The 1980s and early 1990s in Brazil were the golden era of rock. Paralamas do Sucesso were one of the great bands from the Brazilian rock scene. The band had their primetime around 1995 achieving relative success throughout Latin America, especially Argentina. Uma Brasileira was released in 1995 on the album Vamo Batê Lata which came after the commercial failure of Severino one year later, the critics considered Severino way too much experimental. Vamo Batê Lata came to consolidate the change of style of the band, who embraced latin influences with percution instruments and rhythms along with a more present set of horns with some songs having sort of a ska feel to it like Uma Brasileira that got posted to the playlist but also the politically engaged and polemic Luis Inácio (300picaretas).
In this projet we don’t usually translate the names of artists and bands into english but this one is an execption because it’s name is notoriously weird. It translates roughly to Success Fenders.
Paralamas do Sucesso genre evolution
The band indicated a change in their style with the album Severino in 1994 which culminated in 1995 with the album Vamo Batê Lata.The song Vamo Bate Lata, weirdly is present in Severino but to tis day is the reresentation of this chage that took the band a bit further from pure rock and mixed the set of horns and latin influences into their sound.
Paralamas do Sucesso music changed once again through tragedy
In 2001 the lead singer Herbert Vianna suffered an accident on an ultralight plane and became paraplegic. The band spent one year away from work while the singer recovered and in 2002 the band went back to thestage with Herbert playing and singing from a wheelchair. The albums released after the accident were more introspective ballads closer to rock and a bit further from the agitated Latin rhythmics. The biggest hit from thispost-tragedy part of the band’s history is the loving and somewhat sad and reflective Cuide bem do seu Amor written by Herbert Vianna himself.
Paralamasdo Sucesso is probably my favorite Brazilian band of all time. It is common for me to remember one of their songs with a news, sound, or word working as a trigger. The day this song was posted I heard a horn riff in another song that reminded me of Uma Brasileira.
