Titãs (album)

Titãs is the debut album of Brazilian rock band Titãs. It is the only album to feature André Jung on drums. The album also features Pena Schmidt's (an underground producer known for his bare-bone works) production, polishing the edges to the vanishing clear-cut point and burying instruments over layers of synths and electronic drumming typical of the age, which gives the album a Reggae and New Wave sound.

Background

Ron Dunbar's classic AOR hit Patches was turned into synthetized Reggae and renamed Marvin. It would be remembered among most of the fans, when a completely reworked live version featured on Titãs' 1997 Acústico MTV became a hit single, still one of the most played Titãs compositions, a Nando Reis early signature tune. Another attempt on a Reggae-crossover hit, Jimmy Cliff's The Harder They Come was translated as They Want My Blood, in Portuguese, "Querem Meu Sangue". However, this track would become a success only when performed live with the very Jimmy Cliff in Acústico MTV. Sérgio Britto tried his hand on Tropicália turning into a Pop song a poem by renowned outsider poet Torquato Neto and the resulting "Go Back" waited 4 years to become a hit single through a live version, alongside Marvin.

The classic Sonífera Ilha remains the band's calling card even without founding member and composer Ciro Pessoa onboard. Arnaldo Antunes' juncture of Concrete Poetry and Funk are easy to see ("Pule") before they mutate into ballads ("Demais"). Branco Mello's affiliations with São Paulo's underground scene are shown in ("Babi Índio"). Paulo Miklos' fondness for Brazilian Pop is hidden underneath New Wave numbers ("Mulher Robot") and social commentary alongside Arnaldo Antunes ("Seu Interesse"). A remaining Ciro Pessoa number ("Toda Cor") was slightly more successful, in a New Wave way of sorts.

The record sold few copies: only 22.000. The early release of Sonífera Ilha's original version as a single reached gold status with 100.000-plus copies sold.

Track listing

Personnel

• Nando Reis - lead vocals, Bass guitar in "Sonífera Ilha", "Go Back", "Mulher Robot" and "Pule"
• Paulo Miklos - Lead vocals, bass guitar, keyboards in "Go back"
• André Jung - drums and percussion
• Arnaldo Antunes - Lead vocals
• Branco Mello - Lead vocals
• Tony Bellotto - Electric guitar, backing vocals
• Sérgio Britto - Lead vocals and keyboards
• Marcelo Fromer - Electric guitar
• Alberto Marcicano - Zither in "Demais"
• Eduardo Souto Neto - Arrangement and Conducting of metals in "Querem Meu Sangue" and "Balada Para John e Yoko")
• George Freire Soprano Saxophone in "Marvin"
• Gil and Nono -Trumpet
• Proveta and Baldo - Saxophone
• Ivan - Trombone