Charlie Brown, Jr. was a Brazilian hard rock/hip-hop crossover band first formed in the 1990s. The group went through a few different lineups, with all but one of the original members leaving at one point, with the group's abrasive lead singer, skateboarder/filmmaker Chorao (akaAlexandre Magno Abrao, 1970-2013) taking over the franchise until his death by overdose in 2013. Afterwards, the remaining members reformed under a new band name, A Banca, a band that in turn lasted until the death of the new lead singer, Champignon. To be honest, this stuff is not really my cup of tea (see below) but I'm not and have never been a teenage skateboarder in Sao Paulo, so take my disapproval with a grain of salt. This band could certainly be of interest to students of more modern Brazilian rock...
Charlie Brown, Jr. "Transpiracao Continua Prolongada" (Virgin Records, 1997)
Charlie Brown, Jr. "Preco Curto, Prazo Longo" (EMI, 1999)
Ye gods. Loud, wanky, corporate "alt rock" with a wide variety of styles, all of them uniformly irritating. The best parts are the fast, flashy metal-raps (which are horrible and obnoxious) and the the Green Day-ish power-chord punk; the worst are the hard rock power-chord guitar numbers with the shrill, note-heavy leads... I dunno, I'm sure this was exciting to Brazilian rock fans, but pretty much in the same way that 14-year old mall rats here in the States thought that Linkin Park and Korn were rilly bitchin' bands, man. I'm an old-school punker, and I don't like this kind of paint-by-numbers aggro-rock when it's sung in English. And in this case, the novelty of hearing it sung in Portuguese doesn't do much to make it more interesting. They're big in Brazil, but they don't do much for me.
Charlie Brown, Jr "Nadando Com Os Tubaroes" (Universal, 2000)
Charlie Brown, Jr "100% Charlie Brown Jr: Abalando Sua Fabrica" (EMI, 2001)
Charlie Brown, Jr. "Bocas Ordinarias" (EMI, 2002)
Skillfully produced, if tremendously generic alt-rock, of the commercialized "hard" variety practiced in the USA by bands like Korn, Limp Bizkit and Linkin Park. Crunchy guitars, thumpy drums, simple, slightly proggish chord progressions, and a sad sort of desperation to appear offensive and edgy, even as one is being sold as a corporate commodity. I don't listen to this kind of stuff in English (I prefer my punk from the '70s and early '80s, when I was still a kid and they didn't package for television) but I can recognize that this is a well-made record. If you're a fairly adventurous "alt" fan who'd like to check out something from far-off lands, then you'd probably really dig this disc. Heck, it even won a Latin Grammy, so it must be good. Still, to quote a wise man I once knew: I prefer Foghat.
Charlie Brown, Jr "Acustico MTV" (Universal, 2003)
Charlie Brown, Jr "Tamo Ai Na Atividade" (Universal, 2004)
Charlie Brown, Jr "Imunidade Musical" (EMI, 2005)
Charlie Brown, Jr "Ritmo, Ritual E Responsa" (EMI, 2007)
Charlie Brown, Jr./Vanessa Da Mata "Estúdio Coca-Cola Zero" (2008) (EP)
Charlie Brown, Jr "Camisa 10 Joga Bola Ate Na Chuva" (Sony Music, 2009)
Charlie Brown, Jr "Musica Popular Caicara (Ao Vivo)" (Radar Records, 2012)
Charlie Brown, Jr "La Familia 013" (Som Livre, 2013)
Charlie Brown, Jr "Chegou Quem Faltava (Ao Vivo)" (EMI, 2021)
Charlie Brown, Jr "Charlie Brown, Jr" (EMI, 2002)
Charlie Brown, Jr "Perfil" (Universal, 2002)
Charlie Brown, Jr "1: 16 Hits" (EMI, 2009)
Charlie Brown, Jr "Charlie Brown, Jr" (Universal Music, 2023)
A massive, 10-CD box set...
