TEMPO

3.5 stars really. I was quite surprised when I heard this band. Tempo reeks of 70´s music. So much in fact that I thought it would be a re-recording of their independent vinyl release of their debut album in 1982 (now a rare collector´s piece). But when I visited Band Do Sol´s home page I found that this is really all new stuff. Still, it is quite typical the sound of most bands were doing in Brazil in the late 70´s and early 80´s. The new, modern, production is much better, of course and enhance all the style´s best qualities.

The music here is an intesresting exemple of several influences merged together, some appearing more on some tracks than others, of course. So you can hear echoes of the Beatles (Quem Sou eu, complete with Strawberry Fields Forever-like mellotron lines and a slide guitar solo not very dissiliar of those of mr. George Harrison). blues (Yes Blues), symphonic rock (The title track, with a very Genesis-like acoustic guitar introductionm and the excellent isntrumental Fabito) and even some raga-rock (Sinal da Liberdade).

But most of the time they play what was known as the ´Clube da Esquina` sound: a mix of brazilian popular music, 60´s rock (mostly The Beatles), jazzy harmonies and baroque melodies. This music came from my homestate (Minas Gerais) and was very popular and influential at the time, making names of artistis like Beto Guedes, Lô Borges quite famous in the country and one, Milton Nascimento, a star of international status (albeit more in jazz circles). Later some prog influences were also added, specially in more rocking groups like O Terço and its spin-off 14 Bis.

The record strong points were the very good and varied songwriting. At first I wasn´t very impressed, but the more I heard the more I could see the very tasteful arrangements, intrumentations and the fine harmonies. One thing that strikes me is how good the three new members really are and how they fitted in the songs framework: bassist Cesar Rodrigues (great bass lines!), Allex Bessa on keyboards (fine vintage sounding keys, very fluid playing) and, above all, guitarrist Fram Simi (probably the best instrumentist in the whole album, very creative, very skillful, versatile playing). It´s really impressive how those guys do a real team work, filling every possible space without getting on each others way. Really impressive. The two extra live bonus tracks show how tight they are on stage too.

On the other side there are some weak points too. The lyrics are the usual naive hippie/new age philosophy. Nothing new or very interesting, but I can live with that. The major flaw, if I can say that, is Moacir Jr´s voice. He has a warm tone and sing with conviction, and it does work well on those less demanding parts. However, it lacks both pitch and range on several others. It´s unbelievable that such fine instrumentation does not have a real powerful singer to add up something at least on the same level (another 70´s trait, oh dear...). If they had someone that really knew how to deliver the vocals with the right power and technique, this would surely be a 4 or even 5 star rating affair. as it is, 3.5 stars is more likely.

Conclusion: Excelent music. If you like 70´s prog rock (with a far better production) this is for you! I´m looking forward to her their next releases, and I really hope they keep the high level of the songwriting