Milton Nascimento: Crooner : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone

Album Reviews

Behind the melancholy facade of Milton Nascimento's lush Brazilian pop lies a quirky, almost ironic sense of humor. On this highly eccentric collection of cover songs, he tackles standards such as "Only You" and the dreamy "Aquellos Ojos Verdes," and you're never sure whether he is offering a tender homage, finding mischievous delight in the campiness of it all or a little bit of both. The album's most surreal moment finds him transforming Michael Jackson's "Beat It" into a percussive odyssey framed by a deadpan delivery and epic backing vocals. But Nascimento's irreverent approach works even better with songs from his native country. He picks the Sergio Mendes Sixties classic "Mas Que Nada," cleanses its lounge affectations with his soulful voice, and in the process builds a bridge between Brazil's two foremost musical schools: bossa nova and Tropicalia. One of Latin music's most unpredictable artists, he has turned a seemingly erratic tour through his personal fetishes into a sweeping journey, as warm and expressive as his albums of self-penned material. (RS 833)

ERNESTO LECHNER