WOMEN IN BLACK

Text by Alceu Natali, copyright protected by Law 9610/98

Outside she dresses in mourning with diatomic derring-do, She is chic, Charming, Downright stunning, Inside she hides herself with no chromatic flamboyance, She is all mystery, All sortilege, All complexily adultery, She shows up in bizarre dreams some men have once in a blue moon, She is sinister with the left hand, Remote viewing with clairvoyant eyes, Magical with an intuitive mind, She lets her pleated skirt fall between her knees and feet, She is sharp, Scholarly, Erotically classy, She raises the lampshade skirt between her tighs and navel, She is bold, Crazy looking, And has a learnt by heart chat, A hasty man will not spare that woman wearing a nightgown-like dress, Available for love anywhere, Not even that both ways swinger with sunglasses and clad in rompers, Willing to win the body slipped in a suit with a head covered by a top hat, Outside she is impermeable and hangs on to black heat, She is steadfast, Almost inexpugnable, She deconstructs herself in colors, Inside she pierces through and radiates white light, She is loyal, Almost angelical, But does not discompose the monochromatic artifices, She is the very bizarre dreams some men have once in a lifetime and another in death, A sudden appearance, An enigmatic behavior, A surprising vanishing, She lowers her pleated skirt between her tights and shins, Knotty treatment, Stepping on, She rises the wrinkled skirt between her knees and groins, Remarkable restraint, Extroverted volition, Freed from compromise, She is fun, The oportunist man will not dismiss the exotic woman with a hat and transparent clothes, Standing by for a smart talk, Not even the teenager with braided hair, Ready to dovetail the one with a big bow tie on her frontal waist and with a look of oh, drive me crazy.

SEASON'S GREETINGS

 

Text by Alceu Natali, copyright protected by Law 9610/98

Where are you spending Christmas? On the mountains? In my immense longing for you? This distance unable to speak with our eyes, won't stop us from exchanging fake gifts. I did wish Jesus really existed and was born on this 25th of December, celebrating the resurrection of a Babylonian god. I couldn't grow up like him, and for much longer than his brief childhood, My wasted years are lost in the time he didn't have, and like him, my life can't escape the mythological cave. You know more than a little about this. In how many of my dreams have you been? In how many of my thoughts and promises? Only god knows that this may be the last time I intend to deceive myself. Only he decides when my luck ends, as he does with death. Only I can decide when I must reinvent myself before the scythe lady comes to take me for a ride underground. Where are you you spending New Year's Day? On the ocean plains? In my messianic expectations? I'll make vows of change, I'll pay for the new and the old, Take down my tree on the sixth day, Of the kings who lost their primacy at the Council of Nicaea, I wish I had been born in your place, And you wouldn't exist to be disappointed with me.

A BIG SHINING COMET THAT CROSSED OUR SKIES ONLY ONCE

All reviews written by Alceu Natali with Copyright protected by Brazilian law 9610/98 (POSTED ON WWW.AMAZON.COM USA ON NOVEMBER 16TH, 2008)   

In 1983 Big Country was among the next big things: the ones that would make the grade like, for instances, U2 (War, Under A Blood Red Sky), Cocteau Twins (Head over Heels), Depeche Mode (Construction Time Again) and others, and among the ones that would never make it, such as  Aztec Camera (High Land, Hard Rain), Spandau Ballet (True), Thompson Twins (Quick Step and Side Kick) and many others. Unfortunately, Big Country remained among the latter. Their 1st album, The Crossing, is a masterpiece. Steeltown, their 2nd, was not as good as their 1st, but it did have some great songs like Steeltown, Where the Rose Is Sown, Come Back to Me, and Just A Shadow. The Seer, their 3rd album, was not as good as their 2nd and it did not have great songs. And the story of Big Country ends here. What they produced after their 3rd album is not worthwhile commenting about. That is a shame. They were doing even better than The Who, the band that produced the best debut album of pop-rock history, followed it up with two fair to middling albums and made us wait four years for their next great album (Tommy). Big Country's 2nd and 3rd albums were a little bit better than The Who's 2nd and 3rd. Once The Who delayed four years to prove they were not an one album hit wonder, I thought I could hope Big Country would eventually surprise me with their Tommy someday. When I first heard The Crossing I was a 100% sure they were going to be one of the real things, really. I am very sorry they were not. And even more sorry that Stuart Adamson, the band leader and responsible for Big Country's initial success, took his life by his own hand in 2001 at the age of 43. Sad. I will review here only the 10 tracks contained in the original release of 1983. 1. In A Big Country opens the album superbly, heralding a great collection of songs is just born, just like the 1st track of Sgt. Peppers does. 2. Inwards is an incredibly good song that gives the album a sense of perfect continuation, a sense of assurance, pleasure and a desire for more, making you feel like staying in all night with a song like this. 3. Chance is among the best ballads I ever listened to. The instrumental break just after the first verses and repeated later has a westernized Japanese-like sound that makes it unique. 4. A Thousand Stars has an U2-like texture, sounding a little like the 2nd track but faster, thus giving it a sense of emergency. 5. The Storm has the taste of a great movie sound track, suitable for a western saga. 6. Harvest Home is an altruistic song, with a sense of glory and victory, as if it is joyfully celebrating a struggling achievement. 7. Lost Patrol also reminds me of a movie sound track that gives me both a sense of danger and triumph. 8. Close Action is another great ballad, it is Big Country playing The Beatles. 9. Fields Of Fire (400 Miles) is the other side of the coin that has In a Big Country. It is not a Sgt. Pepper reprise. It is a new Sgt. Pepper. Fantastic. 10. Porrohman is the true example of how a big band must end a classic album.

In A Big Country

Inwards

Chance

A Thousand Stars

The Storm

Harvest Home

Lost Patrol

Close Action

Fields Of Fire

Porrohman