POP MASINA

— First review of this album —

Wow! Finally! A box-set including all recordings of the legendary Yugoslavian progressive hard rock band, ironically named Pop Masina. This release marks the first time these recordings are released on a CD. Some recordings are previously unreleased. All in all, a perfect and complete retrospective of this truly unique band in Yugoslavia.

Before the musical contents, let's go through the visual side of Antologija. It's a cardboard box-set, including a 48-page booklet, with lots of information about the band. There are interviews, concert reviews, album reviews, stories about the band, lots of pictures, song lyrics and, of course, the introduction word by Robert Nemecek, the band's leader. The whole release is dedicated to the memory of the late Zoran Bozinovic, the band's guitarist and singer.

CD 1 includes 19 songs. Among the first 8 songs are the first two singles by the band, as well as some unreleased demo versions. These show that Pop Masina was not just a regular pop band in Yugoslavia. On the contrary, their sound was pretty hard, with short lyrics and a large space for improvisations. Check out the opening 'Put ka suncu' and the demo of 'Trazim put' (#7). Tracks 9-17 are from the LP 'Kiselina' as it was released back in 1973. (For the 'real' version of the album, the way it should have been released, see 'Originalna Kiselina: 35 Godina Kasnije'.) The album shows the contrasts in the sound of Pop Masina - the hard rock side in 'Na Drumu za Haos' and 'Pesma srecne noci' and a more mellow sound of 'Mir' and (the unfinished) 'Slike iz Proslih Dana'. The album's title track shows a dose of psychedelia in their music. The final two songs are from the third single. 'Zemlja Svetlosti' is one of the most famous Pop Masina songs.

CD 2 features 15 songs. It kicks off with their second album 'Na Izvoru Svetlosti'. The original LP featured an additional live track, but more about it later. The mellow side of Pop Masina prevails here - you have slower and acoustic songs like 'Na izvoru' and 'Rekvijem za prijatelja'. 'Zemlja svetlosti' was re-recorded here with an added section in the middle of the song. The rest of the disc is comprised of three live recordings from Hala Sportova in Belgrade. The first one (7-12, excluding #11) was used for the A-side of the live album 'Put ka Suncu'. Track 11, the blues by the name of 'Negde Daleko' was previously released on 'Na Izvoru Svetlosti' album. The second live recording features two covers, 'Voodoo Chile' and 'Crossroads'. It is a homage to Pop Masina's biggest influences, The Jimi Hendrix Experience and Cream. The sound isn't brilliant, considering it was recorded from the audience. The final track, 'Put ka Suncu', comprised the B-side of the live album of the same name. It is 13 minutes long and was recorded on the band's final concert. All of these live tracks show Pop Masina's ability to perform a true rock show in the 'power trio' form.

What is to say in the end? Along with 'Originalna Kiselina: 35 Godina Kasnije', this is a real epitaph to one of the greatest bands that came from Yugoslavia. A must for prog/hard rock fans from around the world!

One of favorite albums of my teenage years,Kiselina sounds pretty lame today,due to poor production values(despite decent remastering job)and psychedelic meandering,very uncommon for a usual Pop masina style,a high energy hard-rock.That said,best songs on this uneven record are rockers Na drumu za haos i Sjaj u ocima,while more complex and ambient pieces,although interesting,have somewhat unfinished feel and lower overall quality of the album.Despite all this,album is still extremely interesting,mostly as a document about pioneering times and birth of Yu-rock scene in early seventies.It's too bad career of this band went nowhere with subsequent records.While reforming itself in mid 70's as a heavy-metal outfit called Rock masina,band never regained popularity it had few years earlier.As a prog- hard-rock record of historical importance and,mostly,for the nostalgic reasons,album deserves 3 stars.

POP MASINA is a very interesting band, one of those rare progressive (ex-)Yugoslavian names to step into wider experimentation. 35 years after the original release of Kiselina (Acid), this limited edition appeared. After working on the complete remastering of the songs, including some unreleased outtakes, Robert Nemecek (the band's bass player) finally finished the job. What we have here is a remarkable YU prog-album, which was apparently ruined for the original release because of various reasons. Now the tracks are in a correct order as well and both lyrically and musically give an impression of a LSD trip.

Probably the most interesting song on this album is the title track Kiselina. In five minutes there's a lot of mood and rhythm changes, which make the song interesting. This is the song that also reminds of an (other) underground Serbian/Yugoslavian psychedelic rock outfit, Igra staklenih perli. You can also compare it to some Pink Floyd works (e. g. Meddle album). A brilliant composition indeed.

I would also choose Trazim put (Looking for a Trip) and Na drumu za haos (On the Road to Chaos) as my favourites. These songs include a bit of hard rock sound typical for that time, reminding me of Deep Purple.

Song no. 6, Jark / Kraj (Dne Eht / The End), includes the first half played backwards. Only this part of the song was released on the original release. However, for a second half the music starts going forward and continues into the final tracks. The last chapters of this psychedelic story are mostly comprised of acoustic / instrumental passages, sometimes including wordless vocals.

The enjoyment you get with this disc is a nice booklet, including complete lyrics, a storyline behind the album recording and an info on each of the tracks. I know, the album contents are more important, but this little 'gift' also leaves an impression.

All in all, it's definitely an excellent addition to any prog music collection, but sure is a masterpiece of progressive music too. All the mistakes from the original Kiselina have been repared / replaced / finished etc., so now you have a real thrill of a listen. If you have a chance to get a copy of this, take it - you won't be disappointed!

Doing something impressive and distinct during the peak of the classic progressive rock era couldn't have been an easy task. But sometimes there's just no excuse for mediocre music. Pop Masina, ironically meaning "Pop Machine", demonstrates this on their second record from 1975. Aside from the apparent lack of any progressive movement whatsoever, this trio of guitar, bass and drums even disappoints on the hard rock front which is where most of their aspirations lay. An adolescent amalgam of post Hendrix blues, Mountain-like chugging and spacey Floydism, Pop Masina stumbles at almost every turn and while their intentions are good - this album featuring some fine organ, synth and arranging as on 'Rekvijema Za Prija Telja' - the result is undistinguished at best and banal at worst. Anemic, forgettable and barely progressive.

I got this album as a promo while working for Dutch progrock magazine iO Pages. The label presented thisseven piece band as 'Early Seventies Yugoslavian Progressive Hardrock'. Well, in my opinion the amount of hardrock is reduced to some heavy riffs in the vein of Black Sabbath but in general Pop Masina plays pleasant rock with progressive tendencies like the alternating We'll Change The World (varied instrumentation, from organ and piano to acoust cguitar, flute and tablas). The strong point on this CD is the powerful guitarplay, obviously rooted in the tradition of all great guitar heroes in the Sixties and Seventies. A fine Yugoslavian record on a label from Poland.

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