POSLE KRAJA

After they split up in 1979, S VREMENA NA VREME were mostly forgotten in the Yugoslavian music scene. Asim Sarvan formed in early 1980s the folk rock group MUZEJ SARVAN, while Ljuba Ninkovic joined the mainstream rock revival band TUNEL. Both endeavours proved to be unsuccessful commercially as well as artistically waste of their talents. Then, in 1990 they got together as duet (without Djukic bros.), recording again some of their old hits from the 1970s and issued an album under the title "Ljuba i Asim: Najveci hitovi grupe S vremena na vreme". During the dissolution and wars of former Yugoslavia, S VREMENA NA VREME appeared at a charity concert in Belgrade 1993 and decided to re-group and even to record a new album, the first new material since "Paviljon G".

"Posle kraja" (Eng. "After the End") was released in 1995 to a half-hearted reaction of the public. The time and the political moment were not friendly towards rock music in general, so the media simply ignored the disc. However, this album is excellent and its ill- tempered appearance only adds to its value, especially when contrasted with awful situation in their home country Serbia and surrounding ex-Yugoslav republics. The general feeling of pessimism and regret for the past is most evident in the upbeat opener, "Povratna karta" (Eng. "Round-Trip Ticket") with catchy rhythm tracing the TALKING HEADS' "Life During Wartime", folksy percussion-lead "Tavan" (Eng. "The Attics") and the lament for the passed rock icons in "A ja" (Eng. "And Me"). Sound of the album is excellent, production is crisp clear and performance is impeccable. Most of the songs feature acoustic guitars, their signature prim-tambura, percussion and tasty background organ and keyboards. The famous session player Pera Joe contributes with fine harmonica in three songs, while ballad "Spavaj" (Eng. "Sleep") contains female lead vocal by Marija Mihajlovic. The album presents the second version of the track "Maskenbal" (Eng. "Masquerade"), originally recorded for the previous album "Paviljon G", but this time in not so interesting country-rock manner. Beautiful guitar chords (sometimes in the vein of the guitar pop wizard Johnny Marr of THE SMITHS) and wonderful vocal harmonies of these old gents prove that they still had lot to offer. Literally all the tracks, with possible exception of "Spavaj" and "Maskenbal", are first rate folk-rock compositions; if not entirely "progressive" they are extremely seriously composed and arranged with genuine artistic approach.

"Posle kraja" is one the major pleasant surprises from the post-Yugoslavian prog rock scene, therefore I can highly recommend this album. It deserves almost 4,5 stars.