O Monstro Precisa de Amigos is the second studio album by Portuguese band Ornatos Violeta, released on 22 November 1999 by Polydor. Two music videos were filmed, for the songs "Ouvi Dizer" and "Capitão Romance". The recording of Ornatos' second studio album was a difficult one. The band rejected "dozens of songs" during the album's development sessions with producer Mário Barreiros, with the band's members becoming so frustrated that they expressed a sudden desire of giving up on the project completely after just two months of production. Some of these rejected songs, such as "Como Afundar", "Há-de Encarnar", "Rio de Raiva" and "Devagar" were later included in the 2011 release of a CD box containing both studio albums and a third CD, named Inéditos/Raridades, with previously unreleased songs. Years later, Barreiros said he had identified that frustration as merely the "permanent insatisfaction of the great artists" that allowed them to push their art further away.
This is a quite versatile rock album by Portuguese band Ornatos Violeta. Many of the songs have impressive arrangements (f.e. "Dia Mau") with the help of Corvos (a string quartet that plays mostly rock songs). The songs have lots of ideas and are complex, but most of the time it works great.
A nice discovery! Ambitious alt-rockish songs, some hints of muse in there
Good to have a change from the UK/US core of the list. Probably the first Portuguese album I’ve knowingly listened to. Can’t make out a word of the lyrics and but it did suit the music well drifting from smoother Spanish sounding to a harder more Eastern European vibe. Personal view decent but probably won’t be revisiting but glad to have heard it and a good addition to the list
It's pretty alright. 3 stars.
Pretty eclectic, not too bad. Bit of a mix of late 90s tropes - some sounded a bit like Muse, some a bit like Tool, a shitload of ska-ish punk. Not too bad. 3/5.