VIDA (SONS DO QUOTIDIANO)

When José CID's band QUARTETO 1111 broke up in the mid 1970s, he embarked on his solo career. At this point he wasn't the Portuguese pop icon he would later become, as he was still exploring prog rock, as demonstrated on QUARTETO 1111's final album, "Cantamos Pessoas Vivas", and this one, "Vida (Sons do Quotidiano)", CID's first solo release, which was simply an EP. To me, I don't think it's quite as good as his following release, "10.000 Anos Depois Entre Vénus e Marte" (his first full length solo effort), as the mood of this album seems a bit more somber, and the theme is one birth, life, and death, rather than the sci-fi theme of "10.000 Anos...".

On this EP, CID handles piano, string synths, Mellotron, and Mini Moog, with a band backing him on guitar, bass, and drums. There are a couple sections that remind me a bit of Jean Michel JARRE's "Oxygene" (especially the string synths), but overall, the music is late '70s synth driven prog rock. "Vida..." was already included as a bonus cut on the Art Sublime CD reissue of "10.000 Anos...", which is a smart move on Art Sublime's move. It's too bad that CID would venture in to prog one more time, that was "10.000 Anos...", after that, he turned to pop, of the time that got him entered in to the Eurovision Song Contest. Regardless, I still think "10.000 Anos..." is better, but of course, this EP is still excellent.