BIJELO DUGME

The seventh, eponymously titled, studio album marked a considerable change in the career of Bijelo Dugme. Having parted ways with lead singer ?eljko Bebek, the band leader Goran Bregović strived to find his replacement, which was not an easy task, and even contemplated disbanding the group altogether. Bebek was the most visually recognizable symbol of the band and his gritty "black" voice was a distinguishing feature of many of their classic songs. Instead of trying to find an established singer as a replacement, Bregović opted for a relatively unknown singer of the local Sarajevan hard rock band Top, Mladen Vojičić Tifa. Developed under the influence of the post-Purple heavy metal shouters (from Ian Gillan and David Coverdale to David Lee Roth and Steven Tyler) Tifa's voice was more throaty, seemingly unrefined and screechy in upper registers. However, he was able to prove his singing skills especially in ballads and slower tempo rockers, where his voice was more natural and less strained. Two best tracks from this album, "Jer kad ostari?" (When You Get Old) and "Da te bogdo ne volim" (I Wish I Didn't Love You), each ending the respective side of the vinyl, belong to the latter category.

Other things happening in 1984 also influenced Bregović to come up with a new artistic vision. Ostensibly unhappy with his long-time treatment by the recording business giant Jugoton, he tried to take full control over his band, its musical direction, production and marketing. In partnership with fellow Sarajevan pop star Zdravko Čolić, Bregović started a privately owned label "Kamarad" and signed a distribution deal with the locally based recording company Diskoton in Sarajevo. When trying to explain the idea behind this move, according to the band biographer Du?an Vesić, Bregović compared his artistic endeavor with a small business like a bakery, and only by having his own label he could be totally independent like any private business entrepreneur. This was followed by his increasing awareness of the potentials for political provocation.

According to rock critic Ivan Ivačković, Bregović was influenced by "protest songs" of Branimir ?tulić and his new wave band Azra, even back in 1983 when he composed "Kosovska" in Albanian language for Dugme's previous album, playing with controversies in the aftermath of 1981 student demonstrations in Kosovo. This time, the eponymous album was packed with the cover art depicting "The Maiden of Kosovo", a painting by Serbian artist Uro? Predić. Although at that time, prior to the Yugoslav wars of the 1990s, destructive potentials of Kosovo mythology were not so obvious, indeed the Kosovo myth was still a part of the overarching Yugoslav ideology, it was nevertheless something the authorities would certainly cringe about. Another influence on Bregović's new concept in visual terms was Slovene industrial group Laibach and their art movement Neue Slowenische Kunst. When on tour promoting the album, Bijelo Dugme played in black quasi-militaristic outfits complete with red armbands sporting a Kamarad logo, while the same artwork, a somewhat adapted version of the Soviet film studio Mosfilm logo, used to be projected on the screen behind the drum kit. Coupled with a dead-serious synth-heavy rendition of the Yugoslav anthem "Hej Slaveni" (Hey Slavs), which opens the album, one could claim (as did Vesić in his biography) that as if Bregović wanted in equally militaristic way to reply to the Slovene artists, who were then perceived as anti-Yugoslav secessionists: if you want to break apart Yugoslavia, I will defend it! Or to put it differently, as if every one of 420 000 buyers of this record (according to Vesić) were commanded: Dear Bijelo Dugme fan, first listen to your anthem, stand still, salute and sing along, and then you may play the rest of the album! And that was not a particularly rewarding listening experience.

The abysmal anthem was followed by a cheap attempt at arena rock pomposity "Padaju zvijezde" (Stars Are Falling Down), whose musical theme is apparently borrowed from Van Halen's huge hit "Jump". "Meni se ne spava" (I Can't Sleep) brings a strong dance-pop rhythm loaded with synths, yet the backing vocals of the female group Ladarice, specialized in folk music, just doesn't seem to fit well. Besides, the lyrics contain some of the worst wording and forced rhyming ever penned by Bregović, such as: "dođi mi doveče, ne budi goveče" (come to me tonight, don't be an ox) and "evo vri?taću noćas, abortiraću, ?to te nema" (I'm going to cry tonight, I'm going to abort, why are you not here). "Za Esmu" (For Esma) starts on a promising note, if you don't mind gated electronic drums so typical of 1984. Melodic parts of keyboards and guitar are fine and catchy until a terrible chorus comes in and ruins the songs completely. Again, the arrangement of Ladarice vocals is dubious. "Jer kad ostari?" closes the A side of the vinyl on a high note. As mentioned already, it is a powerful pop-rock ballad with some good guitar licks and excellent Tifa's singing.

Side B opens with a new version of the old Bregović composition "?ta ću nano, dragi mi je ljut", which had been sung by Bisera Veletanlić and released on his debut solo album in 1976. This time the song, re-titled as "Lipe cvatu" (Lime-Trees Blossom), is rearranged as a pure folk song with traditional instruments like bagpipes, tapan drums and ?argija (long-necked lute). Had it not contained rather banal lyrics, the song would actually be one of the strongest on the album. Then, there is a somewhat humoristic treatment of a sexually-transmitted disease topic in "Pediculis pubis", which is an up-tempo track with danceable bass beats, sung by Bregović and guest vocalist Bora Đorđević of Riblja Čorba (another popular songwriter whose social commentaries possibly also influenced Bregović). It's nothing to write home about, except that it was perhaps one of the pioneering rap songs in Yugoslavia, at least among the mainstream pop and rock. Rapping is present also in the following track "Aiaio radi radio" (Aiaio Plays Radio). However, you can guess even by the title that it is one of the dumbest songs ever recorded by Dugme. Horrible vocals and bad melody prevents me from listening through the whole damn thing, so I usually skip it. The listening torture continues through "La?e?" (You're a Liar), a ballad that could be blamed for inspiring a legions of Sarajevo-based "pop-rock" wannabees who were to play a sort of "sevdah-rock" (which really is based on neither true sevdah nor true rock) in the following years (the best known examples would be Merlin and Plavi Orkestar) - an unholy communion of the cheapest, massively produced versions of folk music (singing style and excessively sentimental topics) and rock instrumentation (drums and electric guitars). Tifa's vocals, especially during a chorus, are simply abysmal; something that could not be redeemed even by relatively well performed piano and guitar. Finally, as mentioned, the album ends with another highlight, the ballad "Da te bogdo ne volim". It has a very nice and memorable piano theme backed with slightly bluesy acoustic guitar. Tifa is here in top singing form and it is obvious that this style of rock balladry suits him well.

Overall the album is a kind of postmodernist mess - a commercially successful product that exploited moderate political provocation, somewhat conservative treatment of Titoist ideology, (quasi) patriotic populism, musical trends of folklorization (some elements of which would later escalate into a bastard genre "turbo folk") and a cold-sounding synth-heavy production so typical of the mid-1980s. Yet, this album was not the worst one in Bijelo Dugme catalogue. Two stars for two very good tracks, and I am being generous.