NAJVECI USPJESI

After her successful debut LP, Jugoton immediately reacted and released this collection of "Greatest Hits" in early 1974. "Najveći uspjesi" however did not include any song from "Dnevnik jedne ljubavi" album, which was in fact a great decision by Jugoton producers because being a concept album it simply should be listened in its entirety rather than to slice off single tracks. The compilation gathers instead ten songs from the three famous music festivals in Yugoslavia where Josipa participated and gained first important stage experience and awards as a young female singer - namely those held in Split, Zagreb and Opatija - all of them in present Croatia, including two songs from Yugoslav Eurovision selection contest. The period covered runs from 1968 to 1973.

However, the song selection is not simply a compilation of festival live recordings (apart from the cover of "Playing Solitaire With My Memories"/"Igra valova u mom sjećanju") but in fact all of them were studio recordings most of which were previously issued on 7" singles. Musically, all tracks included Zagreb Radio Television Festival Orchestra and some of the top conductors of ex- Yugoslavia in that period, namely Miljenko Prohaska, Nikica Kalogjera, Stjepan Mihaljinec or Ferdo Pomykalo.

Arsen Dedić-penned "?to me čini sretnom"/"What Makes Me Happy" and above-mentioned "Igra valova..." are wonderful orchestral pop with strings arrangement, where Josipa shows off her amazing vocal talents in a crooner-style singing. But, the highlights of the album come with three songs in the middle of the tracking list. "?ivot moj"/"My Life" (again A. Dedić was author) is remarkable blues performance with Josipa singing in a way reminiscent of Janis Joplin, while the backing band was then popular brass-rock/soul outfit from ?ibenik - MI. Heavy melodic bass guitar, jazzy arrangements, soul beat and brass section reminds of the jazz/soul branch of the early progressive rock as developed by CHICAGO or BS&T.

"Oluja"/"The Storm" (by Zdenko Runjić) starts with some psychedelic strings then developing into one of immortal soul/funk beats ever recorded in Yugoslavia, while Josipa is backed by excellent harmony vocals. "Kapetane moj"/"My Captain" (Runjić again) and "Dok razmi?ljam o nama"/"While I'm Thinking About Us" (by Karlo Metiko?) present a down tempo bluesy ballads with the latter having a nice flute solo part. Big hit penned by K. Metiko? (her later husband) "Na na na na" is a full-fledged brass-rock with anthem-like chorus which reminds me of Dylan's "Mighty Quinn", especially in its Manfred Mann's version.

"Najveći uspjesi" presents a wonderful collection of early Josipa Lisac compositions and is especially useful as introduction for those who like the "classic" period of (prog) rock and female soul/blues. Coupled with "Dnevnik jedne ljubavi" it is a recommended starting point to discover this great female singer, perhaps the greatest pop and rock diva in former Yugoslavia.

PERSONAL RATING: 4,5/5

P.A. RATING: 4/5