This is a Random Album Generator.
One album a day.
From the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.

Os Mutantes

Os Mutantes

1968

Os Mutantes
Album Summary

Os Mutantes is the debut album by the Brazilian tropicalia band Os Mutantes. It was originally released in 1968 by Polydor and blends traditional Brazilian music styles with American and British psychedelia. The album includes a cover of The Mamas & The Papas' "Once Was a Time I Thought", translated into "Tempo no Tempo", and a cover of "Le premier bonheur du jour", previously recorded by Françoise Hardy. It was reissued in 1999 on Omplatten Records and again in 2006 by Omplatten's (and Polydor's) parent company, Universal Records. The album has received critical acclaim around the world, and was put at #12 on Mojo magazine list of "50 Most Out-There Albums of All Time". It appears at number 9 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of 100 greatest Brazilian albums of all time. It is also listed at 39 on Rolling Stone's "Top 40 Stoner albums". It also appears at number 9 on the Rolling Stones's 10 Greatest Latin Rock Albums of All Time.

Wikipedia

Rating

2.98

Votes

7190
Genres
Rock
Psychedelic Rock

Reviews

Like a review? Give it a thumb up to help us display relevant reviews!
Sort by: Top Date
View Author
Wed Jun 02 2021
5

I listened to this album twice. The first time I quite enjoyed it but felt it was one of those albums that needs to be given more time to grow on me. The second listen opened up some of the melodies and rhythms and allowed me to pick apart some of the various styles and influences. Overall, I think that this album is criminally overlooked. We would do well to get outside of our Anglo-American concentration and see how what we are familiar with influences and has been influenced by what we are not familiar with.

👍
View Author
Tue Jul 20 2021
4

This is the kind of weird shit I signed up for

👍
View Author
Thu Mar 30 2023
5

This is you: “Sgt. Pepper’s is so psychedelic. The sounds on that record are totally kaleidoscopic and vibrant.” This is me: “Bat Macumba ê ê! Bat Macumba obá!”

👍
View Author
Wed Aug 18 2021
5

This is one of those albums that makes you stop and wonder “where have you been all my life”. Every song get more interesting as you listen harder. Really superb arrangements and instrumental/production choices lead to an amazing psych rock album. I’ll definitely be listening to this again- and I’m ashamed to have never heard of it until now. Into the Brazilian psych rock rabbit hole I go!

👍
View Author
Wed Apr 14 2021
4

Many people would be surprised at how open Brazilian musicians are to fusion with different styles. When I travelled to Brazil over the years I was fortunate to befriend a couple of music buffs who took me to some excellent concerts that demonstrate the wide variety of sounds. So the fucked up distorted riffs fused with samba in A Minha Menina seem par for the course. Some of this LP is wacky and wonderful while other bits are completely ridiculous. In the latter category is Ave Genghis Khan. It is so disjointed with insane riffs and I get the sense that even if I knew Portuguese the lyrics would still be meaningless. The name Ave Genghis Khan is ridiculous enough to make me rewind to Track 1. I love this album! 

👍
View Author
Mon May 10 2021
5

A surprising find; an classic psych album I had missed and probably dismissed at some point because it wasn't in English. Right up my alley musically. I only wish I could understand the lyrics

👍
View Author
Mon Nov 08 2021
5

orgulho brasileiro totalmente inusitado

👍
View Author
Sat Jun 12 2021
4

Weird and wonderful quirk factory. The Cuica is fast becoming one of my favourite instruments.

👍
View Author
Tue Aug 24 2021
4

Very experimental and needs time to get used to. Weirdly catchy. It's quite a cohensive album so it's hard to pinpoint a favourite song because the songs blended together for me and I can't remember which song was which. Le Premier Bonheur Du Jour is a tentative favourite for now. It was also difficult to know when one song ended and the next began simply because for some of the songs like Panis Et Circenses the first half of the song sounds very different to the second half. The distorted guitar (or whatever the instrument is) was a bit jarring at times.

👍
View Author
Fri Aug 26 2022
2

Wasn't high enough for this one

👍
View Author
Sat May 29 2021
5

La fusión que podría esperar de brasileños con lo psicodélico, experimental, ¿qué género es esto? La verdad es que la pasé bien, lo escuché dos veces y la segunda se me hizo más divertido, hay muchos sonidos por acá y de repente hasta parecen canciones de un musical. Es como un disco lúdico, pero visto en su momento, no sé qué tanto se sentía así o si era realmente serio. Sin duda, tengo un sesgo porque me emociona que nos toque algo que no está en inglés y de los sesenta, pero pues qué buena música nos tocó. Mis favs: "A Minha Menina", "Adeus Maria Fulô" y "Trem Fantasma". 9.5/10

👍
View Author
Wed Apr 21 2021
5

4.7 + The breadth of experiments with sound and the depth of playfulness, is what made this album an instant favorite, and which rewards frequent returns.

👍
View Author
Mon Sep 13 2021
5

I love this record. It's super psychedelic. I bought a reissued vinyl of this last year. I got into them when a current band I like (Chicano Batman) name-dropped them. It's really pretty music with some crazy production. I think this is a group of artists - not really a traditional band. Which is also cool.

👍
View Author
Thu Jan 21 2021
4

Feeling like im in a Mexican restaurant

👍
View Author
Fri May 28 2021
4

What a joy! I see multiple plays of this album in my future. Could eventually see myself going back and bumping this one up to a 5, but I can't just hand out 5's like they're tic tacs.

👍
View Author
Wed Apr 14 2021
3

This album was really out there, psychadelic Brazilian folk music and I hear influences from the Mamas and the Papas, Zappa and Beatles. This one is quite dense and very inventive so I think it will get even better with repeated listenings.

👍
View Author
Wed May 19 2021
3

Very 60s, I liked some of the songs. It sounded a bit Sgt. Pepper's-esque. Good background music but a bit too psychedelic depending on the mood.

👍
View Author
Fri Jul 23 2021
3

I like it for it's progressiveness. It's an incredibly forward thinking album and should most definitely be put on a shelf next to Revolver and Sgt. Pepper's, but that being said, the language barrier as well as some of the more avant-garde parts distance me from liking as much as I think I should. Highlights: 1, and 8.

👍
View Author
Sun Feb 13 2022
2

Odd but not necessarily in a good way

👍
View Author
Tue Sep 22 2020
1

This is so dated and not in a good way. Too late for a first listening. Points for originality, but way too busy and all over the place. That was probably the point but just seems annoying to me. Nice song titles.

👍
View Author
Thu Dec 17 2020
5

Fantástico, produção incrível, especialmente pra época. Uma mistura de rock, psicodelia, pop, lirismo... PROG excelente

👍
View Author
Fri Apr 23 2021
5

This is great! Really enjoyed it, would like to have it on while sipping a beer in the hammock

👍
View Author
Thu Feb 11 2021
5

Loved it. listened to it......then immediately listened to it again

👍
View Author
Wed Apr 28 2021
5

świetny album, im dłużej go słuchałem to coraz bardziej mi się podobał, super brzmienie, bardzo ciekawe instrumentarium, wpadające w ucho melodie, nietuzinkowe wokale i oryginalna zabawa muzyką, na pewno będe do niego wracał. Baby, senhor F i le premier bonheur du jour chyba moje ulubione tracki

👍
View Author
Mon Sep 13 2021
5

A pretty awesome album. Breath of fresh air. Pretty sure they are singing in Portuguese, so that’s cool. And the instrumentation is everything

👍
View Author
Thu Jan 20 2022
5

Tribalismo lisérgico, guitarras distorsionadas y rotura con la tradición brasileira. Pop y samba retrofuturistas con la única ambición de empatar y hacerte volar. Alucinante en todos los sentidos.

👍
View Author
Fri Feb 11 2022
5

Batshit crazy. And awesome. Like the soundtrack to some bananas euro-arthouse movie you keep falling asleep in.

👍
View Author
Sun Apr 24 2022
5

5/5. Musically innovative and wild and very ambitious for its time. Couldn’t ask for more 👍

👍
View Author
Sun Jul 03 2022
5

Really fun and unique album.

👍
View Author
Fri Jul 22 2022
5

Being in Portuguese I didn’t understand the lyrics. But if they are half was decent this is the best psychedelic rock record I’ve heard.

👍
View Author
Thu Sep 22 2022
5

Me re sorprendió esto 😮 enseguida lo volvi a escuchar.

👍
View Author
Thu Oct 06 2022
5

Classic. Havent listened to this in a long time

👍
View Author
Mon Oct 10 2022
5

Love, love, love Os Mutantes. I'm big fan of psychedelic rock in general, but they are probably my favorite psychedelic group of all. They are both more experimental and more fun than most other psychedelic bands. They have a very unique and diverse sound that manages to escape many of the cliches of psychedelia, while feeling more like a real trip. Almost surreal at times. Love the variety of their instrumentation, and their use of the studio to collage everything together.

👍
View Author
Mon Oct 10 2022
5

Wow! This is opening new channels in my brain. I want my art to be as free as this music makes me feel. There's all these things coming in and out - there's a dirty guitar, then a sweeping synth, a "doo bee doo" pop vocal, samples of a dinner party, switching genres on a dime, all while somehow creating a cohesive set of songs. A remarkable creation, I'm hungry for more where that came from.

👍
View Author
Mon Oct 17 2022
5

What did I just listen to? Loved it.

👍
View Author
Fri Oct 28 2022
5

A fantastic and surprising good with lot of personality and a good mont of crust

👍
View Author
Sun Nov 06 2022
5

I'm a sucker for Latin music. I'm a sucker for psychedelic rock too. I'm also a sucker for weird experimental stuffs I haven't heard before. This is literally a treat.

👍
View Author
Wed Nov 09 2022
5

This is one of the essential pieces of Brazilian music, and I cannot give it less than five stars. All the influences from psychedelic rock and Brazilian traditional rhythms like samba are here, making an impressive album with a lot of poetry in its lyrics. I love this album!

👍
View Author
Wed Nov 30 2022
5

Loved this. Some of the instrumentals made me think of the weirder end of the beach boys.

👍
View Author
Thu Jan 05 2023
5

Y'kno, I might just be tired enough to where this *really* clicked with me. It's fucking bizarre, isn't it? Sounds like a time capsule simultaneously from the past and future, or some sort of alien music (doesn't hurt I can't understand a word of Brazilian Portuguese). It's got pop hooks, it's got weirdness... like strange cousins of the Beatles, who got heavier into acid. Absolutely love it. Favorite tracks: "A Minha Menina", "Adeus Maria Fulô", Tempo No Tempo", "Baby"

👍
View Author
Thu Jan 26 2023
5

the Beatles Brazilian cousins took me on a journey that has changed me forever. I loved it so much

👍
View Author
Fri Feb 17 2023
5

I've been a fan of this album for a long time. Amazing tropicalia psychedlic album. Super fun and catchy. 5/5. Standout Tracks: Panis Et Circenses, A Minha Menina, Adeus Maria Fulô, Baby, Bat Macumba, Trem Fantasma, Tempo No Tempo, Ave Gengis Khan

👍
View Author
Thu Mar 23 2023
5

você, precisa tomar um sorveti *LIUUUP* na lanchoneti

👍
View Author
Wed Apr 05 2023
5

Loved it. Sounds fresh compared to the constant flow of British rock this project has been feeding me.

👍
View Author
Tue May 09 2023
5

Ég hafði heyrt Baby oft og verið hrifinn, en hin lögin voru full random fyrir minn smekk við fystu hlustun. Önnur hlustun var allt önnur upplifun og betri og sú þriðja var best. Frábær plata, random hljóðeffectar, svakalegur fuzz gítar og og skemmtileg lög.

👍
View Author
Sun Jun 25 2023
5

This was a surprise treat! Brazilian psychedelic rock with bossa nova influences. This hit the spot in a way I wasn’t expecting.

👍
View Author
Fri Aug 04 2023
5

Man, I was psyched to see this one show up today. Twenty years ago, I heard Bat Macumba on one of the Nuggets compilations, and it was such a standout track, I had to go find more by these guys. Eternally glad I did. I just love their joyful, chaotic psychedelic madness. Great songwriting, creative and fun arrangements, nice harmonies. I love the crazy left turns these songs take. Great stuff. All Os Mutantes albums are great.

👍
View Author
Sat Sep 09 2023
5

Highly experimental psychedelic record with plenty of hooks and sick riffs and other cool tricks that'll keep you coming back. There's no end to it's inventiveness. And honestly, the only albums I can think of that match it is stuff like the United States of America s/t, but this executes their ideas and is much more accessible. Whimsical at times, dreamy in others, uses musique concrete to blow away audiences with sudden yet smooth transitions within songs themselves. A landmark of the tropicalia movement that got me into exploring all sorts of Brazilian rock. Every track is memorable and leaves an impression with their own quirks that make every second of every song a fun time. I have tripped to this before, and I'm guaranteed to do it again.

👍
View Author
Sun Sep 10 2023
5

you have to get used to the sound but it's a great album... this is why I am confident to finish all these albums because with every 10 boring or mid albums there is one great new find

👍
View Author
Thu Jul 15 2021
4

Weird and charming. Feels like a hidden gem.

👍
View Author
Mon Jan 25 2021
4

קסום rock latin נהדר נהנת

👍
View Author
Wed Feb 10 2021
4

Freue mich, das entdeckt zu bekommen. Wäre dafür gern 25 Jahre jünger, mit weniger Terminen und mehr einen sitzen. Ganz geiler Scheiss auf jeden Fall, und für mich auch deutlich spannender und lustiger als vieles von den deutlich bekannteren Contemporaries aus den Kulturhegemonen UK und USA. Bunt schillernde 3,6 Sterne

👍
View Author
Sat May 29 2021
4

Siempre son refrescantes estos descansos del anglocentrismo de esta lista. Variaciones chidas entre desorden, ruido y vocales limpios. Me gustó la verdad, sobre todo O relogio, con sus variaciones repentinas de mood; y Bat Macumba, Le premier du jour porque parece que apartir de ahí la cordura se va perdiendo en el disco y Ave Gengis khan que finaliza medio frenética.

👍
View Author
Wed Feb 10 2021
4

"Mas as pessoas na sala de jantar São ocupadas em nascer e morrer" (Panis et circenses) "Você precisa saber da piscina Da margarina, da Carolina, da gasolina Você precisa saber de mim" (Baby) Pues todo bien por aquí

👍
View Author
Sun May 23 2021
4

This was cool as hell, feels like dropping an alka seltzer into a cocktail

👍
View Author
Tue Jan 26 2021
4

Very cool, like a psychedelic mixtape. Some insane Oboe and Bassoon playing too.

👍
View Author
Thu Jul 15 2021
4

One word Wednesday: FuzzyCoolPortugeseChoirBoyPsychedelia. (Is that one word?)

👍
View Author
Wed May 26 2021
4

Lekker experimentele rock. Hou ik wel van

👍
View Author
Mon Jun 14 2021
4

The Brazilian Velvet Underground & Nico anyone? I really enjoyed the oddity of this.

👍
View Author
Mon Jun 14 2021
4

Look, we all know Robert Plant's favourite from this is "baby"...that's a given. I thought it was pretty cool.

👍
View Author
Thu Mar 11 2021
4

I liked some of this alot. A little too meandering in the track list but lots of good stuff.

👍
View Author
Thu Apr 08 2021
4

I definitely like this one. This is the kind of album I came here for. I’ve heard of it, but never listened to it for whatever reason. But what a beautifully bizarre album. This is another band that I’m aware of, yet have never listened to. Well, I’m about to get more familiar with them. Or at least a little bit, I don’t know, I don’t have the longest attention span. But this one’s great

👍
View Author
Sat May 29 2021
4

Muy interesante pero muy estraño

👍
View Author
Thu Jul 15 2021
4

Idk what they're saying but I can keep grooving to this. It has that "oh this has definitely been in a lot of movie soundtracks" quality to it. Timeless and boppin'

👍
View Author
Wed May 19 2021
4

In a strange psychedelic samba way, I liked this album!

👍
View Author
Sat May 08 2021
4

These songs are built on a 60's pop/rock core, but tons of experimental engineering which makes it a wild listen. Sometimes the recording sounds amazing---sometimes more of a miss. Sometimes very hectic, but lots of variety in the compositions. There's also a Brazilian flavor here---it doesn't come through on every song, but fun when it does. 1. Fun, upbeat. wacky breakdown. 2. Woah: When the fuzzy guitar comes in 3. I love the guitar at the beginning of this song too. This one is a welcome slow-down, with a busy break in the middle. 4. Starts with fun bird sounds/is that a bottle cap? Then monkey noises? A jungle jam for sure. 5. The full organ and voice contrasts nicely with the guitar, which sounds like it's being played through a broken pocket radio. ... 8. Reminds me of a Zombies song with samba-sort-of twist 9. This is a great song. Weird, slow, fun intro to something totally different. Catchy. 10. Awesome clarinet. 11. Best song on the album? Love the drums. Love the riff. Love the organ. Love the guitar solo. Score: 4 - loved it

👍
View Author
Sat May 08 2021
4

Thoroughly enjoyed their flare, especially with the Spanish vocals. Loved it, but 5 stars feels like a high bar that I’m not ready to dish out.

👍
View Author
Thu Jul 29 2021
4

Baby & A Minha Menina are fantastic. This album is super cool and fun and psychedelic AF. And it’s Brazilian! Right up my street :) 🇧🇷

👍
View Author
Sun Aug 15 2021
4

Weird psychedelia that manages to stay fresh for the whole album, though isn't exactly polished. 7

👍
View Author
Sun Aug 15 2021
4

8/10. I'm hearing a lot more circus than bread in the first track, but maybe the lyrics I don't understand balance that out. Overall a fun album to listen to, I like that they changed up the pace a lot.

👍
View Author
Sun Aug 15 2021
4

such a strange album! i liked how much variety there was, and i really loved some of these tracks. i think it suffered a lot from poor mixing, and at times the distorted guitar was a bit grating. 8/10

👍
View Author
Tue Aug 31 2021
4

Well this was fun. Very entertaining. All kinds of styles and a kitchen sink of sounds but always delivered with a wink and a smile. Much the same as when I first heard, Histoire de Melody Nelson thus us one that will get multiple listens. 4 🌟

👍
View Author
Fri Sep 03 2021
4

Fun album but unlikely I'll find myself back here again

👍
View Author
Fri Sep 10 2021
4

Really cool flair. Could have come out last year and I wouldn't be surprised.

👍
View Author
Wed Sep 22 2021
4

I’ve got a soft spot for Brazilian music. Doesn’t get much funkier, for sure.

👍
View Author
Sun Oct 03 2021
4

Thats a good 1968 album 😀

👍
View Author
Mon Oct 11 2021
4

Absolutely enjoyed this and had never heard it before. A few of the songs sounded like proto-Stereolab

👍
View Author
Wed Oct 13 2021
4

At first I was like wtf, I'm not gonna listen that, but I gave it a go and boy oh boy this was gold

👍
View Author
Thu Nov 11 2021
4

Reminded me a lot of the Beatles, even though it wasn't in english. Pretty fun music. No recognized songs

👍
View Author
Mon Dec 06 2021
4

Enjoyable psychedelia/experimental, and compared to Caetano Veloso, this is more my speed in regards to the Tropicalia movement.

👍
View Author
Mon Dec 06 2021
4

Music for a fever dream. I love this. It’s definitely not something to dive into every day, but it is absolutely perfect for when this kind of mood strikes.

👍
View Author
Fri Dec 17 2021
4

Sweet, french film on a beach vibes

👍
View Author
Sun Dec 19 2021
4

I think I got one of the weirder albums on this list because I haven’t heard anything like this before. It felt like the experimental Spanish version of psychedelic music and it felt totally unique. Based off music alone, this is a 3 but the sheer uniqueness makes it a 4. Fav: a minha menina

👍
View Author
Wed Jan 19 2022
4

Wacky psychedelic Latin album. At first listen, I thought it was all over the place and I did not like it and was glad when it was over. At second listen, I still thought it was all over the place, but I enjoyed it a lot more and at times could not suppress a stupid smile appearing on my face. I'm confused.

👍
View Author
Wed Feb 16 2022
4

Liked it towards the end much more than when I started it. Didn't think I was enjoying it and then found myself nodding my head and tapping my foot by mid album. Need to learn Spanish.

👍
View Author
Mon Feb 28 2022
4

More than just a Brazilian style Beatles and psychedelic 60’s rip off, this album is all sorts of charming weird and wonderful.

👍
View Author
Wed Mar 02 2022
4

Really enjoyed this. Knew a couple of songs (A Mina Mehnina & Bat Macumba) but great to hear the whole album. This demonstrates just why Sgt Pepper is cited as such an influential album. A lot of the sounds, styles and even the cabaret wackiness are all borrowed from that album. Particularly the horns of Panis. The Beatles’ previous works, particularly Revolver’s staccato fuzz guitars can be heard here too. All this is filtered through a Brazilian sensibility, taking it somewhere else entirely in places. The album sounds like it was a lot of fun to make, and a great example of world psychedelia of the time, and just how big that genre's influence was.

👍
View Author
Wed Mar 09 2022
4

its spanish but it sounds like a 60s softrock band, and 60s spanish music and it has some intersting sounds in it that remind me of more electronical influences so its quite an intersting album. pretty good for it's era

👍
View Author
Mon Mar 21 2022
4

Rating: 8/10 Best songs: A minha menina, Bat macumba, Trem fantasma

👍
View Author
Mon Mar 21 2022
4

Glad there are more Latin music coming up~

👍
View Author
Wed Mar 23 2022
4

The 32nd album proposed by "1001 albums generator" is the first one that doesn't come from the Anglo-Saxon world, and I will possibly wait a very long time before an Italian or Ethiopian production appears. This project should be called "1001 Anglo-Saxon Albums You Must Hear Before You Die" (maybe "only" 950 albums would remain). Indeed, the British and United States pop music has had a tremendous influence on the international production. This Os Mutantes album provides a good example of that, as much of its songs are deeply influenced by 60s Anglo-Saxon music. But what makes Os Mutantes interesting is the absorption of those codes by the Brazilian tradition, giving us a "mutant" music that can only enrich popular music.

👍
Load more reviews