JOSIPA LISAC

Josipa Lisac paid always due attention to her styling, image and visual design in parallel with her music. During the 1980s she utilized any occasion, be it a TV appearance, a concert or a festival, to present a new make-up and wardrobe design, thus attracting the journalists and tabloids and offering them stories of "constant change" and "search for a true art expression". Unfortunately, this was backed by ever less inspired music, so the expected title of "She-Bowie of Yugoslavia" never quite applied to her.

The 7th studio album "Boginja" ("Goddess") appeared in 1987, four years after the previous album. It represents the peak of her popularity and visual creativity. The album cover depicts Josipa in three different outfits (fold-out cover) with three hairstyles that you expect to see only on the fashion catwalks. OK, David Bowie or Nina Hagen used to display even more outrageous campy images on their album sleeves but, after all, the music is the one that counts. Here, "Boginja" suffers from utter mediocrity and sleazy soft pop, occasionally paired with equally dull R'n'B and techno synth sounds.

Absence of Karlo Metikos, Josipa's longtime companion, producer and composer, is quite apparent (he penned only 2 songs here) so relatively unknown Kresimir Klemencic could not cope with the production and composing tasks in the most satisfactory way. Surely, everything is perfectly played and produced in technical terms but creativity and spontaneity is sacrificed. Notable appearances of Vedran Bozic (ex TIME) on guitar or Davor Cernigoj (latter-day INDEXI) on bass did not help much so the musical virtuosity was nowhere to be heard.

To be sure, the album bore a handful of chart-toppers that remained standard in Josipa's repertoire until now. Soul-pop of the opening title track, arena-rock guitars of "Danas sam luda" ("I'm Crazy Today"), good bass lines of "Dobre vibracije" ("Good Vibrations" - no connection to the BEACH BOYS classic), synthesized pop of "Nismo mi bez cilja" ("We Are Not Aimless") and power ballad "Gdje Dunav ljubi nebo" ("Where Danube Kisses the Skies"). There are even neo-prog hints in "Kraljica divljine" ("The Queen of Wilderness") with guitar solo, but... All this is far, faraway from her best rock, blues and jazz acts in the past. Even the best moments of "Boginja" do not contain much substance for a prog and rock community. Still, it is not a total disaster given the number of hits it made but I would not advise you to approach it.

PERSONAL RATING: 1,5/5

P.A. RATING: 2/5

After two solid rock albums, 1983 saw the release of "Hoću samo tebe" ("I Want Only You"), which departed substantially towards the then popular synth-pop and arena-rock. Paradox was that the line-up here included several musicians notable for their previous work in prog and jazz-rock bands SEPTEMBER and BOOMERANG (guitarist Marijan Maliković, bassist Jadran Ogrin and drummer Zlatko Klun). Obviously, the main composer Karlo Metiko? preferred to use assortment of synthesized keyboards by Ćiro Lončina instead.

The result was an album close musically to what Giorgio Moroder was doing in early 1980s (e.g. pop hits from the movie soundtrack "Flashdance"). Unfortunately, this album featured only two decent songs, both being major hits: the title track and the opener "Ti zna?" ("You Know"). The rest of the album, with possible exception of "Vlak bez dolaska" ("The Train Will Never Arrive", Peter Gabriel's "Shock the Monkey" meets New Romanticism), consists of boring, uninspired and mediocre songs that evaporate after first listen.

Again, the technical side of production and musicianship is decent but the overall impression runs low, even if you are a neo-prog fan. Over-use or should I say "abuse" of synthesizers (despicable brand Korg in particular) was trendy in those years and many an artist fell prey to their hands, so Josipa Lisac was no exception. One should want to have this album only if dedicated collector.

PERSONAL RATING: 2/5

P.A. RATING: 2/5

Covered with a sleeve design that would have certainly stirred civic protests by animal rightists had it been released in recent 21st century times, the album "Lisica" ("The Vixen", which is a pun on Josipa's surname Lisac meaning a male fox, while the album title means a female fox) followed the similar path produced on the previous LP effort "Hir, hir, hir".

This means that the so-called "classic rock" is again the preferred style of Josipa, composer and producer Karlo Metiko? and a band of session players led by arranger Branimir ?ivković on keyboards. The album runs smoothly and most of the songs are done in a way to ensure them frequent radio plays and set them on the playlists of dance clubs. Such things considered, it is hard to criticize "Lisica" for being uninspired, sticking firmly to the "middle of the road" pop-rock sound or failure to experiment with something new. "Hir x3" was rather successful effort and why not repeat the similar formula once again?

"Lisica" in fact was even more streamlined record that is clearly genre-oriented. There are no more trendy reggae songs, no jazzy solos and no folksy-progsy elements. We are talking about a "pure" 3-minute R'n'R songs, which sometimes add a heavier edge like in the opening hit-single "I mama mi je rekla to" ("Mother Told Me That"), or country-influenced pub-rock feel like in another hit "Drugi čovjek" ("Another Man") and "Divlji brak" ("Cohabit"). These were perhaps influenced by guitarist Eduard Mate?ić who later the same year 1982 formed a blue-grass revival ensemble PLAVA TRAVA ZABORAVA. With three slow-rock ballads making a necessary balance, a strong piano-led rocker "Hazarder" ("The Hazard Man", another huge hit) and the closing homage to THE BEATLES in "Bed? za Rock and Roll" ("The Badge for R'n'R", e.g. guitar phrase reminiscent to that in "Drive My Car") are particularly good.

Although slightly less adventurous than the predecessor, "Lisica" was another good rock album by Josipa Lisac that in spite of certain feel of sounding outdated may still show the qualities of professionalism and studio mastery.

PERSONAL RATING: 3/5

P.A. RATING: 3/5

After the American MOR/AOR excursion that resulted in a poor LP "Made in USA", Josipa Lisac returned both to Yugoslavia and to a more basic rock approach. "Hir, hir, hir" (Her Caprices) was released in 1980 and hit the charts immediately with several popular and strong rock songs.

"Magla" (The Fog) is a slow rock ballad with memorable solo guitar parts and beautiful vocal harmonies, which remained one of her best-known hits. "Ne budi lud" (Don't Be Foolish) and "Mister gaf" (Mister Guff) are indebted to the New Wave/Reggae sounds that dominated the international pop scene at the turn of the decades. Unlike many mediocre or superficial efforts of that kind in Yugoslavia, however, both songs are enough decent, catchy, playful and danceable to sustain attention of a listener or a dancer. The latter song also contains a nice and effective horns and clarinet solo which makes it standing out from numerous copycat reggae attempts.

"Make Up" in return provides us with a strong hard rock riff, which shows that Josipa could handle this type of songs as well. "Knock Down" is somewhat sub-standard boogie rock enforced with brass section that nonetheless became a huge hit. The following, title track was also a chart-topper but this time it is easily the best song on the album. Acoustic guitar and congas introduce a bluesy folk- rock tune accompanied by unexpected violin solo. Josipa sings about the gossiping culture of the society that every her individualist, particularly feminine fashion-statement or act dismissed right away as her "caprice" and nothing else. Along with piano/clavinet- driven "Rendez-vous sa Sotonom" (Rendezvous with Satan), which in the second part segues into a fusion style fretless bass solo, "Hir, hir, hir" will probably most satisfy prog listeners looking for something else than a simple 3-minute rock tunes.

This good and unpretentious album was produced and composed by Karlo Metiko?, Josipa's long time partner, while Branimir ?ivković (ex-TIME, GRUPA 220) was musical director and arranger. Cover photo could have been better although the blue design was enhanced by atypical (at least in Yugoslavia back then) cut-corner lyrics sheet insert. This LP is not crucial in terms for progressive rock standards but it is decent enough to be recommended.

PERSONAL RATING: 3,5/5

P.A. RATING: 3/5

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

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

During 1975 Josipa Lisac engaged in two ambitious projects - one was her leading role in the first rock opera in the former Yugoslavia - "Gubec Beg", the other was recording of her second LP with new studio material. The latter signified her chameleon-like career nature with constant shifts and changes in both visual appearance and the music style that was to become her signature, not unlike what the art pop icon of the 1970s, David Bowie, was doing back then.

This time Josipa transformed herself into a vocal jazz prima donna. If the excellent debut presented her primarily as a rock and blues singeress in the sense of a Yugoslav answer to Janis Joplin, this time she elaborates upon the tradition of sophisticated jazz singing of Billie Holiday or Ella Fitzgerald and transposes it into the nice series of covers with lyrics translated into Croatian language by Ivica Krajač. Backed by the B.P. CONVENTION BIG BAND INTERNATIONAL, she easily performs jazz classics ("People", "Intime", "My Blue Valentine"), as well as soul standards ("Ain't No Sunshine", "You Are the Sunshine of My Love", "Son of a Preacher Man") and even the BEATLES evergreen ballads "Yesterday" and "Something".

By the way, B.P. CONVENTION (without the suffix) led by the most famous then Yugoslav and Croatian jazz vibraphonist Bosko Petrović, was and still is one of the best jazz and fusion bands in the region. For this recording the group was expanded into a big band ensemble including many international players (Clark Terry, Ernie Wilkins, Art Farmer among others...), so the rich orchestral sound (conducted by Miljenko Prohaska and produced by Karlo Metikos) evokes the "golden era" of big bands of the 1940s.

With this album Josipa showed to the pop audience that even jazz was no alien territory to her and she would often return to it in her later works. To the demanding prog/acid/avant/kraut/heavy listeners a record like this may prove to be a needed break - just fix a drink, listen to this kind of music and relax.

PERSONAL RATING: 3,5/5

P.A. RATING: 3/5

TIME band split up shortly after the release of their influential debut in 1972, but not before carving up another hugely successful and pioneering work that was to remain one of the cornerstones of Yugoslav pop and rock scene. This time they backed Josipa Lisac on what was to become her first LP record.

A young talented female singer had already proved herself by participation at several important pop music festivals from 1968 to 1970, collaborating with beat groups O'HARA, MI and ZLATNI AKORDI, as well as releasing a few 7" single records. In early 1973 she teamed up with composer Karlo Metikos (under the assumed name Matt Collins he had a brief rock'n'roll career in France during mid-1960s) and lyricist Ivica Krajač who penned a concept album (more in a sense of an imaginary melodramatic movie than a then popular rock opera format, like "Quadrophenia" from the same year) about a love affair of a woman and her introspective and intimate musings. Josipa, who already fell in love with Metikos (they remained together as a couple until his premature death in 1991), was a perfect match for the story and all the members of TIME were gathered to provide a powerful instrumental base. On top of that, musical arrangements were enriched with plenty of strings, horns and backing voices so "The Diary of One Love" was born. Along with B. Zivković (piano, flute, musical arrangements), T. P. Asanović (organ), V. Bozić (el. guitar), M. Mavrin (bass), R. Divjak (drums) and D. Topić (tambourine), notable appearances included S. Kovačević (ex-INDEXI) on acoustic guitar and B. Doblekar (ex-MLADI LEVI, SEPTEMBER) on congas.

The storyline follows a pretty straightforward narration that could be a synopsis for a short novel or a film. A young woman is dreaming about her perfect love and one day she meets a young man. They fell in love and everything seems perfect until she notices a suspicious behaviour from his side and starts wondering. He seems afraid of commitment and runs away leaving her in tears. After a while he returns and has trouble remembering things they experience together, so she cannot recognise him. Still, she forgives and offers him another chance since she is firm in her belief in this relationship. With Josipa's convicted and passionate performance the idea celebrates female courage, endurance and love over a weak and unstable male character, so it's no wonder why this album has been so popular amongst the female audience, being a sort of early "proto-gender" conscience-making.

Musically, the themes are interconnected although separated by actual songs. The Side 1 of the vinyl is especially strong and could be even taken and listened as a multi-part suite composition. The album is highly eclectic and one can hear traces of blues, soul, orchestral pop, and boogie, jazz, brass-rock up to progressive rock. Contributions by Zivković on piano and flute (especially on the prog-jazz-rock "Lezaj od suza"/"The Bed of Tears"), Asanović on Hammond organ, Kovačević on acoustic guitar (his leading chords on the opener "O jednoj mladosti"/"A Teenage Dream" are shivering) and Bozić on electric guitar are outstanding while the rhythm section of Divjak-Mavrin, enhanced by excellent Doblekar's congas are proving their mastery of both rock and jazz forms of musicianship. In general, the first side is simply flawless, while the flip side has its less strong moments with final two tracks not bringing many new ideas and ending the album with a sense of unfullfillingness. But, let's be honest and say that in Yugoslavia at this time (early 1973) "Dnevnik jedne ljubavi" had no many peers or models to build upon.

I will not overstate if I say that each and every song from this album became a major hit and influenced legions of rock and pop listeners and musicians alike. And if John Lennon was true when he allegedly said that an album's quality should be measured by the number of hit singles taken off it, then "Dnevnik." deserves 10 stars for each of ten songs that became classics in the former Yugoslavia but also continue to be highly valued in the post-Yugoslav countries in the region.

PERSONAL RATING: 4,5/5

P.A. RATING: 5/5

Josipa Lisac is all-times Croatian rock diva, and her debut is probably the best Croatian rock album ever (along with HAUSTOR's "Treci Svijet"). And when a best rock album from one country easily fits under the progressive rock blanket, that is really something to write home about!

This is conceptual - or at least thematic album. "Dnevnik Jedne Ljubavi" means "The Diary Of One Love" and it is indeed a diary, a set of songs connected to each other, all touching the subject of love and relationship, varying from acoustic ballads to furious jazz-rock stampedos.

There is no weak song on the album. All the songs are filled with EMOTIONS, the most important aspect of Josipa's career. Some of them are really mellow, utilising a lovely and relatively simply pattern on acoustic guitar as a guidance, ornamenting the lyrics sung by Lisac - a best thing that could happen to lyrics, and some of the melodies are occasionally transformed into a gorgeous theme played by brass section, or something else. The songs are floating one into each other from furious 7/8 hard rock guitar licks to beautiful moments blessed by flute surrounded by percussive Hammond, or simple yet powerful jazzy bass line. If I mention that Josipa's backing band was prog band TIME, who were at their peak of popularity (and creativity!), there is not much more to add.

If a listener is unfamiliar with the language, (s)he will miss lots of charm and appeal, and of course the story...but the Josipa's unique voice is here and it can't be overlooked by anyone. As for the instrumentation, try to imagine the most beautiful moments of brass-rock (let's say BLOOD, SWEAT & TEARS), with with furious, top-notch jazz-rock bordering heavy rock, brave Hammond soloing, all that underlined with beauty typical for Italian progressive rock.

I said there is no weak song on the entire album; and I must correct myself: there is no average song on it.

This is pure joy and celebration of life itself.