Cabeça Dinossauro
| Cabeça Dinossauro | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by Titãs | ||||
| Released | June 1986 | |||
| Recorded | March - April 1986 at Estúdio Nas Nuvens, Rio de Janeiro | |||
| Genre | Punk rock, post-punk, new wave, funk rock | |||
| Length | 38:41 | |||
| Label | WEA | |||
| Producer | Liminha, Vitor Farias, Pena Schmidt[1] | |||
| Titãs chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Cabeça Dinossauro | ||||
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Cabeça Dinossauro (Portuguese for Dinosaur Head) is the third studio album by Brazilian rock band Titãs. It was released in June 1986.
Background, concept and production
Cabeça Dinossauro was the first Titãs album to be produced by Liminha, who was the director of WEA at the time of the album's recording,[2] and the first of the band to receive a gold certification, in December 1986.[3] It was recorded and mixed in one month.[4] Its demo was recorded in just two days.[5]
Vocalist Arnaldo Antunes and guitarist Tony Bellotto's arrest for drug possession in 1985; the "relative failure" of previous album Televisão; and the will by the band to take a heavier direction influenced the music on this album.[4] But they did not suddenly decide to turn punk. The ingredients, according to keyboardist and vocalist Sérgio Britto, were already at the band previously. Bellotto says the band already showed signs of this new sound during shows[2]
| “ | Time showed that this subgenre was in our DNA, which is why 'Cabeça' is a big feature, with all this questioning, the criticism that we see in the lyrics, the punk, but also the reggae, funk. I think in this album we found the way. | ” |
Besides, then drummer Charles Gavin considered the troubled moments lived both by the band and by Brazil at that time were also influencing factors:[1]
| “ | There was the moment of Brazil which was drawing itself much problematic, a military dictatorship still in the process of breaking down, Tancredo's death. The mood was very delusional, a dystopian scenery. And there was also our moment as a band. We were emerging from "Televisão", our second release, miscomprehended by the label [Warner], which was not well worked. This caused a certain distaste, a certain skepticism towards the music, the career. We came upon the album angry at the industry, the label, everyone. | ” |
Co-producer Pena Schmidt saw the album as "the moment of truth. Titãs had crisis between surrendering to phonographic perfection or to the rebellious statement. There the result balances track by track."[1]
The album's front and back covers were taken from sketches by Leonardo da Vinci:[6] "The Expression a howling Man" and "Grotesque Head", respectively. Both acetates were brought straight outta Louvre by a friend of vocalist and keyboardist Sérgio Britto's father. They replaced small reproductions the band had but could not use for the album due to low quality. He would say in 2006 that "the first 30,000 copies of the album were made in a mat and porous paper, much more expensive than the ordinary one. A gesture of generosity by André Midani, then president of Warner, which gave us total support before, during and after the recording sessions, complying with almost every of our requests."[4]
Song information
The musical material for the album was ready before the band got into the studio. The first track to be recorded was the single "AA UU". The last one was "O Quê".[4]
The title track was conceived during a bus trip. Vocalist and saxophonist Paulo Miklos showed his colleagues a tape with folk music by some Xingus. Over that base, someone improvised the verses "Cabeça dinossauro/Cabeça dinossauro/Cabeça, cabeça, cabeça dinossauro" and soon the lyrics were all done.[1] The percussion was performed by Liminha. After several elaborated attempts, he improvised with the walls, the floor and the pillars of the studio, and the "trance" performance was approved by all.[4] The vocals of "A Face do Destruidor" was recorded over the base played backwards. According to Britto, "when we recorded, we had to think that it would be listened to that way".[4]
Some of Bellotto's solos were played with the musician alternating between the guitar pick and a big ring he was using. That way, he could play and simultaneously obtain percussive effects from his instrument.[4]
The song "Bichos Escrotos" had originally been written in 1982 and was supposed to be part of the band's debut album, but it was censored by the Brazilian military government, and the band was thus unable to release it until Cabeça Dinossauro.[7] Even after the song was finally released, radio airplay was still prohibited, but the radio stations were receiving so many requests that they decided to play the song anyway and face the fines afterwards, because the price was low enough compared to the profit to make it worth the disobedience.[7]
"O Quê" was the most demanding track in the album, according to Britto:[4]
| “ | The arrangement totally changed and here Liminha had a decisive role: he programmed the electronic drums, he suggested the bass line, he played the guitar and had us perform an endless 'jam' over two days until we reached the final result. That opened a new horizon for us and put us in contact with elements we would explore very much in the next years. | ” |
In a 2016 interview, coproducer Pena Schmidt considered that "the mantric perfection of 'O Quê' paved the way for some three subsequent releases. From there, they graduated in pop production and engineering, ready to take on their own career."[1]
Accolades, legacy and re-release
In a 2012 interview, guitarist Tony Bellotto revealed he made a bet with vocalist Branco Mello: he would buy him a bottle of Jack Daniel's in case the album sold over 100,000 copies, since he though it would be a commercial failure. However, the album sold well, and Tony lost the bet.[8] Until its first anniversary, the album sold 250,000 copies, with a total of 700,000 sold until 2016.[2][1]
In a 2006 article for the Brazilian Rolling Stone, Britto commented:[4]
| “ | This album, for sure, if not the best, is one of the best we made. Only comparable to Õ Blésq Blom and Jesus não Tem Dentes no País dos Banguelas. Despite that, I don't dare point any band that seems influenced by it. | ” |
In 1997, Bizz magazine elected Cabeça Dinossauro as the best Brazilian pop rock album. In 2007, the Brazilian version of the magazine Rolling Stone elected it as the 19th greatest Brazilian album of all time.[9] On September 2012, it was elected by the audience of Radio Eldorado FM, of Estadao.com e of Caderno C2+Música (both the latter belong to newspaper O Estado de S. Paulo) as the seventh best Brazilian album ever.[10]
In 2012, in order to celebrate the 25 years of the album's original release, Cabeça Dinossauro was re-released, fully remastered and with a bonus disc containing the original demos for the songs, plus a previously unreleased track, "Vai pra Rua", an outtake of the album.[8] The band also promoted a tour in which they performed the entire album respecting the original ordering of tracks. One of these performances was recorded and released as Cabeça Dinossauro ao Vivo 2012. Performing the album would help define the sound of the band's then next album, Nheengatu.[11][11]
In the next year, the remaining members of the band recorded a video for the title song, using images from the movie Vai que Dá Certo.[11] Both the movie and the video feature Brazilian actors and humorists Fábio Porchat, Gregório Duvivier, Bruno Mazzeo, Lúcio Mauro Filho, Danton Mello e Natália Lage.[11]
Play and book
In 2016, celebrating 30 years of the album, a book with tales inspired by the album's tracks and a play inspired by the album were prepared, titled Cada um por si e Deus contra todos (Everyone for itself and God against all) and Cabeça, respectively.[1]
The play, directed by Felipe Vidal, take eight actors to the stage where they perform the entire album. It features "the sign of urgency and its relation with youth" in two different years: 1986 (when the album was released) and 2016 (when the play was presented). Vidal considers that the sign in 1986 "provoked the urgency of living a newly-acquired liberty, with the end of the dictatorship, today [2016], it fights to guarantee such conquest, in a world scenery troubled by growing conservative forces.[1]
The book was released by publisher Tinta Negra, organized by André Tartarini and includes tales by authors such as Letícia Novaes, Juliana Frank and Renato Lemos, besides an introduction by Bellotto.[1]
Critical reception
| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   |
By the time of the album's release, newspaper O Estado de S. Paulo's Alberto Villas stated that the album was "the great surprise of the year. [...] It's a shocking, punk, angry and very curious album. An album of poison-rock, a scream. An album of surprises."[13]
Track listing
| No. | Title | Lyrics | Lead vocals | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Cabeça Dinossauro" (Dinosaur Head) | Arnaldo Antunes, Branco Mello, Paulo Miklos | Branco Mello | 2:19 |
| 2. | "AA UU" | Marcelo Fromer, Sérgio Britto | Sérgio Britto | 3:01 |
| 3. | "Igreja" (Church) | Nando Reis | Nando Reis | 2:47 |
| 4. | "Polícia" (Police) | Tony Bellotto | Sergio Britto | 2:07 |
| 5. | "Estado Violência" (Violence State) | Charles Gavin | Paulo Miklos | 3:07 |
| 6. | "A Face do Destruidor" (The Face of the Destroyer) | Arnaldo Antunes, Paulo Miklos | Paulo Miklos | 0:38 |
| 7. | "Porrada" (Punch) | Arnaldo Antunes, Sérgio Britto | Arnaldo Antunes | 2:49 |
| 8. | "Tô Cansado" (I'm Tired) | Branco Mello, Arnaldo Antunes | Branco Mello | 2:16 |
| 9. | "Bichos Escrotos" (Freaky Critters) | Nando Reis, Arnaldo Antunes, Sérgio Britto | Paulo Miklos | 3:14 |
| 10. | "Família" (Family) | Tony Bellotto, Arnaldo Antunes | Nando Reis | 3:32 |
| 11. | "Homem Primata" (Primate Man) | Marcelo Fromer, Ciro Pessoa, Nando Reis, Sérgio Britto | Sérgio Britto | 3:27 |
| 12. | "Dívidas" (Debts) | Branco Mello, Arnaldo Antunes | Branco Mello | 3:08 |
| 13. | "O Quê" (What) | Arnaldo Antunes | Arnaldo Antunes | 5:40 |
- Bonus track on 2012 re-issue
| No. | Title | Lyrics | Lead vocals | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 14. | "Vai pra Rua" (Go to the Streets) | Arnaldo Antunes, Paulo Miklos | Arnaldo Antunes | 2:20 |
Covers
- Brazilian thrash metal band Sepultura made a cover of "Polícia", present on the B-side of their "Territory" single, the digipak and Brazilian pressings of their 1993 album Chaos A.D., and the compilation Blood-Rooted.
- Biquini Cavadão covered "Estado Violência" in their tribute album 80.
- Pagode group Molejo covered the song "Família", adapting it to a samba rhythm.
Personnel
- Titãs
- Arnaldo Antunes — vocals
- Branco Mello — vocals
- Paulo Miklos — bass (in "Igreja") and vocals
- Nando Reis — bass and vocals
- Sérgio Britto — keyboard and vocals
- Marcelo Fromer — rhythm guitar, lead guitar (in "Igreja")
- Tony Bellotto — lead guitar, rhythm guitar (in "Igreja" and "Família")
- Charles Gavin — drums and percussion
- Additional personnel
- Liminha — rhythm guitar (in "Família" and "O Quê"), percussion (in "Cabeça Dinossauro") and Oberheim DMX (in "O Quê")
- Repolho — castanets (in "Homem Primata")
References
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Reis, Luiz Felipe; Lichote, Leonardo (20 October 2016). "Peça e livro celebram os 30 anos de 'Cabeça dinossauro', dos Titãs". O Globo (in Portuguese). Rio de Janeiro: Grupo Globo. Retrieved 21 June 2017.
- 1 2 3 Nanini, Lucas (26 June 2016). "'Faltava barulho na música brasileira', dizem Titãs sobre 'Cabeça dinossauro'". G1 (in Portuguese). Distrito Federal: Grupo Globo. Retrieved 21 August 2016.
- ↑ Titãs - History (in Portuguese)
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Britto, Sérgio (November 2006). "Cabeça Dinossauro". Rolling Stone Brasil (in Portuguese). Grupo Spring de Comunicação.
- ↑ Santo, José Julio do Espírito (October 2012). "A Festa Parece uma Vida". Rolling Stone Brasil (73). Retrieved 3 August 2018.
- ↑ Leonardo da Vinci in Titãs' album cover (in Portuguese)
- 1 2 soares, Jô (21 July 2014). "Jô Soares entrevista a banda Titãs". Rede Globo (in Portuguese). São Paulo: Organizações Globo. Retrieved 23 July 2014.
- 1 2 Airan, Breno (13 July 2012). "Longe da extinção, os Titãs fazem show histórico hoje em Maceió". Tribuna Hoje (in Portuguese). Retrieved 17 July 2012.
- ↑ Leonardo Dias, Pereira (October 2007). "19 Cabeça Dinossauro - Titãs (1986, WEA)". Rolling Stones Brasil. Grupo Spring de Comunicação. Retrieved 23 January 2017.
- ↑ Bomfim, Emanuel (7 September 2012). "'Ventura' é eleito o melhor disco brasileiro de todos os tempos". Combate Rock (in Portuguese). Grupo Estado. Retrieved 28 January 2016.
- 1 2 3 4 Bergamo, Mônica (24 March 2014). "Com 30 anos de estrada, Titãs se unem à nova geração do humor em filme e preparam disco". Folha de S.Paulo (in Portuguese). Grupo Folha. Retrieved 28 April 2014.
- ↑ AllMusic review
- ↑ Leite, Edmundo (31 August 2012). "Alguns discos clássicos já nascem grandes". Acervo Estadão (in Portuguese). Grupo Estado. Retrieved 28 January 2016.