Milton Nascimento: Original Album Series

Sensing the way the rapt audience on the live album Amigo (1996) hangs on the singer’s every utterance underlines just how big a star Milton Nascimento is in his native Brazil. The trouble with mega-stars the world over is that, musically speaking, they have often been there and done that much earlier on in their careers. The abiding impression with this five-CD set, covering a ten-year period from 1993’s Angelus to 2003’s Pieta, is that of a great talent trying a bit too hard.

Another problem with mega-stars is a tendency to overload their projects with guests. Angelus is a case in point, although when the guest stars are of the quality of Pat Metheny, Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter and Peter Gabriel, you can’t quibble. If florid orchestral arrangements and heavenly choirs are your bag, then you’ll enjoy Amigo as much as the audience does. There’s plenty more syrup and little real goodness in the other live album, Tambores De Minas (1998), but Pieta is more of a return to form. It’s the Grammy-winning Nascimento (1997), however, that takes the prize. Stylistically it’s less cluttered and thematically it’s more focused, and one hankers after more simple but satisfying songs such as ‘O Cavaleiro’ over the course of this collection. This and other glittering moments from these five albums would have made a five-star compilation.