DOZIVJETI STOTU

Inspired by the burgeoning New Wave sounds and the Ska revival that just splashed the Yugoslav music scene in 1980, he decided to make an album of concise, energetic, power pop and basic rock'n'roll songs. Production is stripped-down to basic rock song format stressing the beat, crisp guitar riffs almost without any solo parts and trendy synths.

Most of the songs are catchy and danceable tunes with post-punk energy and Ska/reggae elements, except the introspective ballad "Pjesma mom mlađem bratu" (En. "A Song To My Brother") having a slight prog touch and being the longest track at 4:14! The title track (En. "To Live One Hundred Years") reflects the topic of fear from getting old and how to live a healthy life, with ironic distance. It is a fiery ska'n'roll with excellent Jankelić's percussion, scoring a great hit. "Tramvaj kreće" (En. "The Tram Moves On") has a Bo Diddley-like guitar riff, saxophone and a slight blues hint, while "Ha, ha, ha" was another big hit with crazy punk/Ska rhythm and dance-invoking phrase "everybody now let's dance". Ever-growing Bregović's quasi-political references are most evident in the satiric portrait of the Yugoslav everyman character called Petar Petrović (something like English equivalent John Bull), to whom Bregović conveys a message that "everything has gone to hell/your dream is full of [&*!#]" in the track titled "Čudesno jutro u krevetu gđe Petrović" (En. "An Amazing Morning In The Bed of Mrs. Petrović")! Again, there were certain reactions in the media against the cursing words, but since the Yugoslav leader Tito had died a few months earlier, the situation was less serious than during "Bitanga i princeza" release. Other songs on this album are less important to mention.

This album also marks the end of the cover design cycle "female body parts" that started from their debut in 1974. After the breasts, the arse, the lips and the blue eye, now we got a real novelty in LP records graphic design in Yugoslavia: "Dozivjeti stotu" was printed in three different cover graphics - all depicting the female body before and after the plastic surgery in line with the title track theme - of the forehead, the chin and the breasts! I personally never liked the bloody images of actual surgery on the back covers, but the idea was probably to offer something curious to DUGME fans or collectors and force them to buy the same album three times if they wish to have all 3 images. The audience, however, did not buy this catch, so the initial print sold less than 100 thousand copies, which was the poorest of all previous albums.

Overall, "Dozivjeti stotu" is not a bad record and was actually the last album of DUGME that I bought and bothered to actively listen more than a few times. And it was the last work of Bregović containing the genuine urban rock and dance aesthetics before diving ever deeper into the cheap pop folk and mass manipulation and politicisation of the 1980s... However, it is also not entirely good, having too few original musical or even lyrical statements or instrumental elements. For the purpose of progressive rock community I would not call it even remotely interesting.

PERSONAL RATING: 3/5

P.A. RATING: 2/5