MODRA RIJEKA

A unique achievement for a band who was previously mostly a pop-rock band with occasional forays into rhythm and blues, "Modra Rijeka" is as progressive as you can get. The guitarist Slobodan A. "Bodo" Kovacevic and bassist Fadil Redzic are the main architects behind this work. It opens with a Redzic composition "Blago", which can be considered partly succesful. It does contain some splendid bass work. Then follows "Brod", a predominantly vocal track also written by Redzic, which is followed by a stunning composition, Kovacevic's "More(Sea)". It contains some impressive soloing, both on bass and guitar, acoustic and electric, and is the most complex and succesful piece here.

"Slovo o covjeku" is the best vocal dominated song here, "Pustinja" is quite interesting and "More II" continues on the path of it's predecessor, although it's less than half its length. It is the album's only instrumental and another proof of Kovacevic's talent as a composer. Then comes the album's grand finale, the song about the song, the title track. It has a very poignant guitar intro and a soothing string section in the middle, not to speak about the piano solo, which is one of the best I've heard (played by Ranko Rihtman, who did the string arrangement here) and Davorin Popovic's vocal is subtle yet powerful. It adds more depth to the overall feeling, which describes the other world, death.

In the history of Bosnian and Yugoslav music, there are few as important albums as Modra Rijeka. It is one of the most crucial albums in Bosnian music history, if not THE most crucial. It proved once again that Indexi were one of the greatest bands Yugoslavia ever had and they could always surprise, even after 16 years. A highlight for the Sarajevo veterans.