I own and love many Caetano Veloso's albums and this is a very dissapointing one. Caetano is far from his usual high standards in portuguese, where his gifted voice is matched with his genius execution and outstanding passion. If you want to benchmark Caetano to himself, try "Noites do Norte - live" a concert performed on his homeland Bahia (at the famous Carnaval of Salvador). There you can see Caetano at his best: Passionate, Creative, extremely gifted composer and singer. There is simply no point of comparison to the genius of Caetano in "Noites do Norte", vs. the flat, mellow singer in A Foreign Sound.

A couple of things are good about A Foreign Sound, first Caetanos gifted voice can be a welcome variation to the many male vocalists of the English language. Second, the production of the album is clearly top notch.

Despite its positives, the album is not only far from Caetano's best, but also is a pretty average (or less than average by the way) when compared to the great male (or female) singers of the english language (from today or from decades ago).

I love this guy. Ever since he turned me to jelly in the film 'Talk to Her' I have been a solid fan. He has done a lot over the years, but this American stuff is, for the moment, simply beyond him. He does not get it. Maybe his business people are looking for cross over sales. This is not to say he cannot, but I recommend you pass this one by.

This one is a must own. I work in a setting where many people pass by the music I'm playing. I can't tell you how many people, of all ages, comment positively on the arrangements, songs, and voice--the unbelievable voice. "A Foreign Sound" provoked the largest rave so far of any CD I've played. I never get tired of listening to it--especially the last track, the brillliant pairing of Carlinhos Brown's electronic percussion with a cello section to back Caetano's take of Irving Berlin's "Blue Skies."

However, the Arto Lindsay track cheeses me off, so I usually skip it. It's certainly nice for Mr. Lindsay to see his name alongside Dylan, Gershwin, Porter, Cobain--but for me the contrast is too jarring to be edifying in any way. Yoko Ono could have stepped in and made this more listenable. Luckily it's only a minute-thirty. (Although I should say I greatly respect Mr. Lindsay's collaborations with Marisa Monte, even when he junks up her sound.)

This album will introduce Caetano's voice and aesthetic to those who may have been unwilling to listen to an non-English-singing artist. And that is so good for their quality of life. He's done an album in Spanish ("Fina Estampa") as well, and just as masterfully.

Leave it to a Brazilian to build the bridges that connect and illuminate, while redefining our view of history.

Now if he'd only sing "Imagine,"...