LEB I SOL

By the time the band got to this point after their first two albums - that are second only to Brand X "Masques" period(!) - they've slowed down a bit. Still quality Jazz-Rock, but the inspiration is fading here.

The tunes are pleasant and pleasant is the word as there is nothing groundbreaking here anymore. Still, it's much better than the Pop-oriented approach that was to follow a few years later - till Vlatko had re-invented himself as one of the most talented guitar players in Prog.

Not meaning to be patronizing here, but for a Macedonian band to deliver world class music is quite an achievement. If you care to hear them at their absolute best, check out their previous albums and don't forget to hold your jaw from dropping - that is if you are into Brand X at their best!

I entirely agree with the P.A. community of reviewers, when assign to LEB I SOL "Rucni Rad" (side to side With "Leb I Sol II" a high note. Although, I must confess that I'm not an adimirer from the Jazz Rock Fusion Style, mainly when this style are close to a free jazz., and for this reason maybe I'm not the most capable member from that community to wirite one review about this album. Even so in this record I have stayed "enchanted" for almost all of tracks, and between these tracks I wish detach the track 2 "Rebus" a delicious sound which even can be appreciated in a comfortable armchair or driving in a highway, the track 3 "Hogar" with his intial space prog theme and the sequence "in the mood" of RETURN TO FOREVER themes and the track 4 "Ruèni Rad and his meditative "landscape" with a excellent work from the musicians whit a very tender touch in their instruments. For this reasons my rate is 4 stars !!!

LEB I SOL's third album is on a par with the first two in my opinion but I would give the first two a bit of an edge over "Rucni Rad" if I was listing them by favourites.

"Lenja Pesma" is bright and uptempo with vocals. Love this song.The bass is prominant the way I like it too. We get guitar after 2 minutes when the vocals stop followed by synths before the vocals return. "Rebus" has lots of keyboards early on and it turns jazzy around a minute with bass.The drumming is excellent here.The guitar 3 1/2 minutes in proceeds to rip it up. "Hogar" kicks in before a minute. Man this guy can drum ! The guitar is lighting it up late as the bass throbs.

"Rucni Rad" is more laid back with piano, bass and drums standing out. Some relaxed guitar before 3 1/2 minutes and vocal melodies come in late. "Kumova Slama" is another relaxed tune with synths this time.Vocal melodies around 4 minutes followed by guitar as it becomes more aggressive. "Put U Vedro" is mellow and I like the guest sax which sounds incredible. So much going on here. Good tune ! "Verni Pas" opens with keys then the bass joins in. Synths 1 1/2 minutes in and sax comes in later.Vocal melodies after 3 1/2 minutes.

If you can find any of LEB I SOL's first three studio albums or their double live recording don't even hesitate. A solid 4 stars.

I enjoyed LEB I SOL's first three albums very much, but my feelings aren't quite the same for this fourth album. The keyboardist has left and they didn't replace him making them a trio at this point. I don't even think that the lack of keyboards is the issue as I really enjoyed their double live album which also has no keyboards. It's just that the songs aren't of the same quality in my opinion even though this album does have it's moments.

"Hars" has these steady drums as the guitar and bass help out.The guitar starts to light it up before 3 1/2 minutes. "Skakavac" is another uptempo track and check out the bass on this one. "Ziva Rana" is the first vocal track and it's a good one. A scream before 4 minutes as it then kicks in with some passion. I like the guitar here. "Ajdi Sonce Zajde" starts to pick up a minute in with drums. I like this. It kicks in hard before 2 minutes then settles back before 3 1/2 minutes before kicking in one more time.

"Beli Mrak" opens with drums as vocals join in. Flugelhorn after 2 1/2 minutes as drums pound. "Neplacena Struja" picks up before a minute. I like the drumming and guitar. "U To Je Stvar" is a relaxed tune with vocals. "Stomacne Vijuge" is uptempo with guitar. Clapping 2 1/2 minutes in to end it. "Kasno Popodne" has these intricate guitar melodies a minute in as the guest flugelhorn follows.

3.5 stars.This is a good album but when comparing it to their previous three it does pale somewhat in my opinion.

This was LEB I SOL's first live release from 1982. It was a double album and I noticed fairly quickly that there were no keyboards to my surprise. So we basically get a power trio here of sorts with lots of instrumental music featuring in your face bass and drums with intricate guitar work often playing over top.

The first four tracks of this concert are exactly as I just described it. All instrumental with chunky bass lines, crisp drumming and guitar over top. It's not until the fifth song "Utrinska Tema" that we get the first vocal track. A popular tune from the band that really moves me.Vocal melodies late. Amazing but too short. This is followed by "Mile Opo Jordanov" which starts slowly but then kicks in with drums around a minute. Another instrumental in "Ajde Sonce Zajde" follows (and it's a killer) before we get four straight vocal tracks to end the first album. Up first is "Kumova Slama" which is relaxed as faint vocals join in.The guitar replaces the vocals and leads the rest of the way. "Runci Rad" picks up quickly and the vocals join in.This is excellent ! I really like the guitar. Vocals are back late.

"Talasna Duzina" is laid back with the focus on the vocals. Beautiful. "Nisam Tvoj" is another classic LEB I SOL tune. Gotta love the bass in this one. The second album becomes with "Ziva Rana" which is an extended jam with vocals. Lots of tempo shifts in this one. "Bonus" opens with bass and drums as the crowd claps along. Vocals before a minute.It's fuller 2 minutes in as the guitar starts to solo. It settles back when the vocals return. "Kokoska" has a good guitar intro as huge bass with drums join in. Check out the guitar 2 minutes in. "Aber Dojde Donke" is different with those drum and guitar outbursts. "Damar" ends it as this is the encore track.Intricate guitar to start then the tempo picks up. Great sound. Huge bass lines here too. What a fantastic way to end it.

Easily 4 stars. Man I enjoyed this recording. I think it's the prominant bass and interesting guitar work that drew me in.There is quite a bit of variety too and vocals.

I'm still not sure if I like the debut or this one better. Both are very good albums no questions about that.This band's second album would be with the same lineup as the first and the same overall style too.

"Akupunktura" has this relaxed intro then it kicks in at a minute. Nice drum and guitar work here. In fact the guitar provides a light show after 3 minutes. Nice. "Kako Ti Drago" has these intricate sounds that come and go and the tempo continues to shift too. "Aber Dojde Donke" opens with atmosphere as the guitar makes some noise. Keys come in. Drums 2 minutes in. So good.

"Talasna Duzina" opens with synths and guitar. Drums and vocals join in. I like this one it's very enjoyable. "Dikijeva Igra" kicks in quickly to an uptempo instrumental soundscape. "Uzvodno Od Tuge" is spacey with piano and bass. Drums and guitar follow. "Marija" opens with electric piano and cymbals. It picks up with drums out front. Guitar 3 minutes in. Killer stuff.It's the keyboards turn after 5 minutes then the guitar returns 6 minutes in to end it. "Bonus" is a short piece with laid back guitar and vocals.

They started their careers with a couple of exceptional albums that would satisfy any Progressive Jazz / Fusion fan.

What an excellent debut from this Yugoslavian band that was released back in the latter half of the seventies. I was reminded of SMAK and SYNKOPY at times with their steller instrumental work and enjoyable vocal tracks.

"Devetka" gets things started with laid back guitar and piano before the clavinet arrives.This is all so inventive and it sounds really good too. I like the electric piano and bass around 2 1/2 minutes as well. "Pod Vodom" is more uptempo and the electric piano is fantastic. Guitar and piano take turns leading the way. "Utrinska Tema" features vocals for the first time. This is a relaxed song with piano,drums and vocals leading.The bass becomes prominant later on.

"Kokoska" opens with a good drum show then the guitar and bass come in after a minute then keyboards. Clavinet and guitar follow. "Nisam Tvon" is mellow with vocals, piano and drums. It gets fuller as contrasts continue. "U Senci" features some killer guitar a minute in then it settles right down before 2 minutes. It kicks back in late. "Cudo Za Tri Dana" opens with acoustic guitar and reserved vocals.Synths wash in then it kicks in to a fuller sound at 2 minutes. "Pesma O Sonji H..." is laid back with piano. Flute comes and goes. It picks up 3 1/2 minutes in but not for long. Not a fan of this one. "Damar" becomes uptempo and synths wash in after 3 minutes.

A solid 4 stars and a worthy addition to any collection. A very talented band.

This is an important band from Yougoslavia that made some of the best Progressive music in East Europe. This live album don't give the high quality of this musicians but we can listen some good music. This album have some comercial musics but have some great guitar performances. Some Jazz fusion context give the quality of this live performance. We can find some Deep Purple parts and some Steve Vai performances, (not with the quality of this musicians) but, in a East coutry and in a live performance with low music material, it's a great thing. If you have some patience you like this album. Not the most beautiful of this super-band but a good album that we can made an ideia of the quality of this band members. I give 4 stars

Possibly, one of the best album of Leb i Sol, Macedonian band. If two previous works were more filled with Balkan world melodies and rhythms, this third one is mostly jazz fusion album.

Strongly influenced by genre leaders, the album contains well balanced music with sound, where one can find RTF,Mahavishnu Orchestra,symphonic prog traces. Sound recorded at very good level, with rich bass line and airy rounded electric guitar. Electronic keyboards play their important mission in common sound as well.

Album's opener is quite pop-oriented song with vocals, but then you will hear many instrumental fusion pieces. If there are some Macedonian motives in instrumental compositions, another characteristic moment is very melodic,soulful and rounded "Slavic" sound ( you often can hear it in music of mostly each Eastern European band). Similar nuances are quite usual in music of some French bands,or RPI.

In some compositions guest sax player added its instrument's voice, but sax sounds quite in traditions of pop-jazz. Great work,if a bit too soft and safe for my taste.

Another great fusion album from 70-s, no way masterpiece, but possibly one of the best genre's example from former Yugoslavia.

Three and half, rounded to 4.

Leb I Sol - s/t (1977)

From Yuguslavie came a bit to late this perfect jazzrock/fusion group Leb I Sol, Bread and Salt. For a change I will discribe this album by what it has to offer and what it does not have to offer.

Leb I Sol is a four piece band; electric guitar, bass, keys and drums. There are some songs on the albums in which the guitarist Vlatko Stefanovski does some rewarding vocal duties. All other tracks are heavy uptempo melodic jazzrock tracks with all instruments playing on the main position. These guys seem to have played some time together! Especially the solo's of guitarist Vletko are amazing! How come I've never heard his name? Since this is the Leb I sol debut he must have played even better the years after '77. He has the speed, he's got rythm, some nice original recognisable ideas for solo's and he's never out of pitch. The keys are also played very well, as are drum and bass. The main reason I came to like this album so much is the fact it's an melodic jazzrock album with Balkan influences. The tracks rock, are technically evolved (still a bit naive sometimes, but I tend to like that), have solo's of most of the instruments. As if they weren't blessed enough the song writing potential is very high! Here Leb I Sol uses its melodic talent to meet with some nice vocals (in Yugaslavion..?) that actually fit very well. The line between jazzrocker and song is very straight, but this formula seems to work very well. On some of the tracks one can also hear a mellotron.

What does this record not have? Ugly McLaughlin: I-think-I-can-do-everything solo's, no unefficient Corea songwriting, no useless solo'ing, no headaching toneshredding. Sorry for being so critical about Mahavishnu and Forever, but they've gone to far to be likable for me on about 30% of every record they made.

In fact, I want to hear side two every time I listen to this record. Leb I Sol has the talent of most of it's English predecessors, but they have Focus. It sounds like they are in control and not their ego's. This is why this is such a great fusion record, it's what I've been searching for al along!

Conclusion. Absolute musthave for fusion/jazzrock listeners. A great addition for all progressive music listeners, for it has enough melodic themes to enjoy for everyone. Four stars, I want more of this!