Realizing that they had pushed the art rock envelope as far as they could with 1989's superbly experimental Ô Blésq Blom, the Titãs decided to scale back thier ambitions and just play some good old fashioned rock & roll for a change.

The result was 1991's aptly titled Tudo ao Mesmo Tempo Agora (translation: All Together Now) -- a stripped-down affair characterized by simplified guitar riffs and arrangements overlaid with adequately minimalist, but still deeply intriguing wordplay.

And thanks to the absolute tour de force that is opener "Clitóris" -- a brilliantly explicit ode to the female anatomy riding an irresistible circular riff and whose lyrics would be downright lewd if they weren't so scientifically declared -- this direction appears to be a roaring success.

Sadly, this illusion lasts but a moment, as the album's first half quickly descends into a series of surprisingly tuneless and repetitive dirges ("O Fácil é o Certo," "Filantrópico," etc.) -- rarely to be interrupted by worthwhile entries like "Já" and "Eu Vezes Eu." Excellent single "Saia de Mim" and the all-too-brief ticket to paranoia called "Flat -- Cemitério -- Apartamento" once again fill the listener with hope for side two, but excepting the wah-wah-driven swing of " Não é por não Falar," it too falls well short of expectations.

In fact, aimless verbal jerk-offs like "Obrigado," "Se você está Aqui," and "Uma coisa de cada Vez " are positively irksome.

Simply put, though their hearts might have been in the right place, Tudo ao Mesmo Tempo Agora can't help but disappoint the fans who had grown accustomed to the Titãs' impressive recent achievements.

Perhaps it was the absence of longtime producer and unofficial ninth member Liminha that did in Tudo ao Mesmo Tempo Agora, but it was the subsequent departure of founder and principal lyricist Arnaldo Antunes that precipitated the Titãs' slow decline.