Smak

Hey Livnica!(nice to see another member from the ex-YU btw.)

I have Crna Dama on vinyl but my record player is broken so I haven't had a chance to listen to it. And since you seem to be an expert (or a big fan)  on Smak I want to know if the record is (or any other) worth buying? My dad mentoined they are great many times, but he likes allmost everything so he's opinion does't count..  

Crna Dama is, very good record, i.e. they had ideas, but they are in much more commercial arrangement than on their first and probably the best album. You know how it happens with prog.

But if you are interested in Yu, Bijelo Dugme is alpha and omega, they are very commercial, but their composer is simply great musical talent and lof ot his material can be easily called prog.

BTW, you know, you can download anything of YU rock - for those interested in Smak, start here with songs Ulazak u Harem and Biska 2. Then follow your heart. :)

Kazimire, brate, are you nuts??? Bregovic can't do a squat compared to R.M. Tocak & Smak, not to mention Leb i Sol, Yu-grupa, Time, Korni grupa, ...

Bijelo dugme's music is called shepherd's rock- because the inspiration for it came from listening to the sheep doing "beeeee".

And true, "Bijelo dugme" is the most commercial bend of ex-yu, and people listen to them. Because the people are the sheep.

Most of their fans listen to Turbo-folk, a unique amalgam of Radio Teheran's top-of-the-pops, coyote hawling and a rudimentary skill of pressing two keys on a synthesizer. I believe that proves my previous point.

terramystic wrote: Bijelo dugme is more commercial but some of their songs could be called prog related

Terramystic, could you clarify how on Earth can "Bijelo dugme" be related to progressive rock???

Welcome everyone! Nice to see some folks discussing the "good ole" exYU prog from the 1970s

Maybe we can create a separate thread for exYU prog?

I expect many of you can write some reviews too, I can't do it all by myself !!!

Go here http://www.progarchives.com/Band-list.asp?country=203 and check there are still many albums without reviews. Just please, read the guidelines and instructions how to write a review. It is available elesewhere on the forum.

Regarding BIJELO DUGME, here is my opinion. I have been contemplating their addition here for quite some time. Their first 4-5 albums can arguably be included into "prog related" category. Their style of that time was similar to URIAH HEEP, DEEP PURPLE, ARGENT, BIRTH CONTROL... of course with notorius addition of "shepherd's rock" folk-influenced lyrics. Later stuff during 1980s was horrible very commercialized (although their first phase was also very popular, anyone rememeber "Dugmemania" phenomenon?) "arena" style mainstream pop/rock with Balkan folk, not interesting for prog people. I was personally never a fan of BIJELO DUGME (except when I was 13-14 old), but their overall career probably deserves mentioning them in "prog-related" section... ?

I don't know anything about "Smak", but it sounds a lot like "Muack!"...

blazno wrote: Hey Livnica!(nice to see another member from the ex-YU btw.) I have Crna Dama on vinyl but my record player is broken so I haven't had a chance to listen to it. And since you seem to be an expert (or a big fan)  on Smak I want to know if the record is (or any other) worth buying? My dad mentoined they are great many times, but he likes allmost everything so he's opinion does't count..

IMHO "Crna dama" is their best album, excellent funky jazz-rock with wonderful keyboards by Miki Petkovski. I never saw the CD re-issue, so I gues you'll have to repair that old turntable!

Ok i see that you got my post so i will say only this,here we or i don't want any Bjelo dugme in this topic.To me they have turned back to Yu-Rock long time ago.

Seyo i agree with you about Yu-prog topic but you should call it like we Yugoslavians have always said 'YU-Rock'.But if you all want here to write about Yu-Rock bands it's fine with me,we need to spread this music around the world by one room-topic.

Anyway from which part of the world are you, Smakovci(Smak fans)?

I thank you good man

Seyo wrote: All mentioned are excellent artists! INDEXI, LEB I SOL and SEPTEMBER are already here. JOSIPA is arguably close to "progressive rock" with different influences from blues, jazz and soul. ELEKTRICNI ORGAZAM and SARLO AKROBATA are also excellent, but they belong to another story (post punk, new wave). TIME debut album is a milestone of ex-YU prog (and not only prog) rock, but check my review of DRAGO MLINAREC first album, released in 1971, before TIME!!

Thanks for the information, Seyo. I think for me it's worth to try first SEPTEMBER, JOSIPA and DRAGO MLINAREC. As I understand, albums of MLINAREC were not released on CD, I hope it's only a question of time.

I also have some live albums of PARNI VALJAK, the band playing good melodic rock with nice vocals and guitar playing. Did they ever play something close to prog?

terramystic wrote: Livnica wrote: terramystic wrote: Bijelo dugme is more commercial but some of their songs could be called prog related Terramystic, could you clarify how on Earth can "Bijelo dugme" be related to progressive rock??? Yes, they are commercial and less skilful than Smak but some songs are unmistakably prog (in the style of proto-prog, hard prog) or at least attempt at it: "Sve ce to mila moja...", "Sta bi dao da si na mom mjestu", "Kad bi bio bijelo dugme", "Pozurite konji moji"...

You got that right, Terramystic!