S VREMENA NA VREME

Aside from the technicality, "Unplugged" presents the band in their top form indeed. Djukic brothers, Sarvan and Ninkovic are masters of string instruments, harmony vocals, composition and lyrics. They are neither avant-garde nor experimental - they are artistic, emotion-filled and romantic. Therefore their sound can often be described more "pop" than "rock" in terms of accessibility on the first listen. However, when they are inspired, they can offer longer and improvised playing (as is the case with almost 10-minute version of "Cudno drvo") to satisfaction of the listeners of prog rock. The backing band of drummer Macura, bassist Bozanic and keyboardist Lokner is a strong support, which is no wonder because they are respected session musicians. Unlike her appearance on the studio album "Posle kraja", Marija Mihajlovic gives here much better vocal performance both as backing vocal and as lead in "Spavaj". Extended version of "Cudno drvo", with string sounds of sargija, prim, good melodic bass lines and short but effective keyboard solos is a prime example of "acoustic progressive folk rock". For those uninformed, "prim" sounds like mandolin, while "sargija" has a more "eastern" sound with sustained (drone) effect, like sitar for instance.

There are also hints of American folk-rock and country rock, like in "Vasar" with its Balkan low life/outlaw topic, "Moj svet" or like the name suggests "Dixieband". One can spot definite influences from artists such as Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, Tom Petty, GRATEFUL DEAD (from their early 1970s country-rock phase), while some harmony arrangements are firmly rooted in THE BEATLES legacy.

Although these concerts promoted the latest studio album "Posle kraja", on this live set only one song "Spavaj" is taken from that album. The majority of tracks cover the old, mid-1970s period (the debut album and the singles collection "Moj svet") of the band when they were in top creativity condition. Special treat for fans is inclusion of an old song "Vreme" (Eng. "Time") which was not available on other releases. Komuna official release contains 11 tracks, but on the Internet one can find some mp3 versions with 13 songs. Two additional are: a classical hit from the debut album, "Tema Classica" and crowd-pleasing cover of Bob Dylan's "Knocking' On Heaven's Door", the latter being interesting to hear because the lead vocalist gives his best to sound like Dylan and he largely succeeds in doing that.

This excellent, fair, unpretentious, competent and emotional record is one of the best live albums issued on the territory of former Yugoslav republics. As such I can pronounce it a masterpiece of live recording of acoustic (progressive) folk rock, and this mark comes from the person not generally inclined to praise live albums.

"Posle kraja" (Eng. "After the End") was released in 1995 to a half-hearted reaction of the public. The time and the political moment were not friendly towards rock music in general, so the media simply ignored the disc. However, this album is excellent and its ill- tempered appearance only adds to its value, especially when contrasted with awful situation in their home country Serbia and surrounding ex-Yugoslav republics. The general feeling of pessimism and regret for the past is most evident in the upbeat opener, "Povratna karta" (Eng. "Round-Trip Ticket") with catchy rhythm tracing the TALKING HEADS' "Life During Wartime", folksy percussion-lead "Tavan" (Eng. "The Attics") and the lament for the passed rock icons in "A ja" (Eng. "And Me"). Sound of the album is excellent, production is crisp clear and performance is impeccable. Most of the songs feature acoustic guitars, their signature prim-tambura, percussion and tasty background organ and keyboards. The famous session player Pera Joe contributes with fine harmonica in three songs, while ballad "Spavaj" (Eng. "Sleep") contains female lead vocal by Marija Mihajlovic. The album presents the second version of the track "Maskenbal" (Eng. "Masquerade"), originally recorded for the previous album "Paviljon G", but this time in not so interesting country-rock manner. Beautiful guitar chords (sometimes in the vein of the guitar pop wizard Johnny Marr of THE SMITHS) and wonderful vocal harmonies of these old gents prove that they still had lot to offer. Literally all the tracks, with possible exception of "Spavaj" and "Maskenbal", are first rate folk-rock compositions; if not entirely "progressive" they are extremely seriously composed and arranged with genuine artistic approach.

"Posle kraja" is one the major pleasant surprises from the post-Yugoslavian prog rock scene, therefore I can highly recommend this album. It deserves almost 4,5 stars.

The best tracks on "Paviljon G" ("Pavilion G") are a heavy, almost metallic, rocking of "Rok kriticar" ("Rock Critic") with bitter lyrics against rock journalists, and a country-rock beat of "Maskenbal" ("Masquerade Party") with funny, humoresque lyrics and chorus sounding like satirical giants BULDOZER. Two nice ballads, electric "Jesenje svitanje" ("Autumn Dawn") and acoustic "A sta sad" ("And What Now?"), are just nice and easy to listen to, but not on par with earlier compositions. "Ajsa" ("Aisha") is a sort of folk-rock but not very progressive one, utilising their obligatory images of Ottoman Balkans story telling. The remaining tracks are rather weak with banal lyrics and even trendy reggae attempts, except that "Ostrvo" contains a very good solo on electric guitar.

Ljuba Ninkovic proved on several tracks that he is a skilful guitar soloist. However, I can assume that he overtook the control of the band, pushing Sarvan and Djukic brothers behind, and tried to bring it as close to mainstream rock scene in ex Yugoslavia as possible. Even "Rok kriticar" hit the charts in the former country. On the whole, the album suffers from uninspired composition and arrangement, sub-standard lyrics, even though the musicianship and production were quite good. The fact that the band split after this release, with Ninkovic forming a rather mainstream AOR rock band TUNEL in the 1980s, says enough of the crisis documented on this album.

Out of prog context, "Paviljon G" may be estimated as average work, but here it is not enough good to be considered "good".

Although the songs were recorded across the 4-year period, the album is surprisingly well sounded and encapsulated. Presence of prim tambura as a lead instrument on most songs is a real treat for fans of "exotic" traditional or folk instrumentation. Here we can hear probably its most successful use in rock music of former Yugoslavia to date.

"Moj svet" is mostly an acoustic record, with electric guitar and drum beat present only in two recent songs, Orient-inspired "Put putuje karavan" ("The Caravan Travel") and the closing title track, both issued on singles shortly before this collection appeared. "Cudno drvo" ("Strange Tree") is another excellent all-acoustic/percussion song that draws influence from Turkish/Arabic traditional, featuring prim and sargija - an instrument akin to Turkish saz (long-necked lute). The rhythmic chords remind me of Jimmy Page/Robert Plant intake of Moroccan traditional sounds recorded for their album "No Quarter" in 1994. Vocal harmonies sound like those of THE BEATLES circa 1966/67. "Kao vreme ispred nas" ("Like Time to Come") is a gentle ballad with flute reminiscent of PINK FLOYD's "Julia Dream". "Tavna noc" ("Dark Night") contains lyrical reflections from Renaissance-styled Adriatic/Dalmatian coastline folk.

"Jana" and "Dixie Band" are the most pop-sounding tracks and both were very popular hits in late 1970s in Yugoslavia. The former is a typical festival-orchestral piece of easy listening pop, the latter a commercialised take on Dixie Jazz with Honky Tonk piano. "Odisej" is another mini masterpiece of prim-led Mediterranean story line inspired by the classical hero, Odyssey. "I kad budem stariji" ("And When I'm Older") is elegiac ballad recycling the theme of "too old to rock'n'roll, too young to die", with self-reflecting verses of any serious die-hard (prog) music collector (in English roughly: "and when I'm much older than now/I'm gonna buy me LP records/when I'm super-old/I'm gonna be as young as now"). "Tema Classica" ("Classical Theme"), taken from debut studio album, is almost a mini symphonic/acoustic suite with several changes of tempo and melody, with dark minor-key overtones. Acoustic guitars, prim tambura and what sounds like a synth-harmonium are perfectly produced and arranged, with beautiful harmony vocals.

Except for the two pop hits, "Moj svet" is more than a typical compilation. Each song is beautiful in its own right, while retaining diversity and liveliness that force you to listen to it again and again. S VREMENA NA VREME were quite unique band, not only in Yugoslavia, and for that matter - very underrated and almost forgotten. It is hard to compare them to any international/Anglo-American group. If I say there are distant ties with THE BEATLES, PINK FLOYD, JETHRO TULL, AMAZING BLONDEL, MAMAS AND PAPAS or INCREDIBLE STRING BAND, it's probably over-reacting. But anyway, "Moj svet" is a wonderful and highly recommended addition to prog folk collection. Two pop songs and the fact this is not "real" studio album prevent me from giving the highest rating.

Surprisingly only if you are not familiar with the fact that these musicians were already established veterans of the Belgrade acoustic music scene in the early 1970s. Additionally they gained skills through frequent composing and performing for various theatre and TV plays and shows, as well as guest appearances on many other albums as studio players.

Although this album is, first and formost, a collection of excellent individual songs where practically all of them could have been hits, the overall arrangement of this release gives a feel of a unifying idea. Seamless flow from one song to another is perfectly done, in a manner that some later BEATLES albums can surely be evoked as a model. Excellent harmony vocals, nice acoustic but also occasional electric guitars and flute, melodic bass lines, organ and some electronic devices, plus several traditional instruments like "prim" and "sargija" (both akin to mandolin or lute), all that make of this album a true masterpiece. It is hard to pinpoint a single track as best example, but the sample provided here, "Tema za sargiju" ("Theme for a Sargija") is an excellent choice. It is instrumental including sargija, acoustic guitars, percussion and later an electric guitar fuzzed solo. All of that can remind of some JETHRO TULL moments. Prog purists may find "S vremena na vreme" too accessible and song-oriented instead of complexity or experimentation. But, perfection sometimes lies in simplicity, harmony and beauty, of what this album is plentiful.