"Neosedlani" by Dado Topić (1979)

Of all the vocalists who started in rock bands in the late 1960s/early 1970s (Dalibor Brun, Zlatko Pejaković, Zdravko Čolić) the only one who later rejected commercial route and stayed firmly close to his youthful ideals is Dado Topić. It is very interesting how all of them dealt with the business differently - they are without exception gifted performers who could go either way - but where Brun & co. answered the call of Mammon, Topić stuck to his guns and never metamorphosed into middle-aged "schlager" entertainer - this strategy ultimately cost him media visibility and he was forever destined to wither somewhere in the background, almost like mythical Unicorn, more legend than current music presence but on the other hand, where audiences completely forgot the explosive starts of his contemporaries, music by this guy is still genuinely great. 

For the majority of 1970s Topić was vocalist of very interesting band "Time" so it took him longer than others to release solo album - when it came, it was quite something. Completely self-written, "Neosedlani" ("Unsaddled") is a concept album that follows a story about self-discovery and the music is excellent, kind of what Stevie Wonder did trough 1970s - personally I think that lyrics are clumsy and could have been better but as always, Topić follows his own star and had obviously poured his heart into these songs. It is (autobiographical?) a story about a young, ballsy punk who goes into the world with big dreams and learns a lesson that money comes & goes - defeated but wiser, he returns home.

While the music is thoroughly very enjoyable (specially "Milion Dolara" where he is joined by Slađana Milošević), the lyrics are perhaps too personal to resonate with wider audience - unless the listeners are the types who think that home is always the best place to be and any kind of adventurism is pointless. Interestingly enough, the lyrics are actually more interesting when Topić moves away from me-format and describes other characters, like in vignettes "Radmila" or "Jovane" that are genuinely funny and moving, but about other people. Apart from earnest lyrics, it is a surprisingly strong double LP album and I must admit that I like it more with each listening - musicianship is excellent thoroughly, there are many brilliant moments and surprises, the singer's heart is in the right place. Naive and provincial as the protagonist might be, we understand him on some visceral, intuitive level - he could be a wayward, vagabond brother who just need a helping hand. Excellent album.