INDEXI

Since this cassette release bears again the eponymous title, I will call it "Brown Album" for easier identification. This release is mostly of interest for collectors because the sound quality of the tape is not high.

Still, the content of this cassette is interesting and is even a bit of a curiosity. Out of 12 tracks, nine was released in February 1976 on Diskoton label as a vinyl LP under the title "Svaka je ljubav ista (osim one prave)" as a solo album by Davorin Popovic "Davor", the lead singer of INDEXI. But, essentially that whole album was the product of INDEXI as the band in terms of songwriting and performing. It was only due to some dubious contractual, or marketing reasons that the material was released as a solo album by Davor.

During that period of late 1975, INDEXI actually, for the first time in their career, entered the studio with new material specifically written for the purpose of album recording. That LP was released and promoted during the "solo" concert by Davor in February 1976 in Sarajevo's crowded Skenderija hall, which was in fact the gig done by the complete INDEXI line-up (Slobodan A. Kovacevic, Fadil Redzic, Milic Vukasinovic, including ex-drummer Djordje Kisic and newcomer keyboardist Nenad Jurin). A few months later, Diskoton released the INDEXI 7" EP with 4 songs: "Moja Hana"/"Stani malo zlato moje"/"Putovi"/"Nocni susreti".

This cassette "Brown Album", which was released by Diskoton probably in summer or autumn 1976, apparently without the knowledge or approval by the band, contains the entire material from Davor's solo album but now repackaged and credited to INDEXI. There are three bonus tracks taken from the above mentioned INDEXI EP ("Nocni susreti" was released both on the EP and on Davor's solo album!). So, we can say that this "Brown Album" cassette was in fact an expanded re-issue of Davor's album "Svaka je ljubav ista (osim one prave)" but now issued as the INDEXI release. From this perspective, "Brown Album" would act as the first long-playing release of INDEXI containing new studio material made specifically for the album, two years prior to the release of the first official studio album "Modra rijeka"!

Unfortunately, the production and sound quality of both Davor's vinyl LP and of this INDEXI tape are very bad (see the review of Davor's LP for detailed analysis), so this material has often been neglected in the anthologies or written essays about INDEXI. It's a pity, since in my opinion one could find here several brilliant songs (apart from those 2-3 well-known hits) that remain almost unknown to the public. And most of these can be classified as a sort of progressive pop, or "prog-related" music, to use Progarchives' classification.

In November 1976, Indexi released their seventh single for Diskoton (not counting the EP "Moja Hana"). The B-side matrix was cut on October 20th, and the A-side on November 2nd. The cover design was not very inventive. They used a photo of the band that was already on the back cover of their previous release, the EP "Moja Hana", which was done for that occasion by Dragan S. Stefanovic. Only the earlier dark blue background was replaced with red.

After the Adriatic tour that lasted from July 11th to August 15th, during which they accompanied the rising pop star Zdravko Colic, Indexi once again took the opportunity to perform at the Zagreb '76 music festival, held from October 25th to 30th. At the festival, they performed the composition "I mi i nas dvoje" (Both We and Both of Us) without much success. After that, they went on their third tour of the Soviet Union. In the meantime, even before the Zagreb performance, drummer Milic Vukasinovic left the band, as the offer to join Bijelo dugme and go to London to record their new album "Eto, ba? hoću!" was more attractive to him than Soviet fees, and this single is the last Indexi record he participated in recording. During October, he was replaced by Perica Stojanovic (ex- Ambasadori, who had played with Indexi in 1971 for a short period), who also performed with the band at Zagreb '76.

On the lead, A-side of the record, there is a song from the Zagreb festival, for which Fadil Redzic wrote the music and arrangement to the lyrics of Maja Perfiljeva. His bass guitar sets a strong rock rhythm with solid drum parts, while Bodo Kovacevic's solo guitar unobtrusively follows and occasionally introduces short heavy riffs and solos. The verses and choruses have complex rhythmic structures and are not clearly defined. Nenad Jurin's organ underlines the atmosphere and occasionally decorates Davorin Popovic's vocals with short synth passages. Although the vocal melody with the lyrics about a failed love brings this song closer to the schlager formula, the overall sound is too rocky, and it's no wonder that "I mi i nas dvoje" was not accepted by the festival audience. However, its strange structure, in addition to its undeniable qualities, was not attractive to the rock audience either, so the song was soon forgotten.

The composition on the B-side, "Kad se hoće, sve se mo?e" (Where There's a Will There's a Way), is somewhat more interesting. Bodo is the author of the music and arrangement, and Ranko Boban wrote the lyrics about a guy who, because of unfulfilled love, "drinks and messes around day and night". In a style atypical for Indexi, the song seems to contain their answer to the then-current "shepherd rock" direction of Bijelo dugme, and thematically it somehow connects to Dugme's "Bekrija" from 1975. In the introductory phrase, sounds taken from traditional music dominate - Bodo plays the saz or ?argija (long-necked lute), Davor's vocals resemble folk "ojkanje", and in the background, you can hear a sound similar to a folk flute (pipes). Soon, the song transitions into an odd-time hard/boogie rock, while in the bridge, the vocals are harmonized in a Beatles fashion. The guitar solo is very heavy with strong cymbal and drum accompaniment. It's a kind of "heavy folk" number, which is fiercely rock, witty, and entertaining, so it's a shame that it also remained less known in Indexi's opus.

Although both songs on this single are quite solid and contain a number of interesting musical solutions, and Sarajevo Television even filmed video clips in its studio for both songs (with Perica on drums), it didn't help much, and this single hardly even made it to the contemporary music press charts. From today's perspective, this is another Indexi release that needs to be "rediscovered".

During the first half of 1975, music publications frequently announced that Indexi were planning to record their first original album. Recording locations such as Ljubljana, Italy, and even London were mentioned, and there was even an idea to involve poet Maja Perfiljeva, their longtime collaborator, to write lyrics for the new material. The purchase of new equipment in America, the triumphant February comeback concert in Sarajevo's Skenderija attended by 15,000 people, and the stabilization of the lineup with keyboardist Enco Lesic and drummer Milic Vukasinovic clearly foreshadowed the long-awaited return of Indexi to the rock scene, to which they had only marginally belonged since 1973, having increasingly focused on pop music festivals. In addition, their record label, Diskoton, acquired facilities for pressing LP records and producing audio cassettes during the second half of 1975, albeit still only in outdated mono technology, so even this technological prerequisite was met. However, as usual with Indexi, their ambitious plans to record an album fell through once again. The reasons for this are unknown, although it is possible that intensive concert activity during the spring and summer prevented Indexi from setting aside enough time for composing and studio work on the album, which, as announced, was supposed to be recorded in the fall of 1975. Instead, Diskoton released a compilation cassette during that period, simply titled "Indexi" (catalog number DTK 0224), containing songs from singles previously released by this record label. Since there was no new material, why not profit from re-releasing the old one?

This is, therefore, the first long-playing release of Indexi for Diskoton. The cassette is packaged in a white cover (a so-called "j-card") featuring a photo of the Indexi band from their latest single "Obala pusta, obala vrela" (Deserted Shore, Hot Shore), released in July 1975. Below the photo, six (out of a total of 12) songs on the cassette are listed. The graphic design is done in a typical manner, in accordance with the template that Diskoton used for its first cassette releases, among which stand out the cassettes of the pop group Ambasadori, and folk singers Hanka Paldum and Muhamed Mujkanovic, all of which share an identical design with this Indexi cassette. There is no reliable data on when the cassette was actually released, but based on the information above, it can be assumed that it was in the late summer or autumn of 1975. The cassette has been reissued several times with different graphic designs of the label and the color of the tape shell.

As for the content of the cassette, I will not repeat what has been said in the reviews of individual singles here, but rather focus on the whole of this release. Side A contains 6 songs recorded in November 1973, at a time when the band members were still Miroslav Saranovic (drums) and Vlado Pravdic (organ, piano). These are less-heard songs that, with the exception of "Samo su ruze znale" (Only Roses Knew), did not become big hits, although they were released on singles in 1974 while the band was on hiatus because Davorin Popovic and Bodo Kovacevic were in the army. It is good that they are gathered together on this cassette, and they represent a kind of "mini-album" that shows Indexi in a transitional phase from pop-oriented progressive rock to festival schlager. Side B also contains 6 tracks, recorded between November 1974 and June 1975, at a time when Indexi, completed with new drummer Milic Vukasinovic and keyboardists Miroslav Maraus (on the first 4 songs) and Enco Lesic (on the last 2 songs), experienced a great comeback to the scene, holding a series of successful concerts throughout Yugoslavia. Of these compositions, "Bacila je sve niz rijeku" (She Threw Everything Down the River), "Volim te" (I Love You), and "Ti si mi bila naj, naj" (You Were the Best for Me) became big hits, and stylistically leaned on the already established practice of "progressive schlager", with the presence of Milic on Pearl drums with a double kick-drum underlining the more energetic and rockier character of some of these songs, such as "Pogresan broj" (Wrong Number) and "Obala pusta, obala vrela" (Deserted Shore, Hot Shore).

In any case, this cassette is a valuable and interesting historical document of a phase in the band's work that is often overlooked by rock journalism, when by signing for Diskoton they rejected all the advantages that Jugoton had offered them until then, including better studio production, more developed distribution of records, a more professional attitude of the label, a more likely chance to record and release an original album earlier, etc. In other words, they went from "stereo Jugoton" (Jugoton had standardized the production of stereo records as early as 1972-73) to "mono Diskoton" (Diskoton continued to release records in mono technology until the end of the seventies), which certainly had a negative impact on their overall sound and musical expression, to the detriment of the listeners. Despite their immense popularity, Indexi remained, in large part, a strange and self-contained band, unable to seriously conceive of their own career as a "rock band".

When the preparations were underway for a major Yugoslav tour, following INDEXI's April appearance on 'Vas slager sezone '75' festival, Miroslav Maraus left the band. Being employed by the Music Production and Dance Orchestra of RTV Sarajevo, going on tour with INDEXI seemed too risky, so the position of keyboardist was soon filled by Enco Lesic, who had previously played with them in 1971 and 1972. Lesic this time also took on the role of the band's financial manager, which would prove beneficial for their planned concert performances.

Throughout the summer, organized by Croatia Concert, INDEXI performed for over a month at various Adriatic gigs in Baska Voda, Kastel Stari, and Pula, often sharing the stage with BIJELO DUGME, SMAK, and YU GRUPA. They used this opportunity to hold their first and only performance at the famous Split Festival in early July 1975. As a curiosity, it's worth mentioning that there were actually three drummers on stage during the festival performance: in addition to the regular Milic Vukasinovic, INDEXI were joined for this occasion by another "returnee" Petar Petej (who had also briefly played with them in 1971), and the skilled studio musician Milo Vasic, later known as the singer Jasmin Stavros. Naturally, this kind of rock performance quite shocked the festival audience, accustomed to Dalmatian schlagers and chansons. Around this time, the sixth single on the Diskoton label was released (the matrix was cut on July 1st), with the song from the Split performance chosen as the lead track.

This is the composition "Obala pusta, obala vrela" (Deserted and Hot Coast) by Dalmatian chansonnier Djordji Peruzovic, with lyrics by a certain I. Flesch. The arrangement, jointly signed by Lesic and the band, was done in a typical "Indexi" progressive manner. The intro with exciting bass, keyboard, and cymbal creates an intriguing atmosphere, which soon transitions into a dynamic rhythm with a guitar riff and synthesizer, sounding somewhat heavy. The composition is in a minor key, and the sung part is accompanied by a complex rhythmic structure of bass and solo guitar treated with discreet psychedelic effects. Sound effects of sea waves along with high backing vocals bring the song to an end through a drum fade-out.

The B-side of the single features the ballad "Prva ljubav" (First Love), entirely composed by Lesic, making the entire record his strong authorial contribution to the band. The song has a slightly lighter tempo, with an emphasized bass guitar that Fadil Redzic treats melodically, while slide and acoustic guitar, and synthesizer alternate in the background. Lesic's piano soon enters, leading to the chorus, a somewhat weaker part of the composition, where a slightly forced rhyme such as "procvalo bi cvijece srece" (flowers of happiness would bloom) can be heard at times. This song also ends with a fade-out of the chorus with backing vocals.

With this very good single, INDEXI somewhat regained their position among the rock-oriented audience, combining "progressive" instrumental parts with the pop melodicism of the vocal elements. Lesic's keyboards at times sound as if they could have been played by the virtuoso Tony Banks from Genesis, while the accompanying falsetto vocals, for which Redzic and Vukasinovic are presumably responsible, draw on similar vocal performances by Uriah Heep. Both of these songs, however, remained less known in INDEXI's opus and were not often included in compilation releases. The single nevertheless reached 6th place on the top-10 chart of the magazine Dzuboks in August, and on the top-10 chart of Hit-strana in Politikin zabavnik it remained for several weeks from October to December 1975, reaching the 3rd position. The production was handled by the then-standard Diskoton producer Milan Stupar. The already well-established designer Dragan S. Stefanovic did not experiment much this time, but stuck to what he was best at: photography. The cover features color group portraits. INDEXI pose with dark, worried looks against a light blue sky background, while at the same time mostly wearing light blue "worn-out" jeans. The back cover shows them from a "frog's perspective". In short, "Obala pusta, obala vrela" is one of the better INDEXI singles on the Diskoton label, worth re-visiting and re-evaluating. It deserves 4 stars on the prog scale.

After the triumphant "Return of Indexi" concert held on February 22, 1975, in Sarajevo's Skenderija hall, expectations for the band were high. With a new lineup featuring Milic Vukasinovic on drums and Miroslav Maraus on keyboards, INDEXI, encouraged by excellent reviews from both the audience and critics, planned a major Yugoslav tour, and the press (again) reported on plans to record their first studio album, somewhere abroad, no less. Just before the concert, the band briefly visited the United States, where they purchased new equipment, including a famous Rickenbacker bass guitar for Fadil Redzic. And just when they were about to prove their renewed rock potential on a new record, largely hinted at by the presence of the energetic Milic, their fifth single on Diskoton label, their tenth overall (not counting EPs), appeared, representing a significant decline compared to the previous one. This can be explained by the fact that both compositions were tailored for pop (light schlager) music festivals, and neither of them is the work of the band members themselves.

The single opens with the composition "Volim te" (I Love You) by Belgrade schlager-maker Aleksandar Korac. It was specifically composed for participation in the Sarajevo festival "Vas slager sezone 75", which was held on April 12, and with its performance, INDEXI won third place. The success from two years ago was not repeated, however, and the song, to be honest, is significantly weaker than "Predaj se srce". As usual, Indexi try to embellish cheap pop songs with a more complex arrangement (their only authorial contribution on this single), which is also the case here, as the intro with a pronounced Maraus synthesizer solo and imaginative drumming by Milic in the bridge reflect their old "progressive" style. However, the chorus in which the phrase "volim te" is repeated ad nauseam, accompanied first by a quasi-comic effect of something that sounds like a kazoo, and then by clapping, is simply too banal and boring to hold the listener's attention. Bodo Kovacevic's guitar is relegated to the background, and Davor's solid performance is accompanied by somewhat heart-wrenching female backing vocals. Milic would later often admit that he was ashamed to sing backing vocals in the chorus of the song at concerts, so he tried to hide behind the hi-hat so that the audience would not see him, which would undermine his rock pedigree.

The B-side is occupied by the ballad "Ti si mi bila naj, naj" (You Were My Best), composed by Gabor Lendjel, the leader of the heavy-prog band TESKA INDUSTRIJA, with lyrics by poet Dusko Trifunovic, which INDEXI performed during the Opatija 75 festival, held in February 13-15. The leading instrument is the piano, and Davor's strong vocal performance is once again accompanied by female back vocals. In the bridge, the bass guitar and orchestral accompaniment of strings stand out, and a good and catchy melody was to ensure evergreen status for this song. However, it sounds too "saccharine" at times, and cannot be compared to the powerful ballad from the previous single "Bacila je sve niz rijeku".

The single was released in April 1975 (the matrix was cut on March 31) in an attractive but somewhat kitschy cover art design by Dragan S. Stefanovic. The colorfulness of the vivid colors is simply eye-catching, which may have been the goal. The front cover shows a double portrait of singer Davor from his 1972-73 phase when he wore long hair and a tuxedo with a bow tie, accompanied by a girl on backing vocals in the background. In the lower left corner, there is a miniature cartoon figure of a photographer (probably Stefanovic himself), which reflects the influences of the artwork from some BEATLES records from the late sixties (e.g. Yellow Submarine). The back cover is adorned with a drawing of a naked "hippy" girl surrounded by stars. This somewhat "psychedelic" cover (on the front picture, all the way to the right, a discreet "peace" sign is also incorporated!) certainly does not reflect the style of music that is packaged in it, but it was certainly a good commercial move, because the potential buyer in a record store could hardly just pass it by. On this record, the songwriting and instrumental absence of Bodo Kovacevic is noticeable (his guitar is mostly in the background), which classifies this INDEXI release into a purer pop-schlager genre. The single "Volim te" proved to be commercially successful, as it reached the 3rd position on the singles chart of the magazine Dzuboks during May and June 1975, and also reached a silver record certification.

By November 1974, singer Davorin Popovic and guitarist Slobodan A. Kovacevic completed their military service. Back in Sarajevo, they quickly teamed up with bassist Fadil Redzic and INDEXI were together again, after a year of hiatus. However, they had to recruit two new members for the positions of drummer and keyboardist. Miroslav Saranovic was long gone, having joined pop group AMBASADORI, Vlado Pravdic was by now a firm member of the upcoming rock stars BIJELO DUGME, while Djordje Novkovic was out of reach in Zagreb pursuing his pop songwriting career. But, INDEXI's old pal Milic Vukasinovic (ex-CICAK, MICA GORAN, AND ZORAN) had just returned from England looking for a job and he immediately agreed to jump on the drummer's stool bringing with him a new Pearl drum kit. Miroslav Maraus was a music teacher and member of the RTV Sarajevo orchestra so he was available to join Indexi as a keyboardist. In late November they secured dates at the RTV Sarajevo studio and recorded two new songs for the next single release. There were great expectations from INDEXI's return to the scene. Fellow musicians, music press journalists, and the general public anticipated the band would restore their old glories. Apparently, they were right since the concert "Comeback of Indexi" at Skenderija Great Hall in Sarajevo held on 22 February 1975 attracted almost 15 000 spectators, an unprecedented number in Yugoslavia at the time, which was followed by rave reviews in the press. And this was, in no small part, due to the quality of the new 7" record released sometime just before New Year's Eve of 1975.

The A-side brings an energetic, hard-rocking number "Pogresan broj" (The Wrong Number) composed by Kovacevic. It is immediately clear that new members brought fresh blood and instrumental novelties into the sound. Maraus prefers electric pianos and synthesizers (to my knowledge he was the first INDEXI keyboardist to use synths) to Hammond organ, and his keyboards dominate the music palette of the song, while Vukasinovic adds his heavy and unrestrained drumming enriched with frequent conga-type percussions and tom-tom fills. There is something about this song that recalls a wide-open spaciness of guitar riffs and keyboards, wild drumming, and rough and almost growling vocals (totally untypical for Popovic's singing) of the WHO, especially from their "Who's Next" period. The lyrics, penned by outside collaborator Ranko Boban, deal with the topic of gambling and its irresistible attraction as a metaphor for a failed romantic relationship that still urges the protagonist to go on with his addictions. This excellent rock song showed that the earlier criticisms of INDEXI's selling out for light pop-schlager style were premature. "Pogresan broj" even hit the top-15 chart of Dzuboks magazine during February and March of 1975, where it peaked at the 4. position, but for some reason was later dropped from the live set and was to be rarely included in future compilations, so by now it remains largely and unjustifiably forgotten.

Yet, this was not the case about the flipside track, quite the contrary. In contrast to the above-described upbeat number, the B-side contains a sprawling slow-tempo "symphonic" ballad "Bacila je sve niz rijeku" (She Threw It All Away Down the River). The basic tune was conceived by Redzic a few months earlier when he briefly joined AMBASADORI for their Soviet tour. While in Baku (Azerbaijan) he was sad about being away from his wife so he wrote a low-key melancholic melody. Back in Sarajevo, on the night just before the scheduled recording session, the band asked their friend, popular singer/songwriter Kemal Monteno, to write the lyrics. He used real-life experiences of unrequited love, both of himself and of singer Popovic to write a poignant heart-wrenching story about a girl who just before a wedding decided to abort a baby and leave the country and her partner for good. Kovacevic's gentle fingerpicking of acoustic guitar sets a mood, while the central place is occupied by Maraus' keyboards. He uses a synthesizer and the famous Hohner D6 Clavinet to paint a sound image of painful emotions. Popovic singing is marvelous, especially in hitting high notes where necessary, with the occasional backing by what sounds like a female chorus. This amazing song was not initially considered to be anything special, hence the band decided to put it on the B-side. Many years later both Redzic and Vukasinovic confirmed in interviews that this song had not been popular for many years until the 1990s when it was used in several popular movies and covered by some top artists. Only then did it become a true hit in all countries of the former Yugoslavia and remains one of the most loved songs of the entire INDEXI career.  

Here are some fun facts about the cover photo. The cover design by Dragan S. Stefanovic was this time very good, depicting the full band in a studio working environment, among the instruments: Orange amps, Pearl drum kit, and Fender bass guitar. Being fresh from the army, Kovacevic and Popovic wear short haircuts. This is also one of the first appearances of Popovic with his now famous moustache and he also wears a "Heavy Metal Kids" t-shirt under a jacket. There is a story recently told by Brano Likic, leader of the former band REZONANSA from Sarajevo, according to which he and Milic Vukasinovic's brother Vukas went to London a few weeks earlier to try to persuade Milic to finally come back home after several years of being away. While in London, they all went to the Marquee Club to see the gig of the glam rock band HEAVY METAL KIDS. This may explain the origin of the mysterious t-shirt. Apparently, the same shirt, or a copy of the same, was worn by Redzic on the cover of the repressed version of the earlier single record "Samo su ruze znale", the photo of which probably stems from the same photo session as this one.

To conclude, this is one of the best 7" releases of INDEXI and only because the music on it cannot be truly categorized as prog rock I would give it 4 stars; otherwise, it would be full five!

The second INDEXI single on Diskoton label (seventh single overall) was released sometime in the spring of 1974, probably in April, since it contains two songs performed at the festivals - one from "Opatija 74", held in late February and early March, and one from "Vas slager sezone 74", which took place on April 13, 1974. These two tracks also stem from the November 1973 recording sessions at the Radio-Television Sarajevo studios, when drummer Miroslav Saranovic and keyboardist Vlado Pravdić were still band members.

The A-side track "Samo su ruze znale" (Only the Roses Knew), penned by bassist Fadil Redzic, is a love ballad composed around acoustic guitar chords, backed by gentle organ, cymbals and effective backing vocals ("la, la, la?") reminiscent of the BEATLES. The catchy chorus brings an electric guitar accompanying the lead vocal, at moments sounding like an electric sitar due to Kovacevic's inventive use of some guitar effects. There is also a brief slide guitar solo. This is a strong "progressive" pop/schlager that was, according to singer Davorin Popovic, one of his best vocal performances up to date. Although the song was frequently aired during the Radio Sarajevo competition for the festival "Vas slager sezone", INDEXI could not appear on the final night of April 13, because Popovic and Kovacevic were denied permits to leave the military service. "The Roses" was a minor hit in June when it charted on the top-30 singles list of the Dzuboks magazine.

The flipside contains a song that is as strong if not even better. Composed by Kovacevic, "Samoco, ljubavi moja" (Loneliness, My Love) begins as a melancholy "progressive folk" relying on the dominant bass guitar, bongos-type percussion, organ, and harmony vocals. Kovacevic again excels on acoustic guitar. The chorus is strangely in odd time signature, which is typical for INDEXI who always liked to complicate arrangements and experiment with standard formats of pop songcraft. Kudos for that, but it kind of spoils the flow of the song, which is the only minor quibble on my part. Yet, this is redeemed by a phenomenal brief bridge section when Kovacevic, Redzic, and Saranovic lock in a heavy rock groove - thundering bass, firm drumming, and sizzling electric guitar solo a la Eric Clapton. For this song, Popovic and Kovacevic did get a permit from military authorities to appear at the "Opatija 74" festival, which at the time served as a Yugoslav qualification to send a representative to the Eurosong contest. The winner, however, was Korni grupa (Kornelyans) who later shared the stage with the young and coming ABBA who triumphed with "Waterloo". "The Loneliness" was also a minor hit, peaking at the number 2 position of the top list of the youth magazine Zov, and remained on the chart for 5 weeks during late March and April 1974.

The single cover was again designed by Dragan S. Stefanović, but this time he was not very inventive. He copied the earlier photo of singer Popovic from the single "Sve ove godine" (1972) and added a string of yellow-reddish stripes against a dark brown background. Not his best design by any means, but it was kind of effective and catchy. This single is much better than either the previous one or the following one, and it is exciting to pay attention to Kovacevic's acoustic guitar and Redzic's backing vocal capabilities.

This is the third single on Diskoton label, and it appeared probably during summertime or early autumn of 1974. Packed in a minimalist sleeve design by Dragan S. Stefanović, with four colorful stripes against the brown background, the record contains two more songs from the November 1973 recording sessions. Mere few days before Davorin Popovic and Bodo Kovacevic left the band for the mandatory military service, Indexi recorded a bunch of tracks to be stockpiled and sequentially released by Diskoton to keep the market saturated until the band's forseen reunion. This was still the line-up with drummer Miro Saranovic and keyboardist Vlado Pravdic, along with standard bassist Fadil Redzic.

This is one of the least known Indexi releases and these songs remained obscure and deep cuts, never reaching a wider public exposure. Yet, they are worthy revisiting. Despite its nonsensical title and seemingly childish lyrics about a kid writing his first song only to be ridiculed by his parents that suggest a bubblegum approach, "Didn-da-da" is really a solid pop-rock tune with a catchy chorus. Starts with a complex time signature of bass and guitar, with a nice backing by a melodic organ tune. Kovacevic plays both acoustic and electric guitar. Instrumental bridge brings a somewhat heavy prog sound with brief soli of drums and organ. The track had potentials to become a hit but oddly it never charted, probably beacuse the band was in hiatus so Diskoton never bothered to promote it.

The flipside brings a ballad "Dal' smo ljudi" (Are We Humans) introduced by electric piano, organ and acoustic guitar. This time, the lyrics are more poetically serious, singing about coldness and distance of human relations. There are two brief electric guitar soli during the bridge but they never reach the hights of Kovacevic's strenght as a player. I am also not a fan of the chorus melody, but musicianship is top-notch with an organ section invoking for a moment the sound of DEEP PURPLE in "Child in Time". This was the last single release before the reunion of INDEXI with a new line- up in the late 1974, which introduced a new phase in their work.

Considered one of the most popular Yugoslav bands of all time, INDEKSI formed in Sarajevo (now the capital city of Bosnia & Herzegovina) in 1962 and would go through many lineups as a cover band for many years before finally realizing a debut album ten years later in 1972. Only guitarist Slobodan A. Kovacevic would stick around through all the changes up to the point when an album emerged. INDEKSI began as a bunch of college students playing for fun and spent the late 60s releasing EPs, singles and touring including a two-month stint through the USSR in 1967. The same year the band performed at the first Sarajevo festival called your Schlager of the Season and continued to establish itself as one of the very first Yugoslav bands that would continue to grow in popularity.

The 60s found the release of several short EPs and singles but this self-titled debut represents the recordings from 1969-72 and was only released once in cassette form and has yet to find a reissue. This debut featured seven tracks that for the most part showcased the band's early years as a rock band with some leftover sounds from the 60s beat movement. While known as a progressive rock band for the second album, INDEKSI did feature a full blown prog workout at this early stage with the track 'Negdje u kraju u zati'ju' which at nearly 12 minutes long featured various movements as well as extended instrumental workouts, pastoral acoustic guitar with flute segments that veer into folk meets classical territory but what makes it stand out as prog more than anything is the extensive use of atmospheric keyboards.

This album was preceded by a single titled 'Plima' which was recorded in 1968 and debuted the concept of lead guitar in the Yugoslavian rock scene but overall for 1972 this album feels woefully dated in comparison to the rest of Europe reaching a crescendo in the world of progressive rock and despite Yugoslavia being one of the most liberal nations in the Eastern block still showed signs of not being up to speed with the innovative sounds coming from the Western European nations. For the most part INDEKSI's debut is a standard rock with occasional hard rock affair with a few prog time signatures added in for good measure with the only exception being the prog behemoth 'Negdje u kraju u zati'ju' which probably sounds closest to the symphonic prog coming out of Italy a couple years earlier.

This seems to be a lauded album in many circles but to my ears it sounds a bit amateurish most likely due to the inconsistency of the material being recorded over a long period of time. It's not necessarily a bad album by any means but not up to par with the other interesting bands that emerged from the former Yugoslavia such as Time, Buldozer, Leb i Sol and Smak. The band would take another six years to release its more progressive sophomore release 'Modra Rijeka' and despite its lack of albums still became one of Yugoslavia's most successful bands. Being far removed from the time and place from when this was released may give me no context as to how relevant this was during its day but as someone experiencing it decades later with a very open mind i have to say i find this a bit underwhelming as it doesn't really deliver anything substantially original to the world of rock music. Relevant for a historical perspective.

I must confess, progressive rock music ( from the ancient Yugoslavia) definitely isn't my speciality ! The only good album that I can remember from this country is KORNELYANS: "Not an Ordinary Life" ! Although, this INDEXI "Modra Rijeka" is other very good album I could knew some time ago .They are very different , while the first as jazz-prog oriented album, the second is a few more flexible in style. In the first track as only a narration. The music really starts in second track ". Blago " whit some broken beats and a detached distorted bass guitar and a breath organ solo. The track 3 'Brod" the acoustic guitar gives the tune followed by a good vocal, melotron... a electric guitar sounding in "legato\' ( in fact this guitar seems to be mixed with the melotron in certain moments. The track 4 "More" ( one of best tracks in the album ) show some interesting moments, as in the case of acoustic guitar "intermission" followed by a breath "ascendant" electric guitar theme and a piano solo... at this moment the music reach their "'pice' with a "crying" electric guitar accompany by tubbullar bells/hammond-organ like a "bridge" to retake the main theme of track . The track 6 "Slovo O Covjeku" is a beautiful ballad whit a twelve-string guitar making the rhythm. I don't extend my review because the whole disk if it's not a masterpiece is really very good. My rate is 4 stars !!!