ZABRANJENO PLAKATIRATI

After ground-breaking debut album "Pljuni istini u oci", BULDOZER had to cope with not so friendly cultural establishment, which was outraged by their acts and thus prohibited further printing of that album. During 1976 the band played on stage extensively in order to keep their fan base interested. Ironically, Marko Brecelj even won a prize called "Seven Secretaries of SKOJ" (SKOJ- Communist Youth Alliance of Yugoslavia during World War II) for his solo album "Cocktail" that typically used to be awarded to prominent socialist youth activists in the field of art and culture! In October 1976 "Zabranjeno plakatirati" (Eng. "Posting Forbidden") was recorded in Novi Sad, again under the auspices of the notorious PGP RTB label. For this occasion the band saw a change of rhythm section; Vili Bertok was new bassist while Tone Dimnik joined on drums. Then, a painful negotiations with PGP authorities continued - BULDOZER were required to change their alleged "pornographic" and "drug-inducing" lyrics (in one song they had to replace the word "nirvana" with "kafana" (meaning: "a coffee bar"), but to no avail. After waiting the whole year, they finally signed to more liberal label Helidon and the album appeared in late 1977.

In spite of very short duration of about 30 minutes, "Zabranjeno plakatirati" was another excellent album by BULDOZER. It continues in the vein similar to its predecessor, only this time psychedelic textures are more present. This is especially evident in "Ne brini, mama" ("Don't Worry Mama"), "Djevojcice" ("Girls") and "Dobro jutro, madamme Jovanovic" ("Good Morning Madam Jovanovic"), which are full of black humour and sarcasm. Musicianship is excellent and they delved more into psychedelic experimentation with heavy use of distorted organ and synth with firm guitar solos and riffs, while Brecelj offers his perhaps the best vocal performances for BULDOZER. A novelty of this album is presence of two shorter and rock-oriented tracks, presumably written as potential hits, and indeed they both were extremely popular during their hilarious live shows. "Helga" is satirical use of the socialist myth of the local Yugoslavian macho males offering sex services to German female tourists at Dalmatian coast. This song would appear in four different "versions" on their ultimate live experience "Ako ste slobodni veceras" few years later (Frank Zappa did similar thing to song "Black Page" on "Live in New York"). "Doktore pomozite" ("Help Me, Doctor") is another trademark BULDOZER song, with timeless lyrics ("Help me doctor/I am dying/My son is a discophile/He's got that LP record/Which corrupts our children").

This album is another remarkable achievement of BULDOZER and acts as fine example of Central-Eastern European avant/prog. Due to its shortage and sometimes less than perfect production, 4,5 stars would be more objective. But anyway, this is a great album and is absolutely recommended for purchase.

By the time this album is released in late 1977,Buldozer already disbanded,but what an album they put together.In spite of time limitations,Buldozer managed to,if not supersede,than certainly match quality of first album by making it more accessible to average listener.Music is still very complex and Brecelj's voice is weird as ever,but this time arrangements are more rockier and coherent.Production is on a little bit of a downside,but considering all the problems band had to put up with during recording sessions,including politicking over lyrics and "inappropriate sleeve",this was still a major release in ex- yugoslavian music circles.In later years Buldozer reformed with only two origial members,but nver managed to match quality of the original band,aside from excellent live album "Ako ste slobodni veceras",which shows band as a highly entertaining unit live.A masterpiece of Yu-prog and prog in general.

Zabranjeno plakatirati (Forbidden to Post) is the follow up to Buldozer's revolutionary debut "Pljuni istini u oci". Zabranjeno plakatirati continues where "Pljuni istini u oci" ends. The record is full of wierd psyhadelic organ sounds, good guitar solos, strange "broken-up" rythms and Marko Brecelj's shouting, yet quite melodic, vocal "effects". The music is very comlex and when you listen to the record you have the feeling like every note is where it belongs, which gives off a more melodic feel. Zabranjeno plakatirati is not as styllistically mixed as it's predicesor, but by combineing psyhadelic rock(which is maybe the predominant) and hard rock with avant-prog, they have managed to create a complitlly original blend of rock. Music really has that Buldozer mark all over it with wierd sound effects, great musicicanship, acassional samples and of course hilarious black humor and satire, which can only be compared to that of Frank Zappa. The only negative thing about this record is it's lenght - it's to short, just above 30 minutes. But considering all the trouble they had to go trough (they were considered a politically uncorrect band, their records were seen as a threat by the socialist "cultural" establishment) it's surprising that it even got published and that Marko Brecelj was going to leave the group, so I guess that shortness is understandable.

I belive that this record is one the best avant/prog rock records ever made in Central-Eastern Europe as well as the world, but to really understand and enjoy it's genius you must understand Serbo-Croatian. In conclusion I can say that this is one of my favourite records of all time and I consider it an absoulte masterpiece, highly recomended!!!

After the initial 13000 copies of Pljuni istini u oci were sold in about a month, the PGP RTB label refused to print more because the ones responsible considered the album's sleeve and music to be a threat to the Yugoslav public. Not receiving much airplay either, Buldozer were forced to make their public breakthroughs through very distinctive live performances which quickly gained them the reputation of the craziest band in Yugoslavia (although they'd announce themselves as a typical ensemble of pop-folk music from Slovenia (Eine tipische Export artikel aus Slowenien)).

Zabranjeno plakatirati was recorded in Novi Sad during the autumn of 1976, but the recordings got shelved for a year due to disputes with the label regarding the 'drug abuse-inducing' and 'pornographic' lyrics of the songs on the album. It eventually got released in late 1977 by Helidon.

Musically, Zabranjeno plakatirati is much stronger than its predecessor as it displays the very high capabilities of the band as both musicians and arrangers. The lyrics are typically humorous and satirical, embodied by Brecelj's vocal cord-ripping voice. The 5 songs are all Buldozer classics, from the heavy opener Ne brini, mama (and the infamously changed nirvana/kafana lyric) to the chopping rhythm of Doktore pomozite (there are records of live performances where Brecelj would sing this song while butchering a piece of pork with an axe while dressed up in a doctor's suit). This album also features what are in my opinion the best two songs Buldozer ever recorded, the mentioned being Dobro jutro, madam Jovanovic (a 9-minute number with some terrific drum work and psychedelic passages) and Jeste li vidjeli djevojcice, which combines psychedelic moods with raw punk-ish energy. Helga is a waltz with hilarious lyrics, portraying/parodying a galeb (a local whose 'job' is to keep the female foreign tourists 'company' during their stay on the Dalmatian coast) and one of the few early Buldozer songs in hit format.

Overall, this album would have been a true masterpiece if PGP RTB engineers actually put some effort into the recording and production (according to Borut Cinc, the tapes Helidon got from PGP weren't even the original masters but rather inferior outtakes!). The music alone has it all, but the recording quality is poor. 4,5 stars actually.

It was not easy job for me to review this album. And not because it is kind of controversial one, no way. Just I have same problem reviewing this release as with almost any other album from ex-Yugoslavia. As foreigner who lived in that region for some years and understand local languages good enough to catch slung and black humour added in songs lyrics, I always wonder,how listener without such abilities feels when listening such album.

I'd read all reviews on this album written by people from former Yugoslavia, and perfectly understand their highest ratings they gave to this album. Zappa/Captain Beefheart influenced avant-rock with bluesy roots and strong psychedelic scent, original enough, with strong local flavour (mostly in lyrics) was absolute explosion in half-totalitarian Yugoslavia of mid 70-s. Rebellion evidence which will be remembered for all their life by generation who was young in mid 70-s. Especially because very soon,just few years later such music was almost totally forgotten and changed by Yu-pop all around the country. Few decades later all the country finished its existence (in bloody few years war) and many of this album fans found themselves living in States,Australia,Sweden or Austria. And one of few things they still have from their 70-s is this album.

Album is quite short and sound mix is very average,or even worst. But this music is great evidence of time and the place in its atmosphere. Slovenian band sings in Serbo-Croatian (can't hardly imagine such combination nowadays), and for everyone, who can remember (or at least imagine) that time this release is the same as early Zappa albums for American youth.

But-what doest it means for all other world?For the world ,who thinks that Slovenia and Slovakia ("Slovensko" in slovakian) is the same country? Who can't understand all that humour and nostalgia (looking from now) in album's lyrics? OK, for them it's just one rare a bit vintage (for 1975) Zappa-influenced avant-rock album with original vocals, many interesting moments and non-understandable lyrics.

Returning back to the beginning of this review, it is not easy for me to rate this album. As a rare person in between of two worlds, I understand point of view from both groups of listeners. So -what can I say there? I believe my verdict is something in between - everyone interested in Eastern/SE European avant-rock from totalitarian period should check this album, but don't expect you will catch it in full.

My rating (for all listeners of non ex-Yugoslavian origin) is 3,5,rounded to4. As my position there - somewhere in between. :)

Amazing album by an amazing band, I love those cases where bands don't release just great debut but perfect their sound over time. This second album by Buldozer is if compared by loudness has more hard rock in the blend then the first album, but so those everything else, like psychedelic elements.Like for instance "Dobro Jutro Madam Jovanovic" has a lot of stuff going on, from hard rock, jazz and symphonic elements, to me the best track. Psychedelic sounding (at first) "Gdje Su Djevojcice" or "Where Are The Little Girls" is just about that, Brecelj singing about finding lost girls and worrying about them, albeit from a perspective of maybe an overly paranoid parent. What is better then the first album is also the better usage of non-music sounds, where even in the "Gdje Su..." there is a part where a policeman of sorts asks an identity card and it's ridiculous but it fits perfectly, lots of moments like that throughout the album as does the weirder Brecelj's shouts. On the first album I had feeling of being overwhelmed by these strange stuff, and some parts in the songs were just nonsensically noisy to me. As people before me said, this is for FRANK ZAPPA, BEEFHEART and GONG fans as they are most representative of this sort of avant-prog genre. Only sin of this album is it's shortness.

This review of ZABRAJENO PLAKATIRATI is coming from a different perspective than what has been written so far. It's coming from an American who was about a year old when the Berlin Wall fell and knows nothing about the Soviet Union other than through history classes. If you want to gain more insight into the history surrounding Buldozer and this album, check out the other reviews. I am going to try and focus on the music and boy, does it satisfy.

ZP sounds as if you took Captain Beefheart and THE YES ALBUM and cross-fusioned them, but that description still doesn't do justice. This is about as wacky as a Beefheart or Zappa or Gong album without the name recognition of any of those outfits. The vocals are not really gritty but not really clean, they have this humourous tone to them, and they're done tremendously well too; anyone that was repelled by the Captain might want to sit and listen to one Marko Brecelj. Easier to digest and not much effort is needed to spot the humour tone in his voice.

The key point is that Buldozer know how to rock without sounding blatantly commercial (or at least the Western Hemisphere version of it). They seem to know how to keep a song going even if there are parts that seem to just dissolve. Take the big ''Dobro jutro, madam Jovanovic''; the song is littered with the strangest guitar riffs you've ever heard, but it wanders off into some jamming before an alarm clock sound brings the song back into place. These guys can sound like they wreck a song and make it sound perfectly okay, even warranted at times. It's almost perfectly constructed as if the band knew how the notes were supposed to go, even the wandering bits. Put that on top of a layer of Hammond and pulsating rhythms...indescribable joy.

And that is just the longest track; I can smell the humour coming off of ''Helga'' and ''Doctor'' even with the handicap of not understanding a word they're saying. The mostly psychedelic ''Jeste li...'' is the only track that is slightly different, but the psychedelic tone is very warm and juts fits with everything else.

Sometimes you get tired of hearing that cliche, ''It's really great because nobody knows about it''; ZP can validate this cliche mostly because the music holds up well. It's perfect for the fan of Zappa/Beefheart/Gong without going into clonish territory. I know it's just over a half-hour, but we get a quality half-hour of music. It's RIO where the ''R'' and the ''O'' really mean something.

I find the music of Zarbanjeno Plakatirati remarkably interesting and hardly inaccessible. The biggest negative though would have to be the vocals, which are grating and distract from the music.

"Ne brini, mama" The fuzzy bass and splashes of organ make for exciting semi-psychedelic rock, such that the vocalist would have served the music better by humming John Cage's "4'33."

"Dobro jutro, madam Jovanovic" Funnily enough (to me anyway), the phrase "Dobro jutro" is Serbian for "Good morning," but of course a Dobro is a trademark of a resonator guitar, played with a slide, and slide guitar opens up this track. Okay, so maybe that self-amusement was a bit of a stretch. Overall, this lengthier song is heavy rock in the vein of Uriah Heep with occasional jazzy touches. The first instrumental section about three minutes in is a brilliant mélange of guitars and organ over a spacey bass riff. The last two minutes drive right through Gentle Giant territory.

"Helga" The strange introduction is like the rockier side of Jethro Tull, and then the song becomes closer to typical blues rock. The vocals are even gruffer and more unnatural and ill-fitting. Fans of Led Zeppelin might have to give this a try.

"Jeste li vidjeli djevojcice" Murky guitar and ethereal organ make an entrance. Two minutes in things pick up and become carnival-like, very peppy and enthusiastic. It features an exciting passage in 7/4 before dropping into the murkiness again. A herd of schoolchildren, perhaps escaping school for the summer, may be heard at the end.

"Doktore pomozite" Hurling back into the foot-stomping rock found in "Helga," this song has a steady electric guitar riff and a giddy piano. The shouting makes a mediocre song even more so.

It was maybe a couple of weeks ago after going on a bit of an Avant binge I thought to myself I am actually a pretty big fan of the avant. Then I hear a band like BULDOZER that hard core avant fans love and realize I'm far from a fanboy of "out there" music. Their first two albums are the ones that avant fans point to as being classic avant but they are far from that in my world.

From the former Yugoslavia now Slovenia this six piece band was all about pushing people's buttons I suppose. Silly and crude lyrics thankfully in their own language with inappropriate pictures to match. They took their cue from Zappa and went a couple of levels higher(lower). I'm so not into this stuff and the vocals which have purpose in the sense that they are rough and unappealing(to match the lyrics) make this a 3 star album but a step up from their debut in my opinion.

The difference is that Zappa put a lot of focus on difficult instrumental material mostly in that jazz mode while here we pretty much get bluesy music that I'm just not that into. Yes I'm surprised at the high ratings but those are mostly from fans of that area so there's that.

The one track that I can stomach is "Jeste Li Vidjeli Devojcice" where we get some melodic music and harmonies but of course mixed with the more passionate and twisted sounds as a contrast. More of this please. I suppose I have dismissed a lot of experimental music based on the extreme vocals like soprano female vocals for example but this record offers nothing to me that would even have me considering 4 stars. 3 rude stars(haha).