MODRA RIJEKA

Indexi were apparently a big deal in the former Yugoslavia, but I don't personally find much that's truly distinctive about Modra Rijeka, their venture into prog concept albums. With a sound ranging from keyboard-dominated prog-psyche to straight-aheard hard rock, the album seems rather directionless and unfocused musically speaking, though I understand that if you understand the lyrics it's a fairly cohesive concept album. Still, the album has a nice meaty organ sound to it, which is a plus, and will doubtless be of interest to anyone interested in Croatian/Yugoslavian rock music. However, it should be remembered that Indexi adopted many different styles over the years, often at the prompting of fashion, and to my ears it seems that their adoption of a progressive approach for this album was a mere affectation rather than something they felt passionately about.