Proggin' in communism: Prog in ex-Yugoslavia

Again I apologize for not posting in over 2 months .... it seems I really am getting lazy

Here a post about the famous new wave band Azra. I still have to put some finishing touches on the Bijelo Dugme post

Thank you Svetonio and Seyo for keeping the thread alive.

 

-----------------------------------------Azra------------------------------------------

 

Founded: 1977

 

Country: Croatia

 

Genre: New wave, Alternative rock, rock

 

Years active: 1977 - 1988

 

Former members:

Boris Leiner
Branimir Štulić
Branko Hromatko
Jura Stublić
Jurica Pađen
Mišo Hrnjak
Paolo Sfeci
Stephen Kipp

Discography:

§  Azra - (Jugoton, 1980)

§  Sunčana strana ulice (The Sunny side of the street) - (1981)

§  Filigranski pločnici (The Filigree Sidewalks) - (1982)

§  Kad fazani lete (When pheasants fly) - (1983)

§  Krivo srastanje (The Mistaken Sublimation) - (1984)

§  It Ain't Like the Movies At All - (1986)

§  Između krajnosti (In Between Extremes) - (1987)

 

We cannot say that Azra is a prog band, but I believe it is a historic band in the Yugoslavian rock scene. 

Azra, unlike most new wave bands, did not become a relic of the past.

One can still hear an

 occasional song on the radios.

 

Formation:

The band was formed by Branimir "Johnny" Stulic (Macodonian nationality) with 

Stublić,  Pelajić, Novoselić and Juričić. This line-up was short lived however, as the members left Stulic and created their own band named "film". Stulic than becomes a member of the famous band "Parni Valjak" which he left in a matter of months. He returned to his old band Azra (with him being the only member). He later hired bassist Miso Hrnjak and drummer Boris Leiner, this trio was seen as the first actual formation of Azra.

 

 

Left to right : Hrnjak, Stulic, Leiner.

 

Azra debut album:

 

The first Album debuted 1980 (after some singles) and was a greatly accepted by critics and new wave fans. One can clearly hear Stulic's unique vocals which have become the trademark of the band.

A highly enjoyable track of the album is "obrati paznju na poslednju stvar" (pay attention on the last thing)

Possibly the most famous song of the debut "Krvava Meri" (Bloody Mary)

Magnus opus in "Suncana strana ulice" (Sunny side of the street:

Azra now made a name for itself and quickly evolved as one of the greatest new wave bands on the balkans. With "Suncana strane ulice" they have truly released a double-cd masterpiece. All songs were written by Johnny Stulic as in the album before. In my humble opinion, this album is most enjoyable when you are feeling lazy, I suppose I did too much listening.

"Kurvini Sinovi" (Sons of whores) is a successful , yet odd, mixture of blues and new wave. A highly enjoyable track:

The title song is most probably the most mellow song on the album, simply relaxing guitar riffs:

Another really relaxing song is "Karta za srecu" (Ticket for happiness) here one can clearly hear the high influence the Beatles had on Stulic:

Another song before we move on, we can't stay on this album forever. "Ne reci mi dvaput" (Don't tell me twice) is another relaxing song:

"Filigranski plocnici" and "Kad fazani lete"

Not much to say on these to successful albums. "Filigranski plocnici" is another Double album put musically "Kad fazani lete" is far more interesting. The album is quite different from all the earlier works. It included numerous love songs as well as having heavy riffs, reminding us on Hard rock. Before the album were recorded,however, Miso Hrnjak left the band due to artistic differences.

A fantastic song from Kad fazani lete is "Kao i jucer" (Like yesterday). One could say Azra is slowly maturing itself out of new wave:

Plavi Golub (Blue Pidgeon) is another unusual song to perform of a (lets say ex) new wave band

"Krivo srastanje" and "Izmedu Krajnosti"

Two moderately successful albums with Stephen Kipp as the new bassist. "Krivo srastanje" deals with depression which is reflected in the music while "Izmedu Krajnosti" is a more energy filled rock album

"Kada stvari krenu lose"(When things turn bad) from "Izmedu Krajnosti" is quite uplifting and energetic, perfect for a rock lover:

"Flash" is a very innovative song from "Krivo srastanje" although a bit depressive:

During this time the band also recorded the album "It Ain't like the movies at all" which is the first fully english album the band recorded but was not met with much success.

The End of Azra and Stulic solo career.

Azra officially announced the end of the band after a concert on the croatian island Hvar in 1988. 

Band leader Branimir "Johnny" Stulic remains on of Croatias most famous rock musicians known for his unique voice and lyrical abilities. He has continued with a moderately successful solo career till 1997. He has written five books and currently resides in a town call Houten out of the public eye with his wife.

An Azra reunion is very unlikely as members show no interest towards it.

I hope you all enjoyed this little post, I hope I will be more enthusiastic (and less lazy) when it comes to posting new bands.

Edited by Weirdamigo - November 15 2010 at 15:47

Something current - Zerkman Big Bang, a band from Belgrade, Serbia

Edited by Svetonio - November 06 2010 at 14:26

Seyo wrote: MLADI LEVI means "The Young Lions" and was taken from the famous novel of the same name! ;) Otherwise, an excellent soul/brass rock band in the vein of early CHICAGO and BST.... This live track from BOOM 72 is one of their most progressive. Unfortunately they released only a few singles....

Oups, somebody gived me a wrong info  . Nevermind. Here's an amazing little piece of fusion 

Edited by Svetonio - October 31 2010 at 05:12

What a fantastic vocal by Zlatko Manojlović at this one! TBH, I never heard this before  

Edited by Svetonio - November 01 2010 at 05:14

Andrea Cortese wrote: I thought bread was "peka" in croatian language...   by the way Marija, from their second record is simply superb!!

Actually, 'peka' is a place where you bake bread. It might refer to bread, but only if it is non-artificial, traditionally baked, not in the oven, rather on the genuine fire.

Croatian word for bread is 'kruh' while in Bosnian, Serbian, Macedonian it's hljeb, hleb, leb (as in leb i sol).
'Hljeb' in Croatian refers to a unit of bread (loaf).


Language(s) (one language or more of them? We don't know even that!) of this region is/are a mess..but that's also a powerful tool for art..drama, movies,theatre, and yes, music...



Oh, we're talking about prog rock? Well, let's see...

Hello everyone

First off, I want to sincerely apologize for my long absence, which probably caused most of you to say: “Where is this lazy bum and why doesn’t he update his blog!”... Well hopefully not. I hope you can all find it in your hearts to forgive a lazy guy like me.

Secondly, as an apology present for my dear readers, the band I will post next is “The band” of the Yugoslav rock scene. I hope you will enjoy that post.

Sadly, I cannot promise a regular update but when I find the time (or when I’m not drowning in history homework, there’s a lot to do about “Bleeding” Kansas and John Buchanan) I will post further bands.

P.S. Your reviews Seyo are nothing else than perfection, it would be an honor for me if you could post more of them on my blog.

Back to work 

Stevan

Edited by Weirdamigo - October 03 2010 at 06:21

What a nice thread! Splendid! p.s. FOXY LADY cover by Smak, live in Kragujevac 1996

Edited by Svetonio - September 20 2010 at 14:38

SolarLuna96 wrote: I don't know why, but every time I see this thread's title, I start laughing...

I don't know why, but every time I see this thread's title, I start laughing...

But I really wanted to post that video. The first part of the thread-name is 'proggin in communism' - and I figured that it would somehow be an appropriate addition. Great thread btw.