TAKO

This album has followed me around for several years. It was probably the first, or one of them at any rate, album from Eastern Europe that I discovered. It wasn't until a few years later that I came to grips with it and fell in love with the music. This is actually a very good album of spacey progressive rock with not so small adose of jazz. Almost entirely instrumental it has, however, vocals imbedded in a few tracks. The main focus is on the instumentation. Since I feel a certain resistance towards purely instrumental music (God knows why) I feel that there is just enough vocal parts to keep me happy.

Tako originated from the former Jugoslavia. Today they would be categorized as Serbian. That means that the vocals are sung in their native tongue. To me that is a great plus, though I understand practically nothing of what they are singing. I think it holds little significance, even though I love to understand a good lyric. If I had the urge I could make the content out by way of google and what not but I haven't come to that as yet. The vocals are decent enough and brings yet another level to the music.

The opening track, "Probudi se", is a very spacey thing indeed. I hear elements of Eloy and Solaris but it is hard to say who did it first. Solaris was not yet in their existence, as far as I know, and Eloy wasn't quite there yet but still they are relevant as to give a hint of the music on this album. "Sinteza" is a very jazzy, fusion-like track and fantastic. Really energetic. I hear echoes of Jazz Q in their rockier moments. Great stuff. The bluesy harmonica adds to the music too.

"Utapanje..." is a spacey piece, again, but with a very complex riff played by electric piano, guitar and drums. Very good track and there is a section of vocals aswell. The song "Lena" is instrumental and the flute makes it very Solaris-y. Dreamy, beautiful and engaging. "Minijatura" is a lovely, flute driven thing reminding of early Jethro Tull. (It is amazing, I sometimes think, how certain bands stands as blueprint for certain genres or musical directions. Like Jethro Tull and flute in a bluesy, folky, hard rock and prog setting.)

The epic "Druga strana mene" is really the centerpiece of the album. Spacey, diverse and with several parts combined it is a majestic piece of music. I think it is absolutely magnificent. The greatest thing about it is that it never gets boring. All through it's 16 minutes I feel committed and engaged, submerged in the music.

Terrific!

Takos first album really is one of the greatest albums from behind the Wall and shows just how talented and visionary some of the bands actually were. Despite the regimes and their censorship they managed to create not only great music but also and foremost some of the most enthralling albums of prog. I think this album is an essential listening experience, just as with Modry Efekt and SBB and other greats. The instrumentation, vision and execution on this album is top notch.

This is easily four stars.