Rade Šerbedžija is famous theatre actor who somehow got himself a best-selling LP album of poetry in mid-1970s, which was than (as it is now) quite a phenomenon because it clashed with everything we would expect a commercially successful album have to be: on that album he recited poems written by various authors and had special guests singing wordless vocalises behind him. It became a cult album that was sold forever and is still in print, a feat that to my knowledge nobody repeated after him. It is still a thing of beauty, a classic combination of music and poetry that lost absolutely nothing with time.
Arsen Dedić wrote the title song of that classic, previous album and he is behind this one as well - it took a decade for Šerbedžija to come up with a sequel and although is no less interesting than the debut, perhaps the cultural atmosphere had changed because it didn't break any record this time around. The selection of poetry is as expected inspired (Miroslav Krleža, Vjekoslav Majer, Zvonimir Golob, Antun Šoljan) and actor is still charismatic as ever, maybe it was too much to expect to achieve the same excitement previous album had created and its not really a commercial project in the first place. As I am listening this album today, some 30 years after its initial release (its still in print on CD), for the first time seriously listening it from the beginning to the end, I am impressed how well it all sound - the main difference between the debut and the sequel is that this time around it was multi talented Dedić who arranged and conducted the music so naturally it sounds very much like any of his 1980s albums. It does feel very melancholic and full of Weltschmerz so listen with caution because it might bring you down with all those poems about suicides, heartbreak and sadness but strangely this is exactly why it appears timeless at the same time. Kind of album you would listen alone with yourself.
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