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TAKO

Psychedelic/Space Rock • Yugoslavia


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Tako biography
Founded in Belgrade, Serbia, Yugoslavia in 1974 - Disbanded in 1981

TAKO are something as unusual as a Yugoslavian jazz-rock and symphonic progressive rock band. The band was put together in 1975 and the band's name means "this way". Between 1975 and their split up in 1981 they released two classical albums: "Tako" (1975) and "U Vréci Za Spavanje" (1980). This is two great reissues from the Brazilian label Rock Symphony, a label that have reissued many forgotten jewels before such as ALPHA III, FRAGIL, MALIBRAN, and new releases with HADDAD and TEMPUS FUGIT.

In my opinion the 70's were the heydays for progressive rock, and TAKO have all the ingredients that makes these releases worth owning. They were a 70's band, their sound is very 70's oriented, the cover is so wonderful 70's and the music is complex with lengthy instrumental passages. TAKO's music is a mix between CAMEL, FOCUS, JETHRO TULL, OZRIC TENTACLES, PINK FLOYD and SOLARIS. I strongly recommend you to buy these two albums if you're into 70's progressive rock. This is how progressive rock sounded long before today's progressive metal.

- Greger Rönnqvist

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TAKO discography


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TAKO top albums (CD, LP, MC, SACD, DVD-A, Digital Media Download)

4.16 | 131 ratings
Tako
1978
4.18 | 74 ratings
U Vreći Za Spavanje
1980

TAKO Live Albums (CD, LP, MC, SACD, DVD-A, Digital Media Download)

TAKO Videos (DVD, Blu-ray, VHS etc)

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TAKO Reviews


Showing last 10 reviews only
 Tako by TAKO album cover Studio Album, 1978
4.16 | 131 ratings

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Tako
Tako Psychedelic/Space Rock

Review by Warthur
Prog Reviewer

4 stars Imagine a combination of the melodicism and pastoral moods of Trespass-era Genesis with the jazz-flavoured chops of Relayer-era Yes, marinade in classic-era Camel's willingness to dial back on the vocals and let the instrumental work do the talking, then sprinkle on some spacey, psychedelic atmosphere, and maybe you'll start thinking along the same sort of directions that Tako take on this debut album. The magnificent Druga Strana Mene is the truly standout track, a 16 minute voyage that fascinates for its entire running time, but the shorter pieces that build up to it are also laudable. Đorđe Ilijin gets the most valued player award with memorable contributions on both keyboards and flute.
 Tako by TAKO album cover Studio Album, 1978
4.16 | 131 ratings

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Tako
Tako Psychedelic/Space Rock

Review by GruvanDahlman
Prog Reviewer

4 stars This album has followed me around for several years. It was probably the first, or one of them at any rate, album from Eastern Europe that I discovered. It wasn't until a few years later that I came to grips with it and fell in love with the music. This is actually a very good album of spacey progressive rock with not so small adose of jazz. Almost entirely instrumental it has, however, vocals imbedded in a few tracks. The main focus is on the instumentation. Since I feel a certain resistance towards purely instrumental music (God knows why) I feel that there is just enough vocal parts to keep me happy.

Tako originated from the former Jugoslavia. Today they would be categorized as Serbian. That means that the vocals are sung in their native tongue. To me that is a great plus, though I understand practically nothing of what they are singing. I think it holds little significance, even though I love to understand a good lyric. If I had the urge I could make the content out by way of google and what not but I haven't come to that as yet. The vocals are decent enough and brings yet another level to the music.

The opening track, "Probudi se", is a very spacey thing indeed. I hear elements of Eloy and Solaris but it is hard to say who did it first. Solaris was not yet in their existence, as far as I know, and Eloy wasn't quite there yet but still they are relevant as to give a hint of the music on this album. "Sinteza" is a very jazzy, fusion-like track and fantastic. Really energetic. I hear echoes of Jazz Q in their rockier moments. Great stuff. The bluesy harmonica adds to the music too.

"Utapanje..." is a spacey piece, again, but with a very complex riff played by electric piano, guitar and drums. Very good track and there is a section of vocals aswell. The song "Lena" is instrumental and the flute makes it very Solaris-y. Dreamy, beautiful and engaging. "Minijatura" is a lovely, flute driven thing reminding of early Jethro Tull. (It is amazing, I sometimes think, how certain bands stands as blueprint for certain genres or musical directions. Like Jethro Tull and flute in a bluesy, folky, hard rock and prog setting.)

The epic "Druga strana mene" is really the centerpiece of the album. Spacey, diverse and with several parts combined it is a majestic piece of music. I think it is absolutely magnificent. The greatest thing about it is that it never gets boring. All through it's 16 minutes I feel committed and engaged, submerged in the music.

Terrific!

Takos first album really is one of the greatest albums from behind the Wall and shows just how talented and visionary some of the bands actually were. Despite the regimes and their censorship they managed to create not only great music but also and foremost some of the most enthralling albums of prog. I think this album is an essential listening experience, just as with Modry Efekt and SBB and other greats. The instrumentation, vision and execution on this album is top notch.

This is easily four stars.

 Tako by TAKO album cover Studio Album, 1978
4.16 | 131 ratings

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Tako
Tako Psychedelic/Space Rock

Review by apps79
Special Collaborator Honorary Collaborator

5 stars The legendary Serbian act was found in 1975 in Beograd by ex-Opus bassist Dusan Cucuz.He gathered keyboardist Djordje Ilijin, guitarist Sava Bojic from Pop Masina and drummer Milan Lolic for the originaol line-up of the band.Initially Tako played covers of Jimi Hendrix Experience and Santana and soon had to face the departure of Lolic and Bojic (he went to the army).They were replaced by Slobodan Felekatovic and Miroslav Dukic respectively and Tako became a live beast the following years.With a difficult style they found it hard to sign with a label, eventually ZKP showed interest in them and released their self-titled debut in 1978.

This one is definitely among the best Classic Prog LP's to ever come out from Eastern Europe with a fantastic sound and a variety of influences.The opening ''Probudi se'' is a marvellous piece of vocal-led Space Rock with nice deep synth work, but the following ''Sinteza'' is even better with its unique Symphonic/Jazz/Space Rock sound, somewhere between the electric piano approach of RETURN TO FOREVER and the melodic delicacy of CAMEL with occasional heavy interplays and even some harmonica solo.Things will get even more heavier with ''Utapanje sunceve svetlosti u pescanu memoriju''.Fiery interplays and multiple breaks scan the territory of Heavy Italian-styled Prog in the vein of MUSEO ROSENBACH and the Canterbury Fusion style of CAMEL and NATIONAL HEALTH, fantastic performance to say the least.''Lena'' is the most emotional and dramatic track of the album.A pounding low-tempo rhythm section supports Ilijin's deep synths, piano and organ and Dukic'es FOCUS-like emotional guitar soloing, while the middle-part flute solo is among the best I've heard.The short instrumental ''Minijatura'' follows the vein of OSANNA/JETHRO TULL with flute in evidence and having strong Classical leanings.And we head for the 16-min. ''Druga strana mene'' (the other side of myself) and its perfect sound.Incorporating influences from Classical Prog, Jazz/Fusion, flute-based Prog and Space Rock, Tako manage to offer one of the better epics I've heard in a long time.The composition is extremely tight and well-built around symphonic synths, jazzy interludes, Classical breaks, driving flutes, emotional guitars and spacey floating atmospheres, resulting to a magnificent and thrilling piece of inspired music.

The end of this listening will find you simply stunned.This is the best Serbian Prog release of all times,a work of sheer beauty, deep inspiration and great complexity with all arrangements reaching the perfection.A must have for ages and, of course, extremely highly recommended.

 U Vreći Za Spavanje by TAKO album cover Studio Album, 1980
4.18 | 74 ratings

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U Vreći Za Spavanje
Tako Psychedelic/Space Rock

Review by Mellotron Storm
Prog Reviewer

4 stars TAKO's second and final album is a step up from the debut in my opinion.They've changed to a much more spacey style with PINK FLOYD and ELOY coming to mind quite often.This is an all instrumental affair.

"U Vreci Za Spavande" is very spacey and FLOYD-like. Drums and flute join in around 3 minutes as the spacey synths continue. "Senke Proslosti" has these bombastic outbursts until it settles in before a minute. Ripping guitar after 1 1/2 minutes. Some crazy synths 2 1/2 minutes in as the heaviness continues. A beautiful calm after 3 minutes with synths. It then builds with synths out front bringing ELOY to mind. "Na Putu Ka Sebi" rocks out early with guitar, bass and drums. It settles with piano, drums and guitar 1 1/2 minutes in.The guitar starts to solo before 2 1/2 minutes then the synths flood in and dominate.The guitar is back after 4 minutes.

"Horde Mira" opens with piano, then the drums join in as it builds slowly.The guitar starts to solo after 2 minutes and later before 4 1/2 minutes for extended periods. "Price O Leni" starts out with piano but a heavy soundscape takes over quickly. Lots of synths too. A change 6 minutes in as the spacey atmosphere leaves and piano and a beat take over. It's spacey again late. "Dolina Leptira" is a short piece with piano, guitar and a beat. "Izgubljeno Nista" is led by guitar from the get go. Nice. It does settles after 1 1/2 minutes with flute then it kicks back in before 3 minutes with guitar. "Igra Devojcice" has this nice mellow sound with flute as the heaviness comes and goes. Sounds like harmonica 1 1/2 minutes in.

I felt the debut was barely 4 stars but this one is a solid 4 stars and recommended to fans of spacey music.

 Tako by TAKO album cover Studio Album, 1978
4.16 | 131 ratings

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Tako
Tako Psychedelic/Space Rock

Review by Mellotron Storm
Prog Reviewer

4 stars TAKO were a band out of Yugoslavia who released two studio albums, this is their self titled debut from 1978. It's mostly instrumental but what vocals we get are well done and in their own native language.

"Probudi Se" sounds really good early on as we get a lazy beat and a dreamy sound as vocals join in. It does get fuller. Check out the guitar letting it rip before 2 minutes when the vocals stop. More of that guitar later.Good tune. "Sinteza" opens with piano, drums and guitar standing out. Guitar to the fore after 1 1/2 minutes and it's almost Gilmour-like but not quite.The sound changes 3 minutes in as we get some scorching harmonica. "Utapanse Sunceve Svetlosti U Pescanu Memoriju" has these outbursts of sound that come and go. Check out the drumming after 2 minutes.Then the guitar starts to lead. Nice. Keyboards before 3 1/2 minutes then the guitar returns after 4 minutes. Vocals a minute later. "Lena" opens with piano, drums then guitar. Flute after 1 1/2 minutes. It's the guitar's turn before 3 minutes. Flute is back after 4 minutes.

"Minijatura" opens with flute and a beat.It picks up before a minute then settles back late. "Druga Strana Mene" is the 16 1/2 minute epic. It has this bombastic intro then it kicks into gear before a minute. A nice heavy sound here, then the synths roll in. Some spirited flute comes and goes. A calm before 3 1/2 minutes then the guitar starts to make some noise after 4 minutes. The flute takes over with spacey synths and a beat. A change after 7 1/2 minutes which reminds me of Oldfield. Another change after 11 minutes with prominant piano. Organ and flute create a melancholic mood late. "Put Na Jug" has lots going on early. Piano a minute in then it settles to a spacey soundscape. Vocals join in and it picks up with guitar 2 1/2 minutes in. Nice. The piano is back replacing the guitar late.

I wasn't blown away by this album by any means but there's enough here to give it 4 stars I believe.

 Tako by TAKO album cover Studio Album, 1978
4.16 | 131 ratings

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Tako
Tako Psychedelic/Space Rock

Review by João Paulo

5 stars An amazing band from ex Yougoslavia. We can find some spacey and synphonic parts but others with pure fusion context wit some fast guitar improvisations. Lyrics are in Yougoslavian but are nothing special in this work that have guitars, keiboards flutes and a mixed influencies in same music. The calm parts it's broken with fast improvisations in some music tracks. It's an arrangement of some Pink Floys influencies and a Jazz fusion that gives to this work a very good quality. Not comercial and I like heard full times and discovered the musical instruments al over the album. This is an important work of ExYougoslavian music scene that give to progressive, some very important bands, Korni Gruppa or Leb i Sol it's a few of then. I like very much this album and to me it's a masterpiece os progressive music 5 stars
 U Vreći Za Spavanje by TAKO album cover Studio Album, 1980
4.18 | 74 ratings

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U Vreći Za Spavanje
Tako Psychedelic/Space Rock

Review by Finnforest
Special Collaborator Honorary Collaborator

3 stars Mix Animals-era Floyd with a harder, Finch-like edge.

Quite enjoyable instrumental symphonic progressive. In what must have been a joke the first track nearly plagiarizes the opening of Shine On You Crazy Diamond before the album finds its own sound. I can hear influences of Floyd and similar 70s acts and perhaps an early moment in the neo-prog sound. Tako eventually differentiates from the Floyd by having much more blazing lead guitar than the mellow beauty of Gilmour's playing. Tako's guitarist perhaps is more like Finch in places, or even approaches metalish sounding leads when he's on a roll.

After the little Shine On opening, the drums and flutes kick in and we begin. The overall speed of songs ranges from slow and dreamy to breakneck rock. Miroslav Dukic is able to play like Gilmour when he chooses to as in "In the Sleeping Bag" but I think he prefers more flash. One thing that might annoy some of you is that Tako seems to like the "fade out" over the definitive ending with every track ending in a fade-out. "Shadows of the Past" features a battle of heavy riffing and wild keyboards until a break in the middle where the guitar falls away and the bass soldiers on. "Hords of Peace" is another guitar-fest with layered leads in places and more nice keys. The 10-minute long "Stories About Lena" was not interesting enough to warrant all the time in my opinion. "Valley of Butterflies" fares better with booming bass and inspired lead guitar. "Nothing Lost" begins and ends in a driving flurry that would make Rush proud with a calm eye in the middle of the storm.

Tako is somewhere between 3 and 4 stars. While I enjoy the guitar I have to round down because I believe there is not enough variety in the composition. Too many of the songs sound of similar pace and emotional level.

The Rock Symphony reissued cd sounds great and features a band bio. Interestingly they place the two bonus tracks in with the rest of the album tracks rather than tagging them at the end. The album was recorded in Belgrade in 1980.

Should you seek out Tako? Well, I think if you like Finch's "Galleons of Passion" or the thought of a harder edged instrumental "Wish You Were Here" then you just might like this. They do most definitely rock.and seem to enjoy it!

 U Vreći Za Spavanje by TAKO album cover Studio Album, 1980
4.18 | 74 ratings

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U Vreći Za Spavanje
Tako Psychedelic/Space Rock

Review by Rainer Rein

3 stars The second and surely the best effort of Tako from Yugoslavia. Sometimes reminds a little bit Wish-You-Were-Here-era Pink Floyd or John-Etheridge-era Soft machine. But musical developments are not very adventurous. On the other hand we can listen qiute beautiful melodies here with using flute sometimes. Nothing very special but quite nice listening.
 Tako by TAKO album cover Studio Album, 1978
4.16 | 131 ratings

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Tako
Tako Psychedelic/Space Rock

Review by ljubaspriest

5 stars Another Yu-prog masterpiece,together with Indexi's "Modra rijeka",Tako's self-titled debut bore almost same uncompromised non-commercial characteristics as Sarajevo's veterans,only difference being somewhat undeveloped sound,due to very short time in the studio,mere 24 hours!? Still,very strong effort for this Belgrade outfit,raw sounding,with almost gothic feel driven by vintage keyboards including tons of analogue synthesisers and fiery guitar.Basic style here is symhonic with dash of jazz- fusion,mostly instumental and structuraly not overly complex,but very captivating with some beautiful flute an synth melodies.On the other side of spectrum electric guitar riffs are almost hard-rock sounding,while rhythm section is thunderous.Having said all above,there are some weaknesses,mainly with production,but I cannot help myself to get shivers down my spine every time I hear this record.Few years back,when this album was re-released on CD by Brazilian label Rock symphony,Eurock stated in their press release that this is the best ever album to come from eastern Europe.I won't go that far,but certainly it is the one of the best.Masterpiece of progressive rock music. Five stars!
 U Vreći Za Spavanje by TAKO album cover Studio Album, 1980
4.18 | 74 ratings

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U Vreći Za Spavanje
Tako Psychedelic/Space Rock

Review by Seyo
Special Collaborator Honorary Collaborator

4 stars "U vreci za spavanje" (Eng. "In The Sleeping Bag") is the second and the last album of TAKO, released in 1980 by PGP RTB label. It is an all-instrumental work, done with more ambition and seemingly more serious planning.

The title track is sort of "new age" ambient easy piece with nice flute/recorder solo, carrying the atmosphere of certain Andreas Vollenweider's albums of the 1980s. "Senke proslosti" starts with furious MAHAVISHNU-like guitar frenzy, melting slowly into a dark and eerie bass/synth section. "Na putu ka sebi" is another fusion-style composition with nice solo parts of guitar, piano and synths. "Price o Leni" is the longest track on the album, running at almost 10 minutes, but it seems that "Lena", whoever she was, is not a good inspiration for TAKO. After the so-so namesake song on the first album, here we have at times brilliant moments with some folksy melodies, but often some dull and repetitive themes played more with technical virtuosity than with heart. "Dolina leptira" is a nice odd- time track with chimes, piano and acoustic and electric guitars, somewhat reminiscent of CAMEL. "Igra devojcice" is a short closing number similar to previous "Minijatura" from the debut in that it reminds again of JETHRO TULL due to a flute solo, but there is also a harmonica part added here. Given that the only two vocal songs from the debut were in my opinion among the best, it seems to me that the all-instrumental concept on this one was not the best solution - some nicely composed vocal parts would add a bit of variety.

In time of its release in autumn 1980, Yugoslavia saw the outbreak of New Wave music movement, which did not welcome the "old-fashioned" progressive rockers. I remember some negative reviews in the renowned music magazine "Dzuboks" that, modelled on the NME trend setting, denounced TAKO as "lost in space and time" or something like that. I never saw this album in reality on the market and I imagine it was printed in very small circulation copies. TAKO disbanded soon after this commercial failure. In spite of this, "U vreci za spavanje" is a worthy prog album that should be listened and perhaps the foreign (non-South Slavic) prog fans would not mind lacking of vocal parts like I do, because this way there is no language barrier.

Thanks to Seyo for the artist addition. and to E&O Team for the last updates

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