Cabeça Dinossauro

In February 1986, before a show in São Paulo, vocalist Branco Mello told newspaper O Estado de S. Paulo that the then upcoming album would have a "more dry and raw rock" and a "more primitive, more visceral" sound.[4]

Vocalist Arnaldo Antunes and guitarist Tony Bellotto's arrest for drug possession in 1985 (and the former's subsequent three-year house arrest sentence[3]); the "relative failure" of previous album Televisão; and the will by the band to take a heavier direction influenced the music on this album.[8][9] But they did not suddenly decide to turn punk. The ingredients, according to keyboardist and vocalist Sérgio Britto, were already present in the band.[8] Bellotto says the band already showed signs of this new sound during shows[6]

Time showed that this subgenre was in our DNA, which is why 'Cabeça' is a big feature, with all this questioning, the criticism that we see in the lyrics, the punk, but also the reggae, funk. I think in this album we found the way.

Besides, then drummer Charles Gavin considered the troubled moments lived both by the band and by Brazil at that time were also influencing factors:[5]

There was the moment of Brazil which was drawing itself much problematic, a military dictatorship still in the process of breaking down, Tancredo's death. The mood was very delusional, a dystopian scenery. And there was also our moment as a band. We were emerging from "Televisão", our second release, miscomprehended by the label [Warner], which was not well worked. This caused a certain distaste, a certain skepticism towards the music, the career. We came upon the album angry at the industry, the label, everyone.

Co-producer Pena Schmidt saw the album as "the moment of truth. Titãs had crisis between surrendering to phonographic perfection or to the rebellious statement. There the result balances track by track."[5]

Besides all that, there was also an intention by the band to reproduce in studio the energy they believe they had live.[3][2]

The musical material for the album was ready before the band got into the studio. The first track to be recorded was the single "AA UU". The last one was "O Quê".[9] "O Que" and "Família" were the only songs to have their arrangements significantly changed.[8]

It was recorded and mixed in one month.[9] Its demo was recorded in just two days[10] at a studio in the Pompeia neighborhood of São Paulo.[11] The title Cabeça Dinossauro (Head Dinosaur) refers to the duality between rational (head) and primitive (dinosaur).[12][2]

The album's front and back covers were taken from sketches by Leonardo da Vinci:[13] "The Expression a howling Man" and "Grotesque Head", respectively. Both acetates were brought straight outta Louvre by a friend of vocalist and keyboardist Sérgio Britto's father.[2] They replaced small reproductions the band had but could not use for the album due to low quality.[6] He would say in 2006 that "the first 30,000 copies of the album were made in a mat and porous paper, much more expensive than the ordinary one. A gesture of generosity by André Midani, then president of Warner, which gave us total support before, during and after the recording sessions, complying with almost every of our requests."[9] It was one of the first Brazilian rock album covers not to feature a picture of the artist.[12]

The title track was conceived during a bus trip. Vocalist and saxophonist Paulo Miklos showed his colleagues a tape with folk music by some Xingus.[2][12] Over that base, Branco Mello improvised the verses "Cabeça dinossauro/Cabeça dinossauro/Cabeça, cabeça, cabeça dinossauro"[11] and soon the lyrics were all done.[5] The percussion was performed by Liminha. After several elaborated attempts, he improvised with the walls, the floor and the pillars of the studio, and the "trance" performance was approved by all.[9]

"Estado Violência", written by Gavin, was initially offered to his previous band Ira!. Reis helped him structure the song, but not as much as to be credited as co-writer.[11] The lyrics, however, just like "Polícia", were also inspired by his two bandmates' arrest, more especially by the power the government has to "judge what you do at your home, with your body".[3]

The vocals of "A Face do Destruidor" was recorded over the base played backwards. According to Britto, "when we recorded, we had to think that it would be listened to that way".[9]

Some of Bellotto's solos were played with the musician alternating between the guitar pick and a big ring he was using. That way, he could play and simultaneously obtain percussive effects from his instrument.[9]

"Homem Primata"

"Homem Primata"
Single by Titãs
from the album Cabeça Dinossauro
B-side	"Polícia (dance remix)" and "Polícia II"
Released	1987
Genre	Post-punk
Label	WEA
Songwriter(s)	Marcelo Fromer, Ciro Pessoa, Nando Reis and Sérgio Britto
Producer(s)	Liminha, Vitor Farias and Pena Schmidt
Titãs singles chronology
"Polícia" (1986) "Homem Primata" (1987) "Família" (1987)

"Homem Primata" was released in 1987 as the sixth single by the band and it featured a reworked version of "Polícia" and a dance remix of the same song as B-sides.

The album was promoted by a domestic tour which, until December 1986, has already taken the group to around 40 places. At that time, it was scheduled to happen until April 1987.[17] The stage scenery involved the use of animal skin.[18]

In a 2012 interview, guitarist Tony Bellotto revealed he made a bet with vocalist Branco Mello: he would buy him a bottle of Jack Daniel's in case the album sold over 100,000 copies, since he thought it would be a commercial failure. However, the album sold well, and Tony lost the bet.[19] Until its first anniversary, the album sold 250,000 copies,[12] with a total of 700,000 sold until 2016.[6][5] When it reached 100,000 copies, the band received its first gold record and the band promoted a show in São Paulo in order to celebrate the milestone.[17]

Cabeça Dinossauro is considered one of the most important Brazilian 1980's rock albums, having been released in the same year as other important efforts such as Dois (Legião Urbana), Vivendo e Não Aprendendo (Ira!), Rádio Pirata ao Vivo (RPM) and Selvagem? (Os Paralamas do Sucesso).[1][12][4]

In a 2020 interview, Gavin compared the importance of the album for Titãs to that of A Night at the Opera for Queen.[20] In a 2006 article for the Brazilian Rolling Stone, Britto commented:[9]

This album, for sure, if not the best, is one of the best we made. Only comparable to Õ Blésq Blom and Jesus não Tem Dentes no País dos Banguelas. Despite that, I don't dare point any band that seems influenced by it.

In 1997, Bizz magazine elected Cabeça Dinossauro as the best Brazilian pop rock album. In 2007, the Brazilian version of the magazine Rolling Stone elected it as the 19th greatest Brazilian album of all time.[21] In September 2012, it was elected by the audience of Radio Eldorado FM, of Estadao.com e of Caderno C2+Música (both the latter belong to newspaper O Estado de S. Paulo) as the seventh best Brazilian album ever.[22]

In 2012, in order to celebrate the band's 30th anniversary,[12] Cabeça Dinossauro was re-released, fully remastered and with a bonus disc containing the original demos for the songs, plus a previously unreleased track, "Vai pra Rua", an outtake of the album.[19] The band also promoted a tour in which they performed the entire album respecting the original ordering of tracks. One of these performances was recorded and released as Cabeça Dinossauro ao Vivo 2012. Performing the album would help define the sound of the band's then next album, Nheengatu.[23]

In the next year, the remaining members of the band recorded a video for the title song, using images from the movie Vai que Dá Certo.[23] Both the movie and the video feature Brazilian actors and humorists Fábio Porchat, Gregório Duvivier, Bruno Mazzeo, Lúcio Mauro Filho, Danton Mello e Natália Lage.[23]

In 2021, in celebration of its 35th anniversary, the album was re-released for a third time in CD format and containing only its original tracks.[1]

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[24]

By the time of the album's release, newspaper O Estado de S. Paulo's Alberto Villas stated that the album was "the great surprise of the year. [...] It's a shocking, punk, angry and very curious album. An album of poison-rock, a scream. An album of surprises."[25][3]

Bonus track on 2012 re-issue

Titãs

• Arnaldo Antunes — vocals
• Branco Mello — vocals
• Paulo Miklos — bass (on "Igreja"[11]) and vocals
• Nando Reis — bass and vocals
• Sérgio Britto — keyboard and vocals
• Marcelo Fromer — rhythm guitar, lead guitar (on "Igreja" and "Família")
• Tony Bellotto — lead guitar, rhythm guitar (on "Igreja" and "Família")
• Charles Gavin — drums and percussion

Additional personnel

• Liminha — rhythm guitar (in "Família" and "O Quê"), percussion (in "Cabeça Dinossauro") and Oberheim DMX (in "O Quê")
• Repolho — castanets (in "Homem Primata")