TERRENO BALDIO (ENGLISH VERSION)

TERRENO BALDIO were one of the best Prog bands to come out of Brazil in the early seventies. They were influenced by YES, GENESIS and GENTLE GIANT.Their name means "Empty Lot" and the debut album is very much a rare item. It's surprising to see all the reviews for it here considering it was never available on cd. Because the master tapes disappeared they decided to re-record it in 1993 trying to be as faithful to the original as possible.The big difference is that they sing in English on the new one, the original was sung in Portuguese. Anyway I envy those who have the original vinyl of this recording. On this new edition they added two bonus tracks, both old songs that were written and composed at the time of the first album but weren't included on it.

The cd starts off with one of those bonus tracks called "Elder Mirror". It hits the ground running with bass, keys and drums standing out. Guitar comes in. Vocals before 2 minutes with organ following. Good tune. "The Place" opens with piano which is replaced by some fairly heavy guitar and drums. Vocals before a minute and i'm reminded of GENTLE GIANT here. It settles down before 2 1/2 minutes but then kicks back in a minute later. A nice heavy sound with organ before 5 1/2 minutes. "Running Water" opens with the sounds of running water. Surprising I know. Piano tinkles away before the main melody kicks in and builds after a minute. Nice guitar then vocal melodies 2 minutes in. Vocals follow.

"Scream" is a top two track for me.This just sounds fantastic as organ, bass, drums and guitar lead the way. Vocals before a minute. The piano and vocals sound great 2 1/2 minutes in. "The Return" has a Jazz flavour to it with some cool bass. I also really like the guitar before 3 minutes. "Blue Bird" is another excellent track. It's more laid back at first. Vocals 1 1/2 minutes in followed by guitar which sounds incredible as bass throbs. It settles 3 minutes in with piano as vocals return. "The Sea And The Love" is the other top two song. A simply gorgeous guitar intro as reserved vocals follow. So emotional.Themes are repeated. "When The things Become Alive" has a GENTLE GIANT flavour with lots of piano. "Awakening" has a Fusion vibe to it. Nice guitar. Vocals after a minute. This reminds me of FROGG CAFE for some reason. Jazzy stuff. "Aqueloo" is the other bonus track. It's uptempo with vocal melodies, vocals follow. A good intrumental interlude before 3 minutes. Some heaviness 3 1/2 minutes in as vocals sing over top. I really like his voice.

A very solid 4 star recording that I definitlely would recommend, English vocals and all.