The very first time I heard Giuliano, he reminded me very much of young Zdravko Čolić and that was a strong compliment indeed because older singer had one of the best voices in business. But where Čolić clearly enjoyed the attention, star treatment, spectacular national tours and his famous dancers were sensation, Giuliano happened to start in bleak times of post-civil war Croatia with far less glamour around him. I have no doubt that in different circumstances young singer could have been capable to do exactly same like Čolić before him, but unfortunately for him, shrunken market and few local pop festivals were all he could conquer.
Still, this was a solid pop album, composed almost entirely by Tomislav Mrduljaš (lyrics by Dijana Malenica) and Giuliano does well - it is combination of ballads and feel-good uptempo songs, with one true hit ("Jugo" where he duets with Marijan Ban) leading into surprisingly strong collection of songs. Even though there is nothing earth-shaking or new here, its endearing that young guy kept his head proudly above any flirtations with folk music - a step that would be commercially calculated and effective but would probably alienate younger audience he wanted to appeal to. There is even one song co-written with famous Gibonni, which is actually very strong indicator that singer's heart truly lies in rock music. No matter what he sings, Giuliano always sounds 100% committed and he does have great voice. I was not thrilled with dance-pop excursion he did on his next album, but his voice intrigued me enough to go backwards and listen his earlier discography.
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