After those early, enthusiastic and somewhat clumsy 1960s beginnings of rock in Croatia (mostly covers) it was just logical that eventually someone will come along with original music - Drago Mlinarec and his band already recorded first LP album back in 1968. and supergroup Time had their own album, but to the job of actually putting together something decent, commercially successful and a true no-filler collection fell on two friends and old cats from 1960s - singer Karlo Metikoš and lyrics writer Ivica Krajač.
Together they combined their experience, talents and connections to assemble a cracking line-up of musicians (mostly from Time and Indexi) to create album that was not just a unheard of on a local music scene (where festivals, schlagers and waltzes were mainstream) but could easily compete on international scene with the best of them. That this bunch of people had not been working in Stax or Memphis, but in a primitive conditions of Zagreb's recording studio (Jadran film) just shows what a white-hot inspiration that was. Former rock singer Metikoš came up with quite impressive music (acoustic rock, boogie, 7/8 ethno rhythms, prog rock) and Krajač stepped out of his usual comfort zone (he was well known craftsman) with idea to present ten songs as thematically connected "diary" where each song weaves story into the next, hence the title. Definitely an ambitious concept but they pulled it off perfectly, not only invigorated with their own vision, but also because they happened to write all of this for a most unusual and dazzling vocalist around.
Like Metikoš and Krajač, young Josipa Lisac also came from show-biz tradition but her initial late-1960s/early 1970s efforts were mostly focused on ushering rock music like a Trojan horse on a festival stages where her assured visual presence and powerful voice impressed as much as annoyed both competition and audiences alike. It is interesting to contemplate what would have happened to her had she not met Metikoš who encouraged her not only to use recognizable mannerisms but to build her own trademark out of them. From a whisper to a scream, effortlessly whizzing trough octaves and soaring trough anything Metikoš/Krajač came up with, Lisac is right in the centre of this musical whirlwind like talented actress showing full range of various emotions - youthful innocence and hope, first love, happiness, fear, heartbreak, tears, confusion, anger, trust and finally a defiance, it is all here and its really hard to imagine anyone else doing it with such self-confidence. No wonder her theatre debut was just around the corner, the wonder is that no one so far recognized potential this album has as stage play.
A cornerstone and one of the pillars of rock discography in Croatia, album was immediate success and is continuously in print for decades since. Generations lived and loved with this music. Its creators wisely never even considered repeating the same formula and perhaps it could be said that "Diary" lives on even without them - it is a complete, concept album that perfectly lives his own life with each new generation. Lady herself was perhaps cursed that her masterpiece came so early (she was only 23 at the time) and no matter what she did during next four decades (and she surely had her share of big hits, albums and awards since) "Diary" was always a benchmark against everything else was measured.
No comments:
Post a Comment