KORNI GRUPA

At the beginning of the 70s in Yugoslavia not many artists were given opportunity to record an album. Indeed, when speaking of rock music, the preferred media format still was a single or EP, and of course the rock discographic industry was underdeveloped. However, among the first four LP records of rock music issued in this period, the two belonged to the progressive genre - the first TIME album and this one. "Korni grupa" is excellent example of early Yugoslavian prog rock which will remain unique effort of the best known line-up of Kovac, Bocek, Hreljac, Furduj and Pejakovic. This album established Bocek as a guitar-virtuoso, Kovac as a master of keyboards and talented composer, Pejakovic proved his vocal capabilities while the jazz-influenced rhythm section of Furduj and Hreljac gave a strong basis for above three. This album contains "Put za istok", an epic composition which will be a live favourite in their concerts and one of these will be included in the live set of a posthumuos double LP "Mrtvo more". The opener "Glas sa obale boja" is another highlight with combined acoustic and electric guitar riffs, while "Moj bol" offers a wild Bocek's guitar solo with some unnecessary vocal exhibitions by Pejakovic. "Bezglave ja-ha horde" is very close to jazz fusion with furious tempo and interesting combination of guitar solo exhibition and frenetic vocal screaming; this song will also be re-recorded for the second album "Not An Ordinary Life" where it would appear under the title "Fall Off The Land Of Women". The final song "Tata Ko i mama Spo" is a slow pseudo-ballad, with guitar weep effectively emulating the sound of a child's cry over a dispute between the divorced parents. This fine album still rocks after more than 30 years and it was amazingly well-produced given the circumstances in the music industry of the former Yugoslavia. Despite some weak vocal moments of "Moj bol", to give anything less than 5 stars would be rather cynical. This album is available on CD issued by Raglas/PGP RTS Records.

This is a nice album. There are no weak tracks on the album, but it's not a masterpiece neither. The overall sound reminds me a little bit of BANCO DEL MUTUO SOCCORSO and the like, but it's unique in it's own, if I may say, Yugoslavian way. Nice keyboard work ( piano - played with nice dynamic ranges, organ, Rhodes, smart use of Moog),, frenetic electric guitars are giving a certain amount of flashiness. Nice acoustic guitar work. Simple but effective bass parts. The same applies for the drums.

The weak point is vocal. Vocals are excellent, but the problem is that singing is too perfect; Mr. Kovac treated vocal as another musical instrument, and every single note must be controlled under his supervision. That's the reason (I guess) why this band changed three singers (each of them started successful pop career!). Anyway, the work well done, and I'm surprised how Pejakovic obtained so ballsy, soulful performance under the Kovac's dictatorship.

However, everything is working fine. "Put na Istok" (A Road Towards East) is a nice long track containing hard rock and oriental elements blended in a perfect amalgam, and "Bezgalve Ja-Ha Horde" (The Headless Ya-Ha Hordes) is a lunatic jazzy description of the battle (or allegoric description of something else...).

My favourite track is "Tata Ko. i Mama Spo.", and most reviewers consider it as a weaker (even the weakest) track of the album, and yes, that is true to some extent because it's less progressive than other tracks, musical-wise. But, in my opinion, the good and original lyrics count as well, and this is not a song about love, war, politics, sorcery, aliens or psychedelic experience...

...this is a song of divorced man, young father who can visit his little girl only on Sundays. Beautiful and touchy. Nice going, Korni. I hope your ex wife got upset. Four stars.

KORNI GRUPA were a very popular group in Yugoslavia in the seventies.They had the ability to churn out the pop hits but at the same time create Progressive albums like this their debut.The band was formed by the former keyboard player for INDEXI.

"Glas Sa Obale Boje" opens with this melancholic guitar followed by vocals as the sad mood continues. It picks up and gets fuller after a minute. Nice. It settles again 2 1/2 minutes in as contrasts continue. Great tune. "Put Na Istok" is around 14 minutes in length and divided into four parts.This is more lively and catchy than the opening track. Vocals around a minute. Some nice guitar after 2 1/2 minutes then we get a calm. Guitar, keys and a beat take over. This is really good. Vocals before 5 1/2 minutes then the tempo picks up. Another calm before 10 minutes as reserved vocals join in. It kicks back in before 11 1/2 minutes with more aggressive vocals.

"Moj Bol" opens with piano and percussion. Bass joins in as it builds.Vocals after 2 1/2 minutes. It then settles back as the tempo continues to shift. The guitar starts to solo around 6 1/2 minutes. Vocals are back late. "Bezglave Ja-Ha Horde" is led by drums, piano and vocals early then guitar comes in. A guitar solo after 2 minutes and some expressive vocals follow as they jam. I like this. Another guitar solo 5 1/2 minutes in as the tempo slows some. Vocals follow. "Tata Ko I Mama Spo" opens with drums, guitar and bass before the vocals join in.The guitar is playing over top after 2 minutes.The piano comes to the fore when the vocals stop, but then the guitar and vocals return to end it.

On their studio albums the band certainly were challenging themselves and their fans, especially the latter.

Very popular band from ex-Yugoslavia.They were formed in Belgrade in 1968 by former Indexi keyboardist Kornelije Kovac.The band had a rather stable branch of guitars,bass and drums with Bojan Hreljac, Josip Bocek and Vladimir Furduj respectively,but suffered from numerous changes on the vocal post.Initially they played in a Pop-Rock style with female singers,by the 70's they transformed into a Hard Prog band with Jazz influences and male vocals (even Time's singer Dado Topic was a member in 1971).After they recorded the musical poem ''1941'',Korni Grupa headed for their first full-length self-titled work with Zlatko Pejakovic on vocals and eventually released it on the big Serbian label PGP RTB.

A rather dated work by today's standards,''Korni Grupa'' opens with ''Glas sa obale boje'',a mediocre Hard/Blues track with little to offer and vocal lines being the most interesting moments.The 14-min. four-part epic ''Put na istok'' is also rather inconsistent,standard Blues/Hard Rock on the lyrical parts,but Kovac delivers some nice organ soloing after the middle with a decent jazzy rhythm section,while the strong end is also pretty good.Another long track,the 10-min. ''Moj bol'' will open in a pure Jazz manner with Kovac'es piano on the front all the way,but again very cliche work on guitar solos,certainly an overstretched piece of music.''Bezglave ja-ha horde'' holds the rhythm section's best performance with some good vocals throughout and fantastic electric piano by Kovac,definitely the most adventurous cut of the album.The short closer ''Tata Ko i mama Spo'' sees the band in a commercial Blues Rock style,again the fine vocals end up to be the most interesting part in here along with the electric piano performance of Kovac,while the guitars are deeped already in a very pale and forgettable style.

The album might have been a great release in ex-Yugoslavia,but it will not blow your mind by any means.It is a rather cliche Hard/Jazz/Prog album with some fine passages but also plenty of average parts,which reminds at moments Swedish bands of the time like KEBNEKAISE,RAG I RYGGEN or TRETTIOARIGA KRIGET.Far from a trully interesting release,hardly recommended,but of some interest for fans of the style...2.5 stars.

Considered one of the first and most important Yugoslavian rock albums, Korni Grupa's debut LP, this self-titled affair from 1972, saw a band, formed by ex-Indexi keyboard player Kornelije Kovac, that had previously had to focus on shorter pop songs bravely step up into more adventurous and explorative ambitious rock. Strong melodic compositions with loose improvised jams in the style of hard rock, blues, jazz fusion and fuzzy psychedelia with confident vocals and a heavy use of electric piano were the results, and it may be one of the strongest Yugo prog related albums of that time.

Opener `Glas Sa Obale Boje' jumps back and forth between a slightly downbeat acoustic ballad that comes alive with togetherness in the chorus with fiery and brooding electric guitar riffs in the middle and end. The fourteen minute four-part `Put Na Istok' shares a similar unpredictable and all-or-nothing eclectic approach to Italian band Banco del Muruo Soccorsso and well as the jazzy vibes of Samurai/The Web. Full of lengthy instrumental displays, Josip Bocek's electric guitar is all thick muscular grinding one second, dirty grooving Santana-like sweltering strutting the next, Kornelije's red-hot electric piano a dazzling swirl of movement. Drummer Vladimir Furduj is all wild yet controlled fury, and Bojan Hreljac's bass weaves throughout the background and constantly leaps forward. Plenty of tempo changes, some sedate and thoughtful rests, psychedelic dreaminess and lots of call-and-response dueling interplay between Zlatko Pjakovic's commanding vocals and the rest of the musicians makes for a thrilling extended piece that is truly infectious and addictive.

Side B's `Moj Bol' is a sultry upbeat strolling jazz workout, comprised of spiraling piano, hand percussion and slow-burn electric guitar ripples around Zlatko's voice, a mix of lustful croons and spitting deranged rants. Bojan's bass is a real highlight here, effortlessly adapting to the changing directions of the piece with ease. Right from it's opening seconds, `Bezglave Ja-Ja Horde' is a frantic jazz/fusion race, delirious electric piano runs, slithering bass and nimble drum-work running rings around each-other, the scorching electric guitar taking on a wicked snarl around Zlatko's theatrical bellowing. Closer `Tata Ko, I Mama Spo' is a warm acoustic ballad with a strong vocal melody and pleasing electric guitar fills throughout, displaying how well the band had perfected more compact pieces over the years prior to this, and the electric piano break in the middle is sublime and restrained.

The recent CD reissue by label Eastern Time in 2013 includes eight bonus tracks of singles and their b-sides, a nice way to hear the way the band evolved into what is offered on the main album here. Within two years they would rename themselves Kornelyans and release an English language album recorded in Italy called `Not An Ordinary Life', further heading in progressive rock directions. But for this first `Korni Grupa' album, it's a personal Yugoslavian favourite of mine alongside the self-titled Izvir album, and the lengthy soloing/instrumental improvisation and superior vocals makes it a winner to me.

Four stars.

An early fan-favorite from Belgrade, Yugoslavia (now Serbia).

1. "Glas sa obale boje" (4:27) except for the two tracks devoted to THIN LIZZY-like "twin" guitars, this song sounds like a song from a GRAND FUNK RAILROAD album of this time. Nothing Jazz-Rock Fusion about this bombastic prog-related song. (But it may have been popular in Yugoslavia). (8.5/10)

2. "Put na istok" (14:20) (26.66667/30): - Prvi dan - more solid proto-prog like blues-rock sounding like something coming from Latin America at the same time. (8.5/10) - Drugi dan - shifting a bit into slightly more funk and jazziness--and then TRAFFIC-like, then back to blues-rock with a little more power. (8.6667/10) - Dilema - the BANCO MUTUO SOCCORSO (or AREA) comparisons are warranted for this gentle little baroque keyboard-centric movement. (4.5/5) - Zemlja - AREA might be the more appropriate band to compare the final movement to--especially dute to the hard- infusion of Serbian/Balkan/Ottoman music. (5/5)

3. "Moj bol" (10:27) more disciplined jazz-rock with true jazz foundations, electric instrumentation as well as Serbian percussion play. Vocals joining in during the second and third minutes again feel very RPI-like--the whole song's vibe becoming much more BANCO-like from here on despite some very TRAFFIC/"Low Spark of High-Heeled Boys" passages. Nice searing electric guitar soloing in the eighth minute. Quite an excellent and deeply satisfying song. (18.5/20)

4. "Bezglave Ja-Ha horde" (6:46) more nice-flowing Jazz-Rock Fusion that is a vehicle for vocals from the very start-- again giving it a very RPI sound and feeling. But it's so good! The vocalist has the voice and talent quite like AREA leader DEMETRIO STRATOS! If this had appeared on an RPI album during the same year it would have been an instant classic! (14.5/15)

5. "Tata Ko i mama Spo" (4:12) opening like a GEORGE HARRISON song, guitars (acoustic strumming, "weeping" electric soloing in the background). Full band joins in as vocalist starts to sing his powerful. voice--this time reminding me very much of LOS JAIVAS' lead vocalist Eduardo "Gato" Alquinta on the Pablo Naruda album. It's okay for a 1960s blues/folk rock song. (8.5/10)

Total Time 40:12

Not pure Jazz-Rock Fusion, more of an eclectic run through early blues-rock prog rock with some jazz-infusions and, more, lots of local ethnic melodies and styles as well as ethnic Serbian instruments. There are more instances of the band showing its being inspired by Grand Funk, Traffic, Santana, and Banco Del Mutuo Soccorso than any jazz-rock fusion band.

A-/4.5 stars; a minor masterpiece of early but eclectic (and imitative) prog music. There are some amazingly wonderful pieces here as well as some that would seem more rudimentary blues-rock and thus prog-related.