In the 1970s, Brazilian rock'n'roll followed along on several parallel paths, which only occasionally intersected. Many of the groups from the heavily commercialized, early-60s prefab jovem guarda teenybopper scene kept making albums well into the 1970s. Generally speaking, these continued along the pop cover-tunes path of their earlier work, or dipped even deeper into bland pop vocals, as with Roberto Carlos, the king of the scene. Many of the great tropicalia artists who pioneered psychedelic rock in Brazil moved on to become the superstars of the "MPB" scene, which also turned towards an increasingly-ornate pop direction; some -- like Jorge Ben -- delved into funk and soul-flavored groove music.
A handful of artists pursued (more or less) straight-ahead rock music... Many were inspired by the inroads made by the tropicalia movement, but keeping up with the times, they spun off in different directions. Ex-Mutante Rita Lee became something of a stadium rocker, and several prog bands flourished in the mid-'70s, while a few hardcore rockers and psychedelic bands also roamed the land. To be honest, I haven't heard all that many of these records... but as I check them out, I'll add my reviews to the Slipcue site.
The Fevers - see artist discography
Flenks "Flenks" (Visom, 2000)
A jittery set of hyperactive rock instrumentals by a trio of musicians who have worked extensively as backup for MPB stars such as Caetano Veloso and the late Cassia Eller. Sort of a discomforting mix between Steve Vai and the Meters, with just a smidge of Brazilianness in the margins. Not my cup of tea.
14 Bis "14 Bis" (EMI, 1979)
I was first introduced to this band via the Serie Bis collection (reviewed below), and thought, jeez, these guys are so godawful, wretchedly bad, I will never, ever, need to think about them ever again. Well, a couple of years later I tracks this album down and bought it at a bargain, and man, was I surprised. It's very atypical of Brazilan rock, a modern album produced at the height of the punk/new wave scenes abroad, with plenty of proggy influences, bringing to mind bands such as Emerson, Lake & Palmer, or even some of the more adventurous new wavers who came later in the decade. The Moog synths and high, falsetto-laden harmonies are actually kind of nice, the music is oddly wispy and engaging. I can see why many Brazilians wouldn't like this record, although modern, irony-inclined indie rockers might get a real kick out of it. I would hesitate to call this a "lost classic" or anything as hackneyed as that, but you Death Cab For Cutie fans might want to check this out.
14 Bis "14 Bis II" (EMI, 1980)
14 Bis "Espelho Das Aguas" (EMI, 1981)
Flavio Venturini was the guiding light behind this band, having previously formed the prog-rock outfit, O Terco, with guitarist Vinicius Cantuaria and other forward-looking Brazilian rockers. Turns out 14 Bis were better than their lamentably yucky best-of collections would have us believe... On this disc, their third album, things are starting to sour and the steer towards a flat, generic pop-rock sound, yet it's enjoyable in a tacky, campy kind of way. It's not a great record, but still worth checking out to get a sense of the breadth of New Wave-ish experimentation that was going on at the time.
14 Bis "Serie Bis" (EMI, 2000)
Ye gods. This may be the single worst, most godawful Brazilian album I have ever heard. I think they were trying to be the Brazilian version of Flock of Seagulls; it would be extremely charitable to compare them favorably to America, Bread or Ah-Ha... if you get my drift. Apparently this band was founded in 1976 by some former members of the '70s prog band, O Terco... This 2-CD set has 28 songs, recorded between 1979-92... and there isn't a single track on here I will ever need to hear again. Next!
Brazilian Rock - Letter "G"
Other Brazilian Styles
Main Brazil Index
