TROJICA U MRAKU

AERODROM continued working as a trio on their fifth album "Trojica u mraku" (The Trio in the Dark) released in 1986. This time however the position of a drummer was filled by the returnee Zlatan 'ivković, who also shared some lead vocals duties. The album was titled after a comic book title by one of early pioneers of comic art in former Kingdom of Yugoslavia before the WW2, Andrija Maurović. After a cheap pop flop of the previous album, "Trojica" sounds as a welcome return to new wave-tinged pop-rock expression of the second album. Alas, this again proves that despite competent instrumental skills, guitarist-leader Jurica Pađen struggles to write more than 2-3 decent songs. Also on this album it is easy to compare his lead vocal with 'ivković's and all the results should go in favour of the latter, so it leaves one to wonder why Pađen did not leave more vocals to 'ivković to handle.

Out of ten songs, only two stand out. The closing track "Pozdrav s Bardo ravni" (Greetings From Bardo Fields) is arguably the best and the only one containing traces of prog rock. It is a nice prog ballad with lots of acoustic guitars, keyboard backing and a fine sax solo. It is the reason why any prog fan should give this album a spin. The opener "Vatra je na nebu" (Fire in the Sky) is an excellent hard rocker with odd time signatures and strong singing by 'ivković. There are also two semi-decent tracks. The one containing silly English lines "eat a [&*!#], how it tastes so good" is actually a fine power pop resembling their fellow Zagreb new wave champions AZRA, with whom Pađen was to collaborate after this album. And the ballad sung by 'ivković "Pogre'an dan" (The Wrong Day), with a bluesy bridge is also nice. All other tracks contain too generic and undistinguished songwriting while some like "Metar vina" (Plenty of Wine) are downright awful. All in all, it is hard to recommend this album, especially to prog lovers. MY RATING: 2,5