Sergio Mendes TIMELESS: Comments and poll

[Mike Blakesley]

I haven't played the whole album

You really should listen to the whole thing. There are several songs that aren't "rap" and you might like some of those. Not to worry, we will still have plenty to say about the old albums here at the Corner so feel free to put forth any questions or comments you might have. Welcome to the forum!

 

[walterphil]

i'm not a big rap fan myself, but i would always give it a listen as long as there was a real song or melody lurking underneath (prince, ton loc, young m.c., pm dawn, etc.).

mr. will i. am, and the rest of the black eyed peas seem to be sincerely enamoured of sergio (and vice versa.) and there is indeed lots of singing on this, not the least from the mrs. gracinha herself.

while this ain't gonna take the place of my japanese brasil 66 reissues, i'm really glad it's been released. glad for sergio, us here, and the music world in general. geez whatever keeps him going and out in the current music world is alright by me. (who knows, maybe the next time he'll drag lani out of mothballs!)

(also i think justin timberlake is a good singer, and in general, a nice guy.)

 

[Morten Bjorgan]

I will forever love the music Sergio has produced through the years, and one day I will listen to Timeless. But as a drummer I know I will dislike the lousy programming of lo-fi drum sounds that mr. I.am.will or what his name is. When Phil Collins ages ago made the hit "One more night" with a very cheap drum machine and a very simple programming, this was part of the sound and sounds great on this song. But for me, who loves great drumming and percussion, the programming on Timeless is a turnoff.
Of course I know that even Steely Dan uses machines, but it sounds good. Rap artists usually use a boring standard loop of two or four bars the whole talking through, and I think that this is bad.
But the world is changing. A lot of young people probably don't react at all, having grown up with such repeating rhythm patterns and narrow sound.
I am one of the old school who loves the drum and perc parts of Sergio's earlier productions.

Anyone who knows if Joe Pizzulo is still alive and well?
When Warren Wiebe died a few years ago, we lost a great voice. (of course Justin Timberlake sings well, in between showers).
I hope that Pizzulo is going strong.


mb

 

[Cortnee]

Anyone who knows if Joe Pizzulo is still alive and well?
When Warren Wiebe died a few years ago, we lost a great voice. (of course Justin Timberlake sings well, in between showers).I hope that Pizzulo is going strong.
mb

Yes, Joe is still alive and he's still performing. Last spring, he had recorded a live concert cd with Kevyn Lettau & Lou Pardini in the Phillipines.
Who is Warren Wiebe?
Let's not give Justin Timberlake too much credit now...............

You know guys, I can't help but to sit back and to laugh about TIMELESS. A while back I had put a post titled " Sergio Duets With Fergie" and the responses top that post were somewhat ignorant & rude. A few people had even joked about Fergie and they had thought I had meant Fergie THe Duchess Of York. Now TIMELESS is released and Fergie from the BEP DOES appear on TIMELESS, so now some people in this forum are eating their words and I AM LAUGHING!

 

[Morten Bjorgan]

Hih.
Warren Wiebe was a great singer, a high-pitched great tenor voice, in the same category as Joe Pizzulo, Joseph Williams, Peter Cetera, Bill Champlin, Steve Winwood.
He sings most of the songs on David Foster's wonderful pop-music-album "River of love" from 1990.
So, after having listened to these guys, I am not very much impressed by Justin Timberlake and other boyband-singers. Not to mention will.i.am and other talkers. But I am a musician, and don't care about facades and fake.
My favourite male singer is, though, Gino Vannelli.

But I hope that Sergio will wake up one day and decide to make the best album ever. And that some rich fellow, Bill Gates or another, will provide the dollars.

have a fine weekend.

Morten

 

[Mike Blakesley]

Now TIMELESS is released and Fergie from the BEP DOES appear on TIMELESS, so now some people in this forum are eating their words

Including you, apparently....didn't you say once that you would never buy a Sergio album with RAP on it?

I hope that Sergio will wake up one day and decide to make the best album ever

He already did.... LOOK AROUND and/or EQUINOX

 

[A&Mguyfromwayback]

I will forever love the music Sergio has produced through the years, and one day I will listen to Timeless. But as a drummer I know I will dislike the lousy programming of lo-fi drum sounds that mr. I.am.will or what his name is. When Phil Collins ages ago made the hit "One more night" with a very cheap drum machine and a very simple programming, this was part of the sound and sounds great on this song. But for me, who loves great drumming and percussion, the programming on Timeless is a turnoff. mb

I agree with you that's it's a tragedy that loops have replaced real drummers in such a huge way in pop music. But actually, one of things I like in many parts of TIMELESS is the fact that they sampled Mike Shapiro and Meia Noite playing real Brazilian percussion live, with its slight push-and-pull, and made loops out of them. It makes a lot of the grooves work for me. My least favorite grooves are definitely the ones where those live loops are buried in the mix....

 

[Mike Blakesley]

Sergio is #48 on the Billboard charts this week, down from #44. Very impressive. (Usually hip-hop type albums have a massive drop in week #2, so positive word of mouth is keeping this selling apparently.)

 

[Morten Bjorgan]

But drum machines, or computer drums, can be programmed wonderfully.

Listen to Jimmy Haslip's album from 3-4 years ago, produced by Ross Vannelli, if I don't remember wrong. Was the title "Red Heat", or something like that. A glittering good album, instrumental, with hard-to-believe grooves and the most realistic perc and cymbals sounds.

So, it is possibly to make good sounding computer drumming, and I can't let go not to be annoyed by i.am.will's lousy amateurish programming. Or lack of programming, - maybe they used default patterns in the computer. Factory set.
I made myself a brilliant mix of Sergio songs on a cd to have in my car and to give to friends who hasn't heard of Sergio. I found it yesterday, and will listen to it loud on my way home tonight, after playing guitar for a superb girl singer that I work with.

have a fine Saturday.

morten

 

[Morten Bjorgan]

Is Joe Skinner still around?

I have lost his email address. I guess he doesn't agree with me about Timeless.

morten b.

 

[bossaguy]

This is an old man's attempt to earn his last bucks on the bad taste of the youth. Have never listened to anyone as annoying as the I am guy.
And I listened to the whole album. It sucks.

 

[JMK]

Sergio is #48 on the Billboard charts this week, down from #44. Very impressive. (Usually hip-hop type albums have a massive drop in week #2, so positive word of mouth is keeping this selling apparently.)

I'm not so sure this is good news. I fully expected this to get into the top 20 at least, considering the PR push. But time will tell. Has the single charted yet? (Sorry, haven't poked around the internet to look it up yet).

 

[Mike Blakesley]

Nice first post, bossaguy.

 

[Dave]

Yes, what could be wrong with getting the Younger Listener-crowd, at least interested in something like "Berimbau/Consolacao"...? We could use another track like that one, as well as John Legend's "Please, Baby, Don't" and, yeah, ...Anything Black-Eyed Peas-related could've really been relegated to just "Mas Que Nada", even though "Surfboard" is also pretty good...!


Dave

 

[TulitaPepsi]

I'm really torn about this album - on one level I am thrilled The Man is finally getting his due and is actually charting, and I can't blame him for getting excited about working with a young guy of 30 who worships him, and whose every statement regarding Sergio's importance I emphatically agree with. I can see how Sergio would be bored out of his skull at the prospect of doing a CD of the same-old-same old, and I applaud him for wanting to try something emphatically new and different.

But overall, I'm pretty dissapointed in TIMELESS. After many listens, I return to my initial thoughts. TIMELESS sounds more like a Black Eyed Peas album with 'special guest star' Sergio Mendes than a REAL Sergio Mendes album (and I don't think playing "Where's Waldo?" with a Sergio passage out of "So Many Stars", "Comin' Home Baby" or "Slow Hot Wind" counts) It bothers me that the best female singers one hears (Lani and Gracinha) have been shunted to 'sampled' or guest-star/background vocalists, while will.i.am seems to be featured or at least mentioned in what seems like 90% of the time. TIMELESS is a quality album, but it 'aint quite the Sergioathon so many of us have been thirsting for over the past eight years.

Most reviewers (who are overwhelmingly postive) seem to understand this as well:

"..the album really takes off when will.i.am of The Black-Eyed Peas - who raps way too much - finally steps out of the way. "

"Mendes enthusiasts may warm to the introduction of hip-hop to his oeuvre, but it's BEP fans who will be most at home with this LP."

"the name of the Brazilian bossa nova king may be on the cover, but it's clear this project belongs to Will.I.am"

"Mr. Mendes plays keyboards throughout. But it is overwhelmingly Will.i.am's album"

"The best sounds by far on the album are those with the most direct participation of Mr. Mendes (heard primarily in the instrumentation, not vocals) with the least intrusion from the contemporary artists."

"for the first few tracks, Timeless sounds more like a new Peas platter than a Mendes joint"

"As a producer, will.i.am means well and in general does a fine job -- though he is, as would be expected, a tad overzealous in working with one of his idols. "

"there's too much of Will.i.am and his Peas at the expense of Mr. Mendes."

 

[Morten Bjorgan]

Good to hear that there are other Sergio Mendes-lovers out there who are sceptical of Timeless, like myself.
I can't understand that Sergio did this. He is more or less a guest artist with a few lovely small keyboard details here and there. But in general, it is a mediocre pop album, where a rap artist is doing what he can; make a rap album like most other rap albums.
I wonder if Sergio was present at all during mixdown and mastering of the album. On all songs there is a horrible, old-fashioned handclap-machine like the ones we used in the seventies. And way too loud. To me this stupid effect is so annoying and disturbing that I still haven't managed to listen to the whole album. Although I tried on my two hour ride yesterday. And I think that two average-quality pop-songs on an album of 15 tunes is a rip-off.
I have been longing for many years for a new Sergio Mendes album.
Of course, this discussion is about taste. And I am one who has about all Sergio's albums, and love them all. Except this latest one, which I hope indeed will not be Sergio's last ! !
I think this album is to sophisticated for the youngsters, and too disappointingly simple for the older ones.
The young ones download the album, the older ones probably don't buy it if they listen to it in the store.

Hello to Joe Skinner.


regards,
Morten Bjorgan
Norway

 

[Mike Blakesley]

I have been longing for many years for a new Sergio Mendes album.

This is why I enjoy making compilations so much, I think. With most of my favorite artists, their newer music is not the equal of their older stuff, so I get a kick out of putting a new comp together and then when I listen to my various homemade albums, I never know for certain exactly what might play next and it's a small thrill when the next tune kicks in.

FWIW and back on topic -- that 'handclap' effect is a mainstay of the hiphop sound and has been for years, so it doesn't sound out of place on the album. Indeed for some youngsters it might be a bit of a touchstone.

 

[Trevor]

I wanted to listen to the CD for awhile, before really posting any comments about it...

Oddly enough, I voted for Bananeira. It's the song that gets stuck in my head the most. I think Mr. Vegas does more of a "toast" than a "rap", but that's a gray area.

Mas Que Nada sounds better here than it does on "Arara".

That Heat is good. It's interesting to hear how they sampled "Slow Hot Wind" and gave it a new twist. I feel the same way about "yes, yes y'all" with the original "Comin' Home Baby".

I think Q-Tip and will.i.am add just enough of light rap into The Frog, and I don't think that it takes anything away from the song.

Let Me has a nice 2 piano solo (2 distinct pianos at the same time soloing). The counter-melody "la-la-la-la"s don't really impress me. Sounds a little childish.

Please Baby Don't is a classic! The lyrics have the mood of "Masquerade" (on Ye-Me-Le) set to a fresh Bossa Beat! It springs my curiousity about John Legend and see what his music sounds like.

Timeless the song is nice. For some reason I think of "You gotta be strong, you gotta bold, you gotta be..." song.

"Berimbau / Consolacao", "E Menina", and "Lamento" are songs I would expect from a new Sergio CD. Berimbau is worth it's weight in gold! I think Stevie and Gracinha are flawless! This is my second favorite song. But all these songs are very predictable. And I don't mean that in a bad way, but "it's been done". (if that makes sense)

Loose Ends is another favorite. I like the rap, and while I am not a fan of Justin Timberlake... as a reviewer said: "don't be hating, this boy can sing"

Surfboard, Samba da Bencao, and Fo' Hop are good filler songs.

My next goal is to make a compilation CD of "original song" followed by "remake".

 

[Mike Blakesley]

My next goal is to make a compilation CD of "original song" followed by "remake".

I like that idea - but if I were doing it, I'd put all the originals first, then all the remakes in the same order. I think I'd enjoy that more, but that's the fun of comps.

 

[Trevor]

Mike Blakesley said:

I'd put all the originals first, then all the remakes in the same order.

Hi Mike, I thought about that, but then I would want to hear the remake, so I would be constantly FF and Rew on my discman. Original following the remake saves battery power. I do admire your ability to listen to all of the remakes without wanting to bounce back to the original.


Trevor

 

[TulitaPepsi]

I didn't see Sergio on the Billboard charts this week...has his album fallen some more?

(I can only see the Top 50...not a subscriber so I can't view the entire top 100)

 

[Mr Bill]

I believe it's #44 on BillBoard. Tower has it at #17 on their charts.

--Mr Bill

 

[TulitaPepsi]

I just checked, Mr. Bill ...it wasn't in the top 50 at all

 

[JMK]

That's weird, because I just checked and it was #49. Even weirder, it says it's only charted for 2 weeks, so maybe Mike meant #49 and not #48 in the post above. ???

 

[JMK]

Here's the URL where I found it:

http://billboard.com/bbcom/charts/c...e+Billboard+200&pageNumber=Top+11-50&g=Albums