DEN ZA DEN

I'll see if I can get this review in before the power goes out again. DEN ZA DEN were a Jazz/Fusion band out of Yugoslavia releasing this one album back in 1980. I guess I'm the one dissenting voice here as this just hasn't clicked with me surprisingly, being that I'm a huge fan of of Jazz/Fusion. The cover art is insane, I really like it. This is a high energy band like MAHAVISHNU ORCHESTRA and ICEBERG to give a couple of examples but to me there's no comparison when it comes to the compositions and musicians. Many rave about how great these guys play but I feel they are a step down from the two bands I just mentioned. The drummer is relentless but man Cobham eats him up, in fact the drummer with DEN ZA DEN gets on my nerves after a while. He did play with LEB I SOL but left before ever recording with them and the guy who replaced him is better in my opinion.

"Svadba" is all over the place early on and fast paced. Impressive for sure, very intricate too. It settles down 3 minutes in with some upfront guitar but picks right back up as the guitar lights it up, not for long though. "Galeb" quickly becomes guitar, piano, bass and drums. It settles a minute in with piano, bass and sporadic drums. The guitar takes the lead after 2 minutes. "Ciganka" opens with drums before synths, guitar, piano and bass join in. Fast paced but I'm not into this. Piano to the fore after a minute then the guitar is back pretty much to the end.

"Zedj" opens with piano before the drums and more kick in. Again this is fast paced with those relentless drums, synths too. A much better sound with those synths after a minute. The guitar is shredding after 2 minutes. "Fata Morgana" is one of my favourites along with the closing track. This reminds me somewhat of "Meeting Of The Spirits" to start as we get some space and room to breathe for a change. That does change after a minute as the guitar solos over the bass and drums. Keys lead after 1 1/2 minutes and again high energy stuff takes over before 2 1/2 minutes. I love the first half of this one though.

"Coker Ritam" is a one minute drum solo. "A Bila Je Tako Draga" has laid back piano as the guitar and a laid back beat arrive. Synths before 1 1/2 minutes then it picks up some with the guitar leading. A nice change of pace here. "Letnja Ljubav" features the guitar and synths trading off over the bass and drums. "Vodopad" has the band just ripping it up before it settles into a groove with synths, drums and bass. The guitar comes in over top, piano too. Tons of energy here.

"Jutro I Noc" has some shimmering sounds as the piano, bass then guitar come and go. It picks up quickly to an uptempo sound but it is all over the place. I like the relaxed piano led section after 2 minutes though. "Tako Treba" is my favourite song on here and the closer. And what a closer it is! The contrasts between the high energy and more laid back sections is what makes this so good.

I didn't even like this early on in my listening of it but it did grow on me, just not nearly enough to want to venture into 4 star territory. 3 cold stars.