MADE IN U.S.A.

Josipa Lisac spent three years in the USA retreating from the Yugoslav scene (and undergoing cosmetic plastic surgery which helped her fill the pages of sensation-hungry Yugoslav tabloid press) during 1976-79 and together with her partner Karlo Metikos explored the American music scene and studio technology of the time. The result was the album under the obvious title "Made in U.S.A.", recorded with American musicians led by arranger and guitarist Ira Newborn in L.A. studios in California.

Soft and lush, adult-oriented production combined with the then trendy funk and disco sounds produced an album far distanced from her previous blues, rock and jazz efforts. Most of the songs are middle-of-the-road vocal pop while the only decent tracks were the opening dance pop hit "Ti Si Genije (You're My Handy Man)" and a slow tempo ballad "Opet Sam Slobodna (I'm Over You)" with some nice guitar arrangements in the intro. Sort of listenable is also "Ne Stedi Se (Love Is Alive)" even if it sounds as a cross between TOTO and Tina Turner of the early 1980s (notice the excellent heavy guitar riff and solo).

Even worse than disco and AOR elements, the sugary crooner pop ballads are what downplays this album entirely. If Van Morrison's covers "Zivot S Njim (Crazy Love)" and "?arobna Mo� Mjeseca (Moondance)" can be justified as a tribute to the international music icon although the latter would have probably sounded better if sung in English, the tracks like "Svako Zlo Nosi Nesto Dobrog (When You Find Someone Who Loves You)", "Nasa Zvijezda Gubi Svoj Sjaj (Take This Heart)" or "Tko Zna Kog Vidis U Meni (What You See Is Who I Am)" were perhaps the most challenging music that Linda Evans from popular TV series "Dynasty" would ever dare listen to.

With six songs sung in English and four in what was then called "Serbo-Croatian" it was not fully accepted by domestic listeners and critics, while it definitely could not have succeeded in the enormously rich Anglo-American music industry either. Despite its technical prowess, "Made in U.S.A." was such a mediocre effort that remained one of Josipa's weakest works.

PERSONAL RATING: 1,5/5

P.A. RATING: 2/5