Eletr¿¿custico in Bloomington, MN

Eletracustico
is a live recording from
Gilberto Gil
's 2004 world tour of the same name. It is also the first album that
Gil
has released since he was named the culture minister of Brazil in 2002. There are already several live recordings with
on the market -- most of which have added very little, in terms of quality, to his rich album catalog. Typically, the live albums repeat the songs from his most recent studio album, together with some of
's older hits -- all with an inferior sound quality compared to the studio versions.
, however, is different. Although it doesn't present any new compositions, it still has a vitality and crispness that make it the best live album
has released to date. Apart from nice versions of some of
's own hits, such as
"Refavela,"
"Andar Com Fe,"
and
"Aquele Abraco,"
there are fine interpretations of songs by other artists, such as
John Lennon
's
"Imagine,"
Bob Marley
"Three Little Birds,"
Chico Buarque
"A Rita."
's studio efforts are more often than not a bit too uneven to be entirely enjoyable, and
therefore works especially well as a kind of "best-of" collection, recorded live. ~ Philip Jandovsky