TAKO

As it turns out Yugoslavia had their share of prog acts. SMAK, KORNI GRUPA, LEB I SOL, and this particular band, TAKO are some examples. TAKO managed only two albums, in which this self-entitled album was their debut. The band consisted of bassist/vocalist Dusan Æuæuz, keyboardist/flautist/harmonical player Ðorde Illijan, guitarist/vocalist Miroslav Dukiæ, and drummer Slobodan Felekatoviæ. Ðorde Illijan tends to use a lot of Elka Rhapsody string synth, as well as electric piano.

Some of the music tends to have a bit of a fusion influence. A couple of songs have vocals, including the opening cut "Probudi Se". It's in Serbo-Croation, so it's nice to hear the language in a prog setting. This song tends to be dominated by Illijan's Elka. "Sinteza" shows the more fusion-end of the band, especially when Illijan uses the Fender Rhodes electric piano. Perhaps my favorite is "Utapanje Sunèeve Sveltlosi U Pesèanu Memoriju", where the band goes through several changes. Again the vocals appear here. I especially like the guitar work of Miroslav Dukiæ found here. "Lena" is a short, flute-dominated piece that bears more than a passing resemblance to Hungary's SOLARIS (making me believe SOLARIS was influenced by TAKO, since SOLARIS' debut did not appear until the 1980s). "Minijatura" is another flute-dominated piece, that brings to mind JETHRO TULL. Then the album closes with the 16 minute epic "Druga Strana Mene". The CD reissue comes with a bonus cut, "Put Na Jug", which is a nice addition, this one also has vocals. I don't exactly call this album essential. For one thing, the production isn't all that great (but then I expect that, coming from a communist country), but by Eastern European standards, this is definately one of the better albums.

My rating: 3 1/2 stars