Review Summary: Cirque should be given props for trying something different, but not for how the rather restrictive result sounds.
There are three things I look forward to when I go into a Cirque Du Soleil show. The first is the acrobatics. Not kidding, the acrobatics are what makes me love Cirque so much. The second is the costumes. And the third is the Music. And that's exactly the problem with Ovo. The acrobatics are underwhelming and the costumes range from mediocre to downright disgusting, but what's really the most offensive? The music, or lack of.
In praising the score, I've noticed a trend. Most people praise this because it's radically different than the Cirque formula, and that's not a bad thing; the stellar Amaluna broke away from the New Age formula to give us a U2/Coldplay meets Quidam rock-ish sound. This CD takes on a more Brazilian/samba sound. Fine, but problem is, for the departure many claim this to be, this CD only serves to show us how restrictive this "departure" really is, unfortunately.
There's two categories of tracks on this CD- the swizzy, infectious samba beats and the loungish, chill out tunes. And to be fair, it's not that any of the tracks are particularly bad; it's just that they don't seem to fit Cirque at all and none are very memorable. I mean sure songs like "Sexy Web", "Super Hero", "Banquete" or "Brisa Do Mar" are fun tunes but none of them are what you'd expect to hear matched among the acrobatics, and tracks like "Legs" or "Scarabee" are mediocre at best. The worst, though is ultimately "Legs", and dear god let's hope Cirque never write a tune like that again.
And to top it off, who came up with these song titles? "Sexy Web", "Secret Samba Luv", "Love Duet"? This is outrageous, whoever worked for Cirque and came up with those titles needs to be fired.
In the end I guess this is good background music and if you're a casual listener you may enjoy it; as for the rest of us, this is really bland to mediocre at best.
