Vanna

“I To Sam Ja “ (1997)

Croatian singer Vanna was the voice of enormously popular early 1990s band Electro Team who - along with great, late Dino Dvornik - successfully brought local music back to the clubs and for a while even managed to push back the backlash of ubiquitous “schlager”. Combining memorable, celebratory party hits with ultra-modern production that sounded as recorded in studios of London or Amsterdam, they swept radio waves and confidently made point that homegrown pop could be as seductive as any big international smash. Behind all that technical wizardry and production, however, was the fact that guys had unstoppable weapon in the awesome voice of the girl singer who immediately eclipsed everybody else around - she might have been only a small-town girl, but her talent ranks up there with the world’s greatest pop singers. 

Electro Team eventually disbanded - unfortunately, as their brief moment together is still lovingly remembered as highlight of music careers of everybody involved - but even without the guys we all knew that singer of such calibre must continue and on this, her very first solo album Vanna goes completely different route, presenting kind of unplugged showcase under the title “This is also me”. Recorded mostly live in concert with acoustic setting (remember that unplugged concerts came as reaction to over-produced music that contaminated charts) singer bravely and joyously bites into such old chestnuts as “Always On My Mind”, “Will You Love Me Tomorrow?” and “One Day I'll Fly Away”  that definitely prove she is winner even without studio buttons behind her. Three Patsy Cline covers even show affection for classic country ballads and on her effective version of “You Must Love Me” (from Evita) she is easily far better than original. In fact, I must admit that even with my previous reservations (after all, this is Croatian artist singing country and international pop hits in English) while re-visiting this album it struck me as really impressive - it could be played absolutely everywhere in the world and listeners would agree she is brilliant singer with great phrasing and impeccable command of foreign language. She is our national treasure but every country would be proud of singer such as this.

“Ispod Istog Neba” (1998)

Impressive as her acoustic solo debut with covers of pop and country evergreens was, it was inevitable that Vanna would return to ultra-modern production that made her name. Croatia records showed great confidence in giving free hands to singer who herself supervised several producers (she is listed as main producer) and even wrote lyrics for roughly half of this album that brims with special guests, virtuoso production and star treatment. And star she is - endowed with powerful voice that suggest Whitney Houston in her prime, singer dazzles trough irresistible pop, disco, funk and ballads that would not be out of place of album by any biggest international star. This is perhaps not surprising, giving that Vanna was on the forefront of new wave of Croatian musicians who decidedly ignored folk-mutation trappings and went for urban sound instead.

Everything you can imagine on albums by say, Toni Braxton or Mariah Carey, is presented here: gospel ballads, melismas, power disco and swooping trough octaves, just the language makes it clear this is Croatian production. By collaborating with such names as Ante Pecotić or Miro Buljan singer naturally brings to mind certain pop sensibility shared with other big Croatian stars who used same songwriters so it is inevitable that their refrains sound bit alike - curse of the small country - though ubiquitous Gibonni helped a bit with his brand of rock ballad. They even duetted on “Ja Ću Budna Sanjati”  that was not really necessary (except as novelty of two stars together) because their voices don’t blend well together and Vanna is far superior singer, as proved in second version with only her voice. The song is more notable for guest cameo from Macedonian guitar hero Vlatko Stefanovski. With 16 songs, album might be a little exhausting to enjoy in one listening (in the old days of vinyl this would have been 2 LP records) but it nevertheless brings singer up to date with current music and presents her as one of the finest voices in Croatia.