Legião Urbana Guide, Meaning , Facts, Information and Description
Legião Urbana, which means in english "Urban Legion" is the most sucessful rock band that had ever existed in Brazil. Created in 1983, the band continued to exist until 1996, with the death of the vocalist Renato Russo.
Legião Urbana is not Legião Urbana without Renato Russo. He created the band in 1983, in Brasilia, after the band which he was, the Aborto Eletrico, ceased to exist, due to intense discurssions between Renato and the brothers Fe and Flavio Lemos. These brothers would also create a rock band, Capital Inicial, that would also make sucess, until the actual days, but by far not the same that Legião Urbana reached.
Renato Russo was the former creator of the band, vocalist, played guitars, bass or keyboards, and was the composer of aproximally 95% or more of the songs of the band.
First, the band was formed with Marcelo Bonfá (drums), Eduardo Paraná (guitars) and Paulo Paulista (keyboards). After little time, both Paraná and Paulista would abandon the band. Finally, Dado-Villa Lobos entered in the band as the former guitarrist. In the beggining of 1985, Renato Rocha entered, with the bass, letting Renato Russo free to sing.
In the same year they would go to the studio in order to release their first album, "Legião Urbana", with the hits "Será", "Ainda é Cedo" and "Geração Coca-Cola", under the EMI label. The band would stay with this record label for their entire career, passing altogether for good and bad moments.
In 1986 they would release "Dois", which many considers to be the best brazilian rock album that had ever existed. The powerful words of the songs and the personality or Renato Russo started to make the band very well-known in Brazil, especially among the youngs, the generation which had grown under the fear of the Brazilian Military Authorithary Dictatorship (1964-1985). The songs "Daniel na Cova dos Leões", "Quase Sem Querer", "Eduardo e Monica", "Central do Brasil", "Andrea Doria" and "Índios" turned in very big hits.
The sucess was finally cemented in 1987, with "Que País é Este". Many people started to name the band "Região Urbana", that means "Urban Religion", a thing that Renato (Russo) hated. This album has very heavy rock with very heavy words. Two of the songs (Conexao Amazonica and Faroeste Cabloco, the latter with 159 different verses and 10 minutes long) were censured to the media because they contained obcene content, while others, like "Que País é Este", "Eu Sei", Quimica", "Angra dos Reis" and "Mais do Mesmo" turned in hits.
In a show, in Brasilia, the first show there after the release of their first album, 200 peoples were wounded after a series of confusions that finished in the band quitting the show. The band would not present any show in the city where the band was created anymore.
In 1988, before the release of "As Quatro Estações", Renato Rocha decided to quit, under the pressure of Marcelo and Dado. Although this album is the most sold of the band, and that every single song of the band turned big hits which played in every single brazilian radio, many disliked the big changes in the style of the band and the changes that the band had passed, especially the punk-hardcore rock phans. The songs would now tell thing about the love and soul. In "Meninos e Meninas" (Boys and Girls), Russo would suggest that he was bisexual. He would confirme that he was gay some time later. The songs of the album are:
"V" was released in december 1991, the darkest and most introspective album of the band; at this point, the band was appearing lesser and lesser to the public, doing a few (and very disputed) shows. "Metal Contra as Nuvens" is 11 minutes long and is the longest song made by the band, other hits are "A Ordem dos Templarios", "A Montanha Magica", O Teatro dos Vampiros", "Serenissima", "Vento no Litoral", and "O Mundo Anda Tao Complicado".
One year later EMI would release "Musica Para Acampamentos", which is the first colection album of the band. A previously unreleased song, "A Canção do Senhor da Guerra", which was to be in "Dois" but was rejected by EMI, turned in a very immediate hit.
The band released "Descobrimento do Brasil" in november 1993, after Russo released a solo, "The Stonewall Concert", in english. "Perfeição", "Vinte e Nove", "Vamos Fazer um Filme", "Giz" and "La Nueva Giuventu" are the main hits of the CD, which was received coldly by the critics. With the exception of "Perfeição", the others songs didn't make good at the radios.
In november 1995 they made their last show, in december Renato Russo would release his second solo, "Equilibrio Distante", in Italian, and in september 1996 they released their last album with Russo still alive, "A Tempestade". The CD has a very sad tone, direcly connected to the fact that Russo and its health, that was deteriorating very quickly, both psycologically and physically. He would die one month later, in october 11, 1996. One day later, Bonfá and Villa-Lobos announced that the band was officially gone.
"Uma Outra Estação" was released in june 1997 and is the last album with previously unreleased songs, produced and finished by Villa-Lobos. In october 1999 EMI would release a Live album, "MTV ao Vivo", a show which was presented in MTV Brasil in 1992. Other two albums, "Mais do Mesmo" and "Como é que se diz eu te amo", are collections of the best songs released by EMI that made a relative sucess among the phans and people which interest in Legião Urbana grew after the death of Russo.
Despite the death of Russo and the group's disbanding, Legião Urbana continue to sell more CDs a year than all but two of EMI Brazil's other acts - approximately 350,000 per year. With more than 13 million records sold, the band continues to be very well-known among young Brazilians. Legião Urbana were, and remain, loved, because of the songs whose words told about many problems: love, spiritualism, politics, family, sex, drugs. The raw reality of these issues struck a chord with many, including Russo himself.
The albums sold (in 000's):
Unofficial, but complete site of the band This is an Article on Legião Urbana. Page Contains Information, Facts Details or Explanation Guide About Legião Urbana The Beginning
Legião Urbana
Dois
Que País é Este
As Quatro Estações (The Four Seasons)
V
Descobrimento do Brasil
The Death of a Leader
Motives of the Sucess
External Links