Kao Da Je Bilo Nekad: Best albums of Ex-Yugoslavia
by 19loveless91

October 2017 note:
It's been years since I made this. Some things should probably be updated by now, I just wanted to make this note, because I feel bad about me commenting on how "vital" certain lyrics are in these albums - to native speakers it will seem ridiculous (and it IS ridiculous) that I brand albums by Haustor or EKV or Azra as having "unimportant lyrics". What I probably meant was my opinion on whether you can still get some enjoyment out of their music regardless of whether you can understand the words.

********

Right. I believe that ex-Yugoslavia, for all its faults, managed to keep up with the world in several "areas". Well.. sports and music at least. Particularly the "new wave" era of the end of the 1970s and the early 1980s (which disrupted the somewhat monotone and overly "prog" music scene of the majority of 1970s) produced several classics.

I was brought up listening to much of this music, and a lot of the 1980s yugo music is still popular among youth here (in Slovenia; although you probably won't see too much of that stuff in this chart). And I wanted to share some of my favourites with y'all.

I guess this is still in progress, as there are quite a few prominent artists that I have yet to get into - most notably Laibach (only heard one album so far), but also stuff like: Paraf, Lačni Franz, maybe some more Leb i Sol (should give them a proper chance); I also still plan to get more into the folk music of this area (sevdalinka and whatnot)). Anyway I have now heard enough albums to make a decently sized chart of albums that I feel are at least very good. Some of these albums are kinda hard to get, and I had to help myself with some streaming sites.. Big thanks to hikonline, blogger/youtube account, where I managed to discover a lot of new music...

I decided to only include albums, that were made before 1991, i.e. before the country broke apart - even though a country called "Yugoslavia" technically existed after that as well...

I also tried to add some helpful info for each of the album here. The info, in order of which it appears, is:
-the nationality of the artist/band (what country is that nowadays)
-translation of the album title
-genre (very loose definitions)
-importance of the lyrics (some of the music here is very "lyrics-oriented".. I don't want to discourage you from listening to those albums.. but I think it's something that I should mention)
-track picks


IMPORTANT NOTE!!
I took into account that my taste is quite different to most of people who'll potentially be browsing the chart, so I structured the chart like this: top 50 are my favourite albums made in ex-Yugoslavia (of those I heard), the rest (51-60) are:
- two EPs (that I love, and would be, just according to rating, a lot higher) and:
- 8 more acclaimed and/or popular (or cult favourite) albums, that I don't personally dig that much, but that I see others liking...



Um... anyway, I hope you find something for yourself... If you have any questions or need any translations, you can ask me below in the comment section, and I'll try to help you... Also, I know people usually respond on other people's charts, but if the question will be related to this chart or yugo artists/albums, I'll answer it here...
Oh, one more thing.. The title of this chart, is a title of a song by Ekatarina Velika (you'll be seeing this band a lot here), and means something along the lines of: "As it once was"

• Chart updated: 10/31/2017 13:15
• (Created: 12/10/2012 04:18).
• Chart size: 60 albums.

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5. (=)

Bitanga I Princeza 

 Bijelo Dugme

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-Bosnia
-"A Bastard and a Princess"
-BLUES ROCK, PROG ROCK, HARD ROCK (basically dadrock friendly..)
-not important
-Sve ce to mila moja prekriti..., Kad zaboraviš Juli, title track too... [First added to this chart: 12/12/2012]

Year of Release:

1979

Appears in:

9 charts

Rank Score:

28

Rank in 1979:

333

Rank in 1970s:

3,335

Overall Rank:

30,256

Average Rating:

 72 (24 votes)

Comments:

2

17. (=)

Mitovi I Legende O Kralju Elvisu 

 Elvis J. Kurtović & His Meteors

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-Bosnia
-"Myths and legends about King Elvis"
-ROCK (COMEDY ROCK)
-I'm afraid without understanding lyrics (and spoken word parts) here, you'll be missing quite a bit... It's an album from the "New primitives" movement, which included one of my favourite comedy sketch troupes (Top lista nadrealista) and a couple of bands, which weren't musically THAT interesting, but are nonetheless very fun to listen to...
-Still, check some of these tracks: Devojka bez cinela, Kad se babo vrati kuci pijan, Folk Reping [First added to this chart: 12/12/2012]

Year of Release:

1984

Appears in:

1 chart

Rank in 1984:

None

Rank in 1980s:

None

Average Rating:

 73 (1 vote)

Comments:

0

23. (=)

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Šta Bi Dao Da Si Na Mom Mjestu 

 Bijelo Dugme

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-Bosnia
-"What Would You Give to be in My Place"
-HARD ROCK... not so much prog, more BALKAN...
-it's Bijelo Dugme... So not really... There is some "fun" stuff here though (like the first track... you can ask me about that)
-the title track, Došao sam da ti kažem da odlazim... [First added to this chart: 12/12/2012]

Year of Release:

1975

Appears in:

3 charts

Rank Score:

4

Rank in 1975:

851

Rank in 1970s:

7,950

Overall Rank:

94,927

Average Rating:

 76 (8 votes)

Comments:

0

27. (=)

Soldatski Bal 

 Plavi Orkestar

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-Bosnia
-"Soldier's Ball" (ball, as in.. dance)
-GOOD TIMES PARTY HARD BALKAN POP ROCK
-not vital
-Gujo vrati se, Soldatski Bal, Kad mi kažeš Paša, ... [First added to this chart: 12/27/2012]

Year of Release:

1985

Appears in:

1 chart

Rank in 1985:

None

Rank in 1980s:

None

Average Rating:

 73 (2 votes)

Comments:

1

42. (=)

Das Ist Walter 
Soundtrack

 Zabranjeno Pušenje

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-Bosnia
-it's german...
-ROCK (COMEDY ROCK)
-this is another band from the "New Primitives" movement, so again you would be missing something, by not understanding the lyrics.. But not as much as with the Elvis Kurtovic album...
-Kino "Prvi Maj", Zenica Blues [First added to this chart: 12/29/2012]

Year of Release:

1984

Appears in:

3 charts

Rank Score:

9

Rank in 1984:

651

Rank in 1980s:

6,791

Overall Rank:

59,724

Average Rating:

 73 (3 votes)

Comments:

0

43. (=)

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Kad Bi' Bio Bijelo Dugme 

 Bijelo Dugme

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-Bosnia
-"If I Were a White Button"
-HARD ROCK
-same as their others
-Selma (but I prefer the shorter, live version of this song), Blues za moju bivšu dragu [First added to this chart: 12/30/2012]

Year of Release:

1974

Appears in:

2 charts

Rank Score:

1

Rank in 1974:

1,161

Rank in 1970s:

11,974

Average Rating:

 74 (10 votes)

Comments:

0

60. (=)

Indexi 
Compilation

 Indexi

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#8:
-Bosnia; ...; POP, PROG POP;
This is actually a compilation of their singles released prior to that.. It charted quite high on the list of best Yugo albums, made by some journalists in the late 1990s. For me it's a bit hit/miss. And it's like they want to be prog, but ultimately their pop hearts won't let them. IIRC my fav track on this was Budi kao more. [First added to this chart: 01/05/2013]

Year of Release:

1974

Appears in:

2 charts

Rank in 1974:

None

Rank in 1970s:

None

Average Rating:

 74 (2 votes)

Comments:

0

Total albums: 7. Page 1 of 1

Kao Da Je Bilo Nekad: Best albums of Ex-Yugoslavia composition

Country	Albums	%
	28	47%
	16	27%
	7	12%
	7	12%
	1	2%
	1	2%

Kao Da Je Bilo Nekad: Best albums of Ex-Yugoslavia chart changes

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Kao Da Je Bilo Nekad: Best albums of Ex-Yugoslavia similarity to your chart(s)

Other custom charts by 19loveless91

Title	Source	Type	Published	Country
Best Ever Music Videos	19loveless91	Custom chart	2018
Albums That Sound Like Their Cover Art	19loveless91	Custom chart	2013
Kao Da Je Bilo Nekad: Best albums of Ex-Yugoslavia	19loveless91	Custom chart	2017

Kao Da Je Bilo Nekad: Best albums of Ex-Yugoslavia ratings

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Rating	Date updated	Member	Chart ratings	Avg. chart rating
100/100  !	07/27/2022 22:23	Soencer	47	100/100
100/100  !	01/29/2018 01:30	kadupheming	158	93/100
100/100  !	01/28/2018 14:29	Repo	562	100/100
95/100  !	01/28/2018 13:15	Cardboardfolder	205	73/100
95/100  !	12/06/2017 05:13	Onater	458	90/100

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This chart is rated in the top 1% of all charts on BestEverAlbums.com. This chart has a Bayesian average rating of 92.9/100, a mean average of 97.9/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 97.9/100. The standard deviation for this chart is 3.1.

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Kao Da Je Bilo Nekad: Best albums of Ex-Yugoslavia favourites

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Kao Da Je Bilo Nekad: Best albums of Ex-Yugoslavia comments

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100/100

From patriciatoledo 08/18/2017 02:42 | #196230

Definitely need to check some of these albums out

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100/100

From LedZep 03/29/2017 12:46 | #188356

Super stvar, planirao sam i ja tak nesto napraviti (tipa Balkan muzika 70'-10') ali cini se da fali dosta zanimljivih albuma, pogotovo novijih. Jedino se baš ne slažem da tekstovi nisu bitni, haustor je imao odlicne tekstove, EKV isto ima zanimljivu liriku. Šteta kaj nemaš puno više Zabranjenog pušenja, ali 100 za veliki trud i promoviranje naše balkanske muzike :)

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95/100

From Daydreamer 01/22/2017 14:59 | #183865

This is such a great list. My knowledge of our music album-wise is pretty poor and your chart looks like a perfect place to start.

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Rating:  

95/100

From Arthurknight 11/09/2014 02:02 | #126539

this chart will be a brilliant starting point for those delving into yugoslavian music and even further into music under communism. thank you for putting seemingly a lot of effort into this

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Rating:  

100/100

From dazatoth 02/23/2013 12:37 | #65882

Kao prvo, ne mogu da ne budem subjektivan kada je ova lista u pitanju, ne zato što u svom nazivu ima "ex-YU", već zato što su ovo neki od albuma uz koje sam odrastao, zavoleo muziku i sve u vezi nje, i imam osećaj kao da je "moja". Iako možda neki albumi nedostaju, kao Filigranski pločnici ili Kost u grlu, lista ne gubi na celovitosti i kompletnosti.
Drugo, tačno je a se nakon raspada SFRJ raspala i muzička inustrija i tržište, ali su i dalje nastajali dobri bendovi koji su izdavali sjajne albume. Možda ne bi bilo loše da napraviš listu koja obuhvata period od početka 90-ih do danas. Ne znam da li i koliko poznaješ muziku iz ovog perioda? Mogu da ti dam nekoliko predloga...
Block Out - San koji srećan sanjaš sam (1998): Remek delo ovog benda. Izuzetno mračan i težak za slušanje. Jedan od onih albuma nakon čijeg slušanja poželiš da izvršiš samoubistvo. Zanrovski je između doom metal i art rock zvuka. Tekstovi me podsećaju na Joy Division, samo što su još direktniji, bez toliko metafora i simbolike.
Kanda, Kodža i Nebojša - Prekidi stvarnosti (2005): I album i bend malo poznati na teritoriji bivših republika, ali u Beogradu odavno imaju status kultnog. Zvuk je u svom korenu reggae, ali predstavlja kombinaciju više žanrova. Tekstovi jako apstraktni i efektni, osećaš marihuanu u vazduhu dok ih slušaš. Najbolje je kad odes na njihov nastup i slušaš uživo, totalno neprevaziđen osećaj!
Obojeni Program - Ako nisam dobra, šta ćemo onda? (2002): Muzika je mešavina alternativnog roka i elektronike, sa prilično grubom produkcijom (distorzirane gitare i sl.). Iako većina voli Obojeni Program zbog njihovih ranijih albuma, za mene je ovo trenutak kada su počeli zaista da privlače pažnju.
Goribor - Goribor (2007): Objektivno gledano, možda i najbolji album sa ovih prostora u poslednjih 10 godina, ako ne i duže. Muzika je kombinacija trip-hop i blues zvuka (ritam mašine i poneke gitarske deonice, ništa spektakularno). Tamo gde dolazi do izražaja su tekstovi, jezivo surovi i iskreni, beskompromisna ispovest čoveka koji nudi svoju dušu na "izvolite...". Album na kakvom bi pozavideo i Milan Mladenović.
Ne znam da li su ovi albumi dostupni u Sloveniji, ali mislim da ih ima preko torenta, a i tu je uvek You Tube. Ako ti se dopadnu, javi se za još sugestija, imam ih na tone.
I na kraju, ne znam koliko ovakva lista i slične njoj imaju smisla na sajtu kao što je ovaj. Jer osim tebe i mene nisam primetio nijednog "ex-YU" registrovanog korisnika, a ovi stranci teško da će moći da razumeju ovu muziku na način na koji ona treba da bude shvaćena. Isto kao sto i ne vidim svrhu da bilo ko treba da razume ovaj tekst osim tebe, zato i ne pišem na engleskom (izvini što ne znam slovenački, ali valjda je i ovako OK). Svejedno, moza je i dobro što postoji i makar jedna ovakva lista ovde, čisto da se zna da je nekad postojala zemlja i da je imala muziku koja je fantastična, pa makar i ovi "stranci" ne budu razumeli ništa od toga.
Pozdrav iz Beograda :)

P. S. S’ vetrom uz lice = With face against the wind; Bistriji ili tuplji čovek biva kad... = Brighter or dumber a man gets when...; Smak = The end of world (ne može da se prevede kao jedna reč); Boa je vrsta zmije, prevodi se isto; Haustor je glavni ulaz u zgradu koji je uvučen, ne izlazi direktno na glavni put (verovatno su hteli da se distanciraju od mainstream pravca pa su zato odabrali ovaj naziv za ime benda i prvog albuma), ne moze direktno da se prevede na engleski.
P. P. S. Rambo Amadeus je iz Crne Gore. Zana Nimani (prva pevačica grupe Zana) je sa Kosova.

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Rating:  

90/100

From junodog4 01/25/2013 01:58 | #62734

This list is fascinating and intimidating at the same time...

Nothing from Montenegro or Kosovo?

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