Som Imaginario were one of the earliest psychedelic bands emerging from Brazil. For 1970, their debut has to be considered groundbreaking, even if they weren't truly first for the country. The opening half is where the meat is on this album. Very psychedelic, with studio effects, fuzz guitar, the whole shebang (been awhile since I managed to get the word shebang into a review). Side 2 drifts off into more of a 60s pop vein, similar to how the Italians would do on occasion. Really not that much different than Gruppo 2001 in that regard. Overall it works out to a grade of very good, but disappointing only in that it appeared it was going to be that much more.
Ownership: CD: 1997 EMI. Part of a 3 CD box set known as the "Portfolio" series. Purchased new not long after release (good thing, as it's become quite scarce nowadays). There are times when I think maybe I should have never gone with CD reissues, and just stuck with newer releases for the platform, while continuing to hunt down the rarest original LPs. But it's packages such as this that reminds me how wonderful the medium can be. I don't forget what Brazilian LP originals looked and sounded like, before the advent of the CD reissue. They weren't the best pressings to begin with, and many were partied out from there. Perhaps understandably so, but not the best circumstances for collecting. Each of their 3 albums are packaged in nice mini-LP covers, with replicas of the original inner sleeves. Unfortunately there's no liner notes, which probably would have been in Portuguese, but I would have enjoyed them all the same. No bonus tracks either. For me, this is the definitive way to own these albums. If originals are found in the wilds, great, but this box set is more than satisfying for what I need.
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