in 1969. It's a very simple instrumental song. The eleventh track "Nas Terras Do Fim Do Mundo" is the title track of a single released in 1969. It's about one of the most brilliant chapters of Portuguese History, the Portuguese discoveries, released in the XV century. The twelfth track "Domingo Em Bidonville" was released on their first studio album in 1970. It's about Portuguese emigrants who left their country in search of a better life, and leave their country, family and friends. The thirteenth track "João Nada" was also released on their debut album. It's about emigration. It's about a man who returns to his homeland, at the end of his hard working life, and he has nobody waiting for him, except his coffin. The fourteenth track "As Trovas Do Vento Que Passa" was also released on their first album. It's a cover of a song of Adriano Correia de Oliveira with a poem of Manuel Alegre. It's a song of the resistance of Portuguese University students against the dictatorship regime. The fifteenth track "Maria Negra" was another song released on their first album. It's an anti-racist song about the women with black skin, which are often viewed and treated as inferior human beings. The sixteenth track "Todo O Mundo E Ninguém" is the title track of a single released in 1970. It's a song with intimate and symbolic lyrics about life and dead. The seventeenth track "É Tempo De Pensar Em Termos De Futuro" was also released on their single "Todo O Mundo E Ninguém". It's another song with intimate lyrics. It tells us that it's now time to think about to build a better world, uniting races and breaking down the barriers. The eighteenth tack "Back To The Country" is the title track of their single released in 1970. It's a song that appeals to men to the return to the fields. It represents the first attempt to internationalize the band singing in English. The nineteenth track "Ode To The Beatles" is the title track of a single released in 1971. It's represents homage to The Beatles. It represents also the second attempt to internationalize the band singing in English. The twentieth track "Uma Nova Maneira De Encarar O Mundo" was released on their single "Sabor A Povo" in 1972. It's a song, as its name indicates, which makes an appeal to a new way of seeing the world. This is a way of seeing it with more peace and love.

Conclusion: "A Lenda Do Quarteto 1111" is the third compilation of Quarteto 1111. The others are "A Lenda De El- Rei D. Sebastião" and "Singles And Ep's". Like the other two, it's also a very interesting and important compilation with many similitude with the other two. After reviewing the other two compilations, I can say that "A Lenda Do Quarteto 1111" is a better option, because is the biggest and most complete of the three. If you want to have on a single album many of the songs released by the group and dispersed on so many singles and EP's, this is the right place to have it.

Prog is my Ferrari. Jem Godfrey (Frost*)

 Singles and EPs by QUARTETO 1111 album cover Boxset/Compilation, 2006
3.05 | 3 ratings

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Singles and EPs
Quarteto 1111 Eclectic Prog

Review by VianaProghead
Prog Reviewer

3 stars Review Nº 106

"Singles And EP's" is a compilation of Quarteto 1111 and was released in 2006. It has songs released by the band on EP's, singles and also on their eponymous debut studio album, Quarteto 1111, released in 1970.

As I wrote before when I reviewed their debut compilation "A Lenda De El-Rei D. Sebastião", the importance of Quarteto 1111 to Portuguese popular music is completely undeniable, especially for the birth of Portuguese progressive rock music. The band was formed in 1967, in Estoril, a place near Lisbon, and can be considered the father of Portuguese progressive rock music. They opened the door for some excellent albums made by great progressive bands in Portugal.

"Singles And EP's" has fifteen tracks. The first track "A Lenda De El-Rei D. Sebastião" was their first song and was recorded on their debut EP, with the same name, released in 1967. It's a song based in a Portuguese legend and is about the missing of El-Rei D. Sebastião, a Portuguese king, allegedly killed in the fields of Morocco during the battle of Alcácer-Kibir. The legend said that he should appear again on a foggy morning to help Portugal to recover its independence lost to Spain in the XVII century. The second track "Os Faunos" was also released on their debut EP. It's a song about fauns, which was a rustic Latin god or goddess of Roman mythology often associated with enchanted woods and the Greek god Pan and his satyrs. The third track "Gente" was another song released on their debut EP. It's a song about anonymous poor persons abandoned in the world, without having home, care and love of someone. The fourth track "Balada Para D. Inês" was released on their second EP, with the same name, in 1968. It's a song about a famous and very popular episode of the history of Portugal, in the XIV century, the tragic love of the infant D. Pedro, heir of Portuguese throne and future king D. Pedro I with D. Inês de Castro, a noble Galician, which was executed by order of father's king, the king of Portugal D. Afonso IV, because he felt their love immoral and illegitimate. The fifth track "Partindo-se" was also released on their second EP. It's a sad song about emigration. It's about the anguish and the sadness in our eyes when we see our beloved family depart to distant places in search of a better life. The sixth track "Dona Vitória" was released on their third EP, with the same name, in 1968. It's about the big difference that separated the rich from the poor in those times in Portugal, in the dictatorship regime. It tells us about the contrast between those who lived well and had a good job and those who lived in the suburbs and had no job. The seventh track "Nas Terras Do Fim Do Mundo" was released as a single, with the same name, in 1969. It's a song based in one of the most brilliant chapters of the Portuguese History. It's about the deeds of the heroic Portuguese navigators, who in the XV century, discovered new lands, "giving new worlds to the world". The eighth track "Meu Irmão" was released as a single in 1968. It's a psychedelic song that speaks about love, solidarity, friendship and brotherhood among men. The ninth track "Domingo Em Bidonville" was also released on their first album. It's a song about the Portuguese emigrants who left their country in search of a better life, but who still miss their country, family and friends. The tenth track "João Nada" was released on their first album. It's another song about emigration. This is a very sad song about a man who returns to his homeland at the end of a hard working life far way from Portugal. The poem tells us that he has no longer his family, his friends and his dog waiting for him. Nothing is waiting for him, except his coffin. The eleventh track "As Trovas Do Vento Que Passa" was released on their first album. It's a cover of a song of Adriano Correia de Oliveira with a poem of Manuel Alegre. Originally, it was an important song, a symbol of the resistance of Portuguese Universitary students to the dictatorship regime in Portugal. The twelfth track "Epílogo" was also released on their first album. It's a song with short lyrics and is an ode to the nature and to the men, in their effort to find perfection in the search of God. The thirteenth track "Back To The Country" was released on their single with the same name, in 1970. It's an appeal to men to their return to the fields. It represents the first attempt to internationalize the band singing in English. The fourteenth track "Ode To The Beatles" was released as a single in 1971, with the same name, and represents a homage to The Beatles. It represents the second attempt to internationalize the band singing in English. The fifteenth and last track "Uma Nova Maneira De Encarar O Mundo" was released on their single "Sabor A Povo", in 1972. It's a song, as its name indicates, which makes an appeal to a new way of seeing the world. This is a way of seeing it with peace and love.

Conclusion: Like "A Lenda De El-Rei D. Sebastião", their debut compilation, this is also a very interesting and important compilation released by Quarteto 1111, because it was possible to have in only one album many of the songs released by the group in so many singles and EP's. However, of the fifteen tracks recorded on "Singles And EP's", only six are new in relation to that previous compilation. So, actually it doesn't bring to us practically any new stuff. Anyway, this is perhaps preferable to "Singles And EP's" because it has more three songs than the first one has.

Prog is my Ferrari. Jem Godfrey (Frost*)

 A Lenda de El-Rei D. Sebastião by QUARTETO 1111 album cover Boxset/Compilation, 1996
3.10 | 2 ratings

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A Lenda de El-Rei D. Sebastião
Quarteto 1111 Eclectic Prog

Review by VianaProghead
Prog Reviewer

3 stars Review Nº 105

"A Lenda De El-Rei D. Sebastião" is a compilation of Quarteto 1111 and was released in 1993. It has songs released by the band on EP's, singles and also on their eponymous debut studio album, Quarteto 1111, released in 1970.

Quarteto 1111 was a Portuguese band formed in 1967, in Estoril, a place near Lisbon. The story of Quartet 1111 began when José Cid was invited to join the band Mystery, in 1966. Later, they decided to form a new group named "Quarteto 1111, whose name was inspired by the phone number of one of the band's members, since they spent few months working on their music in his garage. It has been suggested to the group to sing in Portuguese, despite the great influence of the British music on the band. In reality, London and Lisbon were the only centres of attraction that guided all the music of Quarteto 1111 during their short life. Their main objectives were to create music influenced by the style of the new British music, marrying it in an intelligent way with some of the main typical Portuguese features of music.

"A Lenda De El-Rei D. Sebastião" has twelve tracks. The first track is the title track, "A Lenda De El-Rei D. Sebastião". It was their first song and was recorded on their debut EP, with the same name, released in 1967. It's based in a very well known Portuguese legend about the disappearing of El-Rei D. Sebastião, a Portuguese king, allegedly killed in the fields of Morocco during the battle of Alcácer-Quibir. The legend said that he should appear on a foggy morning to help Portugal to recover its independence lost to Spain in the XVII century. The second track "Meu Irmão" was released as a single in 1968. It's a psychedelic song that speaks about love, solidarity, friendship and brotherhood among men. The third track "Ode To The Beatles" was released as a single in 1971, with the same name, and represents a homage to The Beatles. It represents also the second attempt to internationalize the band singing in English. The fourth track "As Trovas Do Vento Que Passa" was released on their first album. It's a cover of a song of Adriano Correia de Oliveira with a poem of Manuel Alegre. Originally, it was an important song, a symbol of the resistance of the Portuguese Universitary students against the dictatorship regime in Portugal. The fifth track "Domingo Em Bidonville" was also released on their debut album. It's a song about the Portuguese emigrants who left their country in search of a better life, but who still miss their country, family and friends. The sixth track "Balada Para D. Inês" was released on their second EP, with the same name, in 1968. It's a song about a famous and very popular episode of the history of Portugal, in the XIV century, the tragic love of the infant D. Pedro, heir of Portuguese throne and future king D. Pedro I with D. Inês de Castro, a noble Galician, which was executed by the father's hing, the king of Portugal D. Afonso IV, because he felt their love immoral and illegitimate. The seventh track "Dona Vitória" was released on their third EP, with the same name, in 1968. It's about the big difference that separated the rich from the poor in those times in Portugal, in the dictatorship regime. It tells us about the contrast between those who lived well and had a good job and those who lived in the suburbs and had no job. The eighth track "João Nada" was released on their first album. It's another song about emigration. This is a very sad song about a man who returns to his homeland at the end of a hard working life, far way from Portugal. The poem tells us that he has no longer his family, his friends and his dog waiting for him. Nothing is waiting for him, except his coffin. The ninth track "Dragão" was released on their second EP, "Balada Para D. Inês". It's a song about the sad, dull, hard and routine life of any working man. The tenth track "Nas Terras Do Fim Do Mundo" was released as a single, with the same name, in 1969. It's a song based in one of the most brilliant chapters of Portuguese history. It's about the deeds of the heroic Portuguese navigators, who in the XV century, discovered new lands, "giving new worlds to the world". The eleventh track "Pigmentação" was released on their first album. It's an anti-racist song about the difference of the pigmentation of the skin colour of the black people in contrast with the skin of the white people. It says that both are natural and both have blood with the same colour. The twelfth track "Fantasma Pop" was released on their debut EP "A Lenda De El-Rei D. Sebastião". It's a very nice and simple instrumental song.

Conclusion: The importance of Quarteto 1111 to Portuguese popular music is completely undeniable, especially for the birth of the Portuguese progressive rock music. This compilation, "A Lenda De El-Rei D. Sebastião" is a very interesting and important release of the group, because for the first time it was possible to have in only one album so many songs released by the group, usually separated for so many singles and EP's. This is even more important because, as far as I know and unfortunately, their debut album was never released in CD. Fortunately and lucky for me, I have a vinyl copy purchased in the 70's. My main concern on this review was to focus all my attention in lyrics, trying to explain the subjects covered in each song. I did it because I know the majority of the readers don't know any word of Portuguese, and as we know, music is a universal language. I hope you can enjoy both, the music and the review too.

Prog is my Ferrari. Jem Godfrey (Frost*)

 Onde, Quando, Como, Porquê, Cantamos Pessoas Vivas by QUARTETO 1111 album cover Studio Album, 1974
4.34 | 96 ratings

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Onde, Quando, Como, Porquê, Cantamos Pessoas Vivas
Quarteto 1111 Eclectic Prog

Review by VianaProghead
Prog Reviewer

5 stars Review Nº 104

Quarteto 1111 is a very special and important Portuguese progressive rock band, and their second and last album "Onde, Quando, Como, Porquê, Cantamos Pessoas Vivas", or third if you also want to consider the album "Bruma Azul Do Desejado" recorded with Frei Hermano Da Câmara in 1973, is, in my humble opinion, a very special album and a truly landmark in the Portuguese progressive rock musical scene. I believe that it's perhaps the best Portuguese progressive rock album of the 70's, even superior to "10.000 Anos Depois Entre Vénus E Marte", the solo work of Cid.

The line up on this album is José Cid, António Moniz Pereira, Mike Sergeant and Vitor Mamede.

As I wrote before, when I reviewed their debut album, Quarteto 1111 was formed in the late of the 60's and included some of the earliest recorded output from Cid. Their music didn't exactly pleased to the Portuguese dictatorships of the time of Salazar and Caetano, and so, a lot of their music was naturally banned by the regime. However, by 1974, the Caetano regime was over and in that year Quarteto 1111 released their final album, "Onde, Quando, Como, Porquê, Cantamos Pessoas Vivas". If you're a fan of Cid's "10.000 Anos Depois Entre Vénus E Marte", you're going to need this album. It's basically the starting point of Cid's exploration of the progressive rock music. Certainly it doesn't have the spacey cosmic overtones of "10.000 Anos Depois Entre Vénus E Marte". This isn't properly a science fiction conceptual album, as the other album is. Anyway, "Onde, Quando, Como, Porquê, Cantamos Pessoas Vivas" is also a conceptual album where the poetic, the musical and the instrumental ideas are totally from Cid. Lyrically, this is essentially an album of poetry. It uses a poem of José Jorge Letria, a Portuguese poet and musician, very well known at the time.

"Onde, Quando, Como, Porquê, Cantamos Pessoas Vivas" is a very different album of their previous eponymous debut, especially in terms of musicality. It tends to more emphasize on symphonic progressive ballads, but not unlike the Moody Blues, with tons of mellotron. And it's the mellotron very much noteworthy on the album. Cid absolutely plasters the entire album with it, more so than on "10.000 Anos Depois Entre Vénus E Marte", tons of mellotron strings and flute. But the mellotron choir so dominate on "10.000 Anos Depois Entre Vénus E Marte" it's not present here. The album is basically one cut that takes up both sides and it goes through several changes, from romantic balladry, to more acoustic passages, and some more rocking passages. The album consists of two short side-long tracks, with side one fading out and the flip fading in at the same point. It would be nice that in the future, on an official CD release, the two sides could be correctly joined. It's precisely the same thing that happened with "Thick As A Brick" of Jethro Tull.

"Onde Quando Como Porquê Cantamos Pessoa Vivas" offers a pretty typical southern symphonic progressive rock music as it was at the same time also produced in Italy and Spain. The album often was compared to Pulsar and other French progressive rock bands of the time, except the vocals which are in Portuguese. Another band that they can be compared with is the German band Eloy, with their similar spacey synthesizers. But the main characteristic of the album is the massive use of the mellotron. Here begins the comparisons with the first phase of King Crimson. Cid goes completely overboard here, with swathes of strings underlain by cellos with considerable quantities of flutes, too. There's a nice moment about a minute into side two, where he suddenly switches from strings to flutes which isn't really a bad moment on the album. The only other keys on the album are an unidentified mono synthesizer which gets used a bit, a smattering of piano on side two, and even less string synthesizers at one point. So, I think it's safe to say, that this is a "mellotron album" in every sense of the word. You really like and want a mellotron? So, you've got it here.

Conclusion: I agree with José Cid when he says that this is an album that represents a rupture and at the same time a leap forward in the work of Quarteto 1111. This is a conceptual album where the poetic, the musical and the instrumental ideas are totally from him. Lyrically, I think this is essentially an album of poetry and musically, it's a symphonic progressive album, essentially "acoustic". Like many, I also think this is probably, in some way, superior to "10.000 Depois Entre Venus E Marte". It's most original, audacious, pure, simple, naïve and poetically superior to that album. I even can see on it, influences from King Crimson, Renaissance and Camel. Anyway, this is mainly an album with Portuguese features. If we could define the Portuguese progressive rock, we could say that their main features are on it. As Erik Neuteboom, I'm also a "tronmaniac". I think that many of us, especially those of my generation, learned to love the sound of the mellotron, especially with the first two albums of King Crimson and even today we are still delighted with the sound of the mellotron, for instance, on the albums of the Swedish band Anekdoten. So, I sincerely think this album is an icon of the mellotron sound and is also one of the best progressive rock albums from the 70's.

Prog is my Ferrari. Jem Godfrey (Frost*)

 Quarteto 1111 by QUARTETO 1111 album cover Studio Album, 1970
3.22 | 22 ratings

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Quarteto 1111
Quarteto 1111 Eclectic Prog

Review by VianaProghead
Prog Reviewer

3 stars Review Nº 103

"Quarteto 1111" is the eponymous debut studio album of Quarteto 1111 and was released in 1970. From the sound of groups inspired by The Shadows, Quarteto 1111 was born. They became a very different case in the Portuguese music, not only due to the use of Portuguese language, which was unusual at the time, but also because musically it was a very different band from the others. They closed themselves in a garage one year and half to make this album.

First of all, before to talk about the album, it's very important to know the conditions of the life in my country in those troubled times to can understand better the appearance of this progressive rock band named Quarteto 1111. Portugal lived a very difficult dictatorial political regime with censorship. One of the main slogans of Salazar's regime was, "orgulhosamente sós" (proud to be alone). This meant that we could live alone and isolated from the rest of the world and that we could be proud of that. We also lived in difficult times because we were in war in our African colonies, Angola, Mozambique and Guinea Bissau, with their liberation movements who claimed for freedom and independence.

So, it was in those troubled times that appeared Quarteto 1111, which was the first progressive rock band in Portugal. It was founded in 1967 in Estoril, a place near Lisbon. It's also one of the most influential progressive rock bands in Portugal. The Beatles and The Shadows were the main inspiration for the most bands and Quarteto 1111 wasn't an exception. The group had many problems with censorship, because of songs that were politically charged and contested. They released their debut work with the same name in 1970. The album was sent off the market by the Committee of Censorship. In 1974 the band released "Onde, Quando, Como, Porquê, Cantamos Pessoas Vivas", an album strongly influenced by progressive rock groups like King Crimson, Renaissance, Yes and Genesis.

So, in the early of 1970, Quarteto 1111 released their self-titled debut conceptual album, which deals with racism issues, immigration and the colonial war. Troubled by the interventionism of the issues to the dictatorial regime, the censorship removed the album from the market in the same week of its release, preventing the contact with what would be one of the best albums of the Portuguese music, in those times, able to compete in boldness, quality and innovation, with what was created abroad at the time, all over the world. Those were really troubled times, indeed. But unfortunately, even today and in some places, we live yet in a world like this. It seems that we aren't able to learn with history.

Lyrically, the album deals especially with three main characteristics. First, all its lyrics are in Portuguese, which is a usual trademark of the group. Later they began to sing in English trying the internationalization with songs such as "Back To The Country" and "Ode To The Beatles", which were released as singles. Second, the usual use of lyrics of some of the greatest Portuguese poets, which is the case of "As Trovas Do Vento Que Passa" with a poem of Manuel Alegre, a great Portuguese contemporaneous poet, which became a very important symbolic song, a kind of a symbol of the resistance of the Portuguese University students against the dictatorship regime in Portugal. Third, the focus of the lyrics in the issues mentioned by me, such as, the immigration with "João Nada", "Domingo Em Bidonville" and "Estrada Para A Minha Aldeia" or the racism issues with "Pigmentação", "Maria Negra" and "Escravatura".

Musically, the album is heavily influenced by the psychedelic and folk styles. However and while retaining the band's initial psych-folk heritage, this album of Quarteto 1111 goes deeper into a psychedelic through magnetic tape experimentation effects, and also a more clear influence from the mid-60's jazz and R&B. The songs range from the folk of "João Nada" or the version of "Trovas Do Vento Que Passa" of Adriano Correia de Oliveira (another great Portuguese poet), through the soul of "Pigmentação", the funk madness of "A Fuga Dos Grilos", the pop of "Estrada Para A Minha Aldeia" or the psychedelia of "Maria Negra". The album represented an escape from the narrowness of a country which was not interested in change, remaining at the same time inextricably linked to it or what it could do.

Conclusion: This eponymous debut album of Quarteto 1111 is a very good album to get where José Cid get started in the world of the progressive rock music. We mustn't forget that Portugal was never a hotbed of progressive rock. So, this album of Quarteto 1111, despite be more a psychedelic and pop album, represents the beginning of the progressive rock in Portugal. We can say that it was a kind of a breath of fresh air in Portugal, at the time. It represents the beginning of the good things that would appear in the next years, after the fall of the dictatorship regime, in 1974, by the revolution that came to be known as the Carnation Revolution. So, this album opens the door to some of the best progressive albums ever made in Portugal in the 70's, like "Onde, Quando, Como, Porquê, Cantamos Pessoas Vivas" of Quarteto 1111, "10.000 Anos Anos Depois Entre Vénus E Marte" of José Cid, "Mestre" of Petrus Castrus, "Dos Benefícios Dum Vendido No Reino Dos Bonifácios" of Banda Do Casaco and "Mistérios E Maravilhas" of Tantra.

Prog is my Ferrari. Jem Godfrey (Frost*)

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