LEB I SOL — Sledovanje (review)

LEB I SOL — Sledovanje album cover Album · 1982 · Jazz Related Rock Buy this album from MMA partners
2.5/5 ·
seyo
If on the fourth album "(Infinity)" LEB I SOL knew how to process New Wave influence into a nice post-fusion sound, here on the fifth album they were much less successful.

Tavitijan left the band in the meantime and the new percussionist was Dragoljub Djuricic, a straight rock'n'roll drummer coming from the famous classic/hard rock YU GRUPA. He added a firm rhythm and the beat but he lacked Tavitijan's refinement of jazz drumming and sometimes his playing is too basic and dull. Stefanovski and Arsovski played well but songwriting is much less strong on this LP. And there we have that terrible early 1980s synthetic production: some songs contain rhythm machine, electronic drums, voice echo and awful hand clap! Altogether totally unneeded accessories if you ask me.

There are 50:50 vocal vs. instrumental tracks and this was up to the time of its release the most vocal album of LEB I SOL. "Nosim tvoj zig" ("I Bear Your Sign") was a minor hit and still sounds good, while a slower ballad "Hvala na svemu" (Thanks for Everything) was an appropriate choice to end concerts in those times since it was openly dedicated to the fans and rock audience in general. Minor key ballad "Njena sena" ("Her Shadow") has a wonderful guitar solo by Stefanovski and is the closest they came to fusion sound. Having excellent Stefanovski vocals and a slight drunken/psych feel, it is perhaps the strongest track on the LP.

Of the instrumental tracks only the opener "Lokomobila" is anywhere near the best moments from their earlier efforts, with amazing bass lead melody (Arsovski is the composer). "Mirko" and "Mile Pop Jordanov" are interesting attempts to merge some hard rock with folksy/traditional melodies (although neither was credited as trad. arr.) and only here Djuricic has an appropriate place with his drumsticks. The rest of the album is pretty much negligible and lame including unnecessary kids choir in the final "Oda ladosti" (deliberately mistaken spelling - should be "Oda radosti" as translation of Beethoven's "Ode to Joy", obviously adding a childish utterance of L instead of R).

"Sledovanje" (Eng. Ration) is one of the underrated albums of LEB I SOL and it mostly deserves such a mark. It was an obvious sign of the creative crisis in the band notwithstanding a few very good moments, particularly interesting guitar chord progressions and soli reminiscent sometimes of Andy Summers, Robert Fripp or Mark Knopfler. A decent effort by LEB I SOL but we expected more...
Share this review
more

Review Comments

Post a public comment below | Send private message to the reviewer
Please login to post a shout
No shouts posted yet. Be the first member to do so above!

Review Index

Member Zone

Username:
Password:
Stay signed in

Jazz Subgenres

Artists Alpha-index

JMA TOP 5 Jazz ALBUMS

Rating by members, ranked by custom algorithm
Albums with 30 ratings and more
A Love Supreme Post Bop
JOHN COLTRANE
Buy this album from our partners
Kind of Blue Cool Jazz
MILES DAVIS
Buy this album from our partners
The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady Progressive Big Band
CHARLES MINGUS
Buy this album from our partners
Blue Train Hard Bop
JOHN COLTRANE
Buy this album from our partners
My Favorite Things Hard Bop
JOHN COLTRANE
Buy this album from our partners

New Jazz Artists

New Jazz Releases

Sanyas Hard Bop
STEVE TURRE
Buy this album from MMA partners
Pianohooligan : Critique of Swing in Two Parts, Pts. 1 & 2 Third Stream
PIOTR ORZECHOWSKI (PIANOHOOLIGAN)
Buy this album from MMA partners
Jason Stein, Marilyn Crispell, Damon Smith, Adam Shead : Spi​-​raling Horn Avant-Garde Jazz
JASON STEIN
Buy this album from MMA partners
Utopia Jazz Related Improv/Composition
OLIVER LUTZ
Buy this album from MMA partners
Charlie Pyne Quartet : Nature Is A Mother Vocal Jazz
CHARLIE PYNE
Buy this album from MMA partners
More new releases

New Jazz Online Videos

Critique of Swing in Two Parts, Pt. 1
PIOTR ORZECHOWSKI (PIANOHOOLIGAN)
js· 4 hours ago
FULL ALBUM - Oliver Lutz - Utopia w/ Leif Berger, Constantin Krahmer
OLIVER LUTZ
js· 20 hours ago
Lift
DAVE WILSON (US/NZ)
js· 2 days ago
Nature is a Mother
CHARLIE PYNE
js· 2 days ago
Marta Warelis solo @ FourOneOne 5-11-23
MARTA WARELIS
js· 3 days ago
More videos

New JMA Jazz Forum Topics

More in the forums

New Site interactions

More...

Latest Jazz News

members-submitted

More in the forums

Social Media

Follow us
Follow us on Twitter Become a Facebook fan RSS Feed