#441 Gilberto Gil - Gilberto Gil (Cérebro Eletrônico)

More self-titled 1968-69 Tropicalia albums (though not his debut, stay tuned for that one)! See previous post

This album doesn't fuck around, how much cool shit happens in the first 45 seconds of the opening track? I don't know many albums that come out the gate as hard as this, as its all spastic rhythms, maniacal shouting, strange instrumentation, 3 guitars at a time, slashes of organ, these guys come out guns blazing, a firebomb of purpose, keep up or shut it off.

Here's something on quite the other end of the spectrum from Caetano Veloso's debut, an album that dabbles in crooning and shuffling rhythms, but uses them as a launch pad for something far wilder, reflecting, perhaps, Gil's early exposure to the Beatles and an under-justified 1969 prison stint. The songs rollick and roil, torn ragged with garagey riffage and buzz, while Gil steadies the ship or rocks the boat, alternately, everything bursting with energy, sounding like a Brazilian Zappa, in terms of musicianship and madness alike.

This is one of my favorite Tropicalia finds so far, sounding like a more adventurous Veloso or a smoother (and frankly, more traditionally Brazilian) Os Mutantes, a wonderful balance, losing points only for being so nervous to listen to at length. That's the price of all that energy 4.5/5

You might like this if: Again, be warned, nary a word of English, but past that its as adventurous a piece of rock you're likely to find, in any era, on any continent.