TERRENO BALDIO

Terreno Baldio´s first album, released in 1976 was quite a complex affair. I have to agree with the general opinion that their most important influence is british band Gentle Giant. They have lots of things in commom and the elaborated, very dense arrangements are quite similar. Even João Kurk´s vocals - all sung in portuguese - reminds me a lot of them (more especificly, of that of Kerry Minnear). But they were far from being copycats. They actually blended the influece very well with Brazilain popular music and rhythms, even if that is not easily noticeable at first. Besides, there are no vocal hamornies like GG and Mozart Mello´s guitar style is much more jazzier then GG´s Gary Green.

Having said that, it is only unfortunate that the band had distribution problems and the record reached few people (it was very hard to find in stores) even if it was very well received by critics, something rare for prog groups at the time in Brazil. The production was absolute fantastic for the time and the songwriting here is quite mature and strong. You can hear all the instruments and the balance between them and the voice is perfect. All the musicians are masters of their respective instruments and I just loved the bass and drums patterns, very technical and creative without being too flashy. They were all team players and hence, they play for the music not to show how good they are or capable of doing 13 minute solos.

If you´re into complex, GG style class of music, this is surely a must have. The elaborated arrangemnts, the odd rhtyhm paterns and the unusual vocal lines are something to be heard many times to be fully appreciated. Truly eclectic and innovative for the time. Savory, no doubt, but for special tastes. One fo the most interesting, talented and bold brazilian rock bands of the period. The music hasn´t aged a bit since then. Rating: at least four stars.