As Quatro Estações
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''As Quatro Estações'' () is the fourth studio album by the Brazilian rock band
Legião Urbana Legião Urbana (Portuguese for Urban Legion) was a Brazilian rock band formed in 1982 in Brasília, Federal District (Brazil), Distrito Federal. The band primarily consisted of Renato Russo (vocals, guitar, bass, keyboards), Dado Villa-Lobos ...
. It was released on October 26, 1989. It is Legião Urbana's first release without bassist Renato Rocha, who was fired from the band prior to the album's recording sessions due to his lack of commitment to the group. With over 1,9 million copies sold (730,000 in its first year), it is the band's most commercially successful album, and it was certified
platinum Platinum is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a density, dense, malleable, ductility, ductile, highly unreactive, precious metal, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name origina ...
by ABPD Six of its eleven songs enjoyed good radio airplay.


Background and production


Renato Rocha's departure

Legião Urbana returned to the studio when they were about to achieve a million sold albums, when the commercial performance of all three previous albums were combined. Despite that, the atmosphere among members was bitter, partially due to the then recent Mané Garrincha stadium incident, but also because the situation of bassist Renato Rocha became more and more complicated. After he bought a ranch in
Mendes Mendes (, ''Genitive case, gen''.: ), the Greek language, Greek name of the ancient Egyptian city of Djedet, also known in ancient Egypt as Per (hieroglyph), Per-Banebdjedet ("The Domain of the Ram Lord of Djedet") and Anpet, is known today as Te ...
, he would take around two hours to reach the studio in Rio de Janeiro. He skipped many sessions and, when he did come, it would take him a while to mingle with the group. Many times he asked to take the tapes home so he could create his arrangements there. Six months into the album's creation, he was fired in a meeting at label EMI-Odeon's office. The remaining members decided he would maintain all his rights over the album, although they erased all his contributions and removed his name from the effort.


Songwriting

It took the album a year to be ready because the band struggled to create something that satisfied them. The situation reached a point in which Russo considered disbanding the group. However, because they had a high reputation in the label, the company gave them as much time and space as they needed. Producer Mayrton Bahia was the only one affected negatively by the delay. He was a
freelancer ''Freelance'' (sometimes spelled ''free-lance'' or ''free lance''), ''freelancer'', or ''freelance worker'', are terms commonly used for a person who is self-employed and not necessarily committed to a particular employer long-term. Freelance w ...
at the time and no longer a full-time employee of EMI. Therefore, he worked for months in a never ending project, preventing him from being paid.


Song information

A concert promoting the album took place at the
Palestra Itália Stadium The Palestra, often called the Cathedral of College Basketball, is a historic arena and the home gym of the Penn Quakers men's and women's basketball teams, volleyball teams, wrestling team, and Philadelphia Big 5 basketball. Located at 235 Sout ...
in 1990. This concert's recording was released as a live album in 2004, under the name '' As Quatro Estações ao Vivo''. During that performance, Russo said "Pais e Filhos" was written in the bathroom, and dedicated it to "everyone who thinks a cockroach is more important than the people we love". That was a response to
Paulinho Moska Paulo Corrêa de Araujo, also known as Moska or Paulinho Moska (born 27 August 1967, in Rio de Janeiro), is a Brazilian singer, composer and actor. He started to play the classical guitar when he was 13 years old, with friends. He graduated in ...
, then vocalist of Brazilian
punk Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...
band Inimigos do Rei, stating that the band's song "Uma Barata Chamada Kafka" (A Cockroach Named Kafka) was as good as Legião Urbana's song. Moska later covered "Meninos e Meninas", a song from this album. According to Bahia, the song was born with a lot of guitar layers and spare sounds, as if many songs existed in a single one. In order to solve it, he returned to cutting and gluing tape sections with duct tape. The song's lyrics discuss suicide. In 1994, when the band was performing at SBT's '' Programa Livre'', Russo reprehended the audience after they happily reacted to the announcement that they would play the song: The song "Feedback Song for a Dying Friend" is a tribute to American photographer
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, a couple of friends and Cazuza, who had
AIDS The HIV, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a retrovirus that attacks the immune system. Without treatment, it can lead to a spectrum of conditions including acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). It is a Preventive healthcare, pr ...
, a disease that would eventually kill him in 1990 and Russo in 1996. The album booklet has a translation of the lyrics. Originally, the song would be in Portuguese, with the name "Rapazes Católicos" (Catholic Guys). However, the lyrics were rejected (the band itself considered them "unpublishable") and changed to the final version in English, while retaining the original instrumental base. The translation is signed by writer Millôr Fernandes. Initially, Fernandes refused to do it, stating he didn't do translations to English. However, he changed his mind after the band switched languages and asked him to do a translation to Portuguese, instead. He did the job for a "highly professional" pay and was impressed by Russo's handling of the language, including accurate citations of Shakespeare. Fernandes is considered the greatest translator of Shakespeare for theater. The lyrics of "1965 (Duas Tribos)" refer to Revell models and Hanna-Barbera Studios. With "Meninos e Meninas", Russo suggested his bisexuality. Brazilian rock band
Titãs Titãs (, Portuguese for Titans) are a Brazilian Rock music, rock band from São Paulo. Though they primarily are classified as a rock band, the band have also experimented with genres such as New wave music, new wave, punk rock, ska, grunge, Mà ...
covered "Sete Cidades" on their album '' As Dez Mais''. The ending of "Se Fiquei Esperando Meu Amor Passar" includes the Agnus Dei in Portuguese, ending the album with a prayer.


Track listing


Certifications


Personnel

;Legião Urbana *
Renato Russo Renato Russo (born Renato Manfredini, Jr., March 27, 1960 – October 11, 1996) was a Brazilian musician who was the lead singer of the pop rock band Legião Urbana. A Brazilian film depicting his life and career was released in 2013, called ...
: vocals, acoustic and electric guitars, bass guitar, keyboards, harmonica *
Dado Villa-Lobos Eduardo "Dado" Dutra Villa-Lobos (born 29 June 1965) is a Belgian-born Brazilian musician, best known as the ex-guitarist of Brazilian rock band Legião Urbana. Along with singer Renato Russo and drummer Marcelo Bonfá, he was one of the foundi ...
: electric and acoustic guitars, bass guitar, percussion, mandolin * Marcelo Bonfá: drums, percussion, harmonica


References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Quatro Estacoes, As 1989 albums Legião Urbana albums