Artist: Belan, Neno
Label: Dallas Records
Release: 2009
Running time: 141:15
Rating: 4/5
Neno Belan and his Fiumens are the kings of “mainstream” pop rock in Croatia. Quality Croatian pop rock. And nothing more than that. But that’s enough. In the run-up to its release, the official PR material from the Dallas label sang it the kind of unrivaled praises that even live albums from the Rolling Stones to Deep Purple have rarely been showered with in their promo campaigns.
Let’s take it from the top. Neno Belan is without a doubt a master of his craft. He brought Mediterranean temperament into guitar-driven pop and so built an oeuvre with a recognizably unique smell to it, if I may borrow the label “Dalmatian rock”. Of course it’s still not as drastic as if he’d gone punk, and for our moms he’s forever “spotless”, like Oliver Dragojević, but still. Belan drives down his own lane, and it pleases pretty much everyone. And that’s enough for success. Crowds back in his home country practically swallow his music whole. No problem there. Neno long ago morphed into the kind of kindly uncle who wouldn’t hurt a fly. A decent guy who came among the people only to offer them boundless fun.
The double live album “Tvornica snova” is definitely a story of its own. The man packed two CDs with one hit after another. The recordings, each taking up its own disc, come from two concerts at Zagreb’s Tvornica. The first took place on March 6, 2008. It’s subtitled “Fiesta”, which means it has the punchier hits and leans toward free-for-all partying seasoned with a heaping dose of juicy banter. The second CD contains a live recording from the same venue on November 13, 2008, subtitled “Balade”, which immediately hints at its greater “seriousness”.
Belan is backed by a band that goes all the way back to the Đavoli days, and they’re tightly locked in with each other down to the last detail. This album proves how much those long years of knowing each other matter. Belan’s lines and his way of interpreting them come across even more magnified. Skillfully, and depending on the mood the artist wants to convey. Fiumens can be splendid, refined, barely noticeable, which comes through above all on the second disc, or utterly unleashed and cheeky (the first disc, with the party peaking in the by-now-folk-classic Fiumera), but their whole contribution is above all tied to serving the persona (and work) of Neno Belan. The tightness of this long-lived lineup shows especially in the thoroughly excellent backing vocal harmonies.
The doubt that nags me about the whole thing is this. Considering that each disc runs roughly 70 minutes, I’d assume we’re not reliving entire concerts on each one, but that the material for both discs was carefully “picked” beforehand, in line with the purpose of “Fiesta” and “Balade”. It’s hard to imagine that at one concert Belan and Fiumens played only ultra hits like Ivona, Sunčan dan (which wittily works in the chorus of the Osibisa hit Sunny Day), then Stojin na kantunu, or Kavanna, and at the other again only ultra hits like Galeb, Srce od leda, Ponoćna zvona, Pričaj mi o ljubavi or Rijeka snova. Given Belan’s huge popularity in Croatia, the 70-minute tailored setlists aren’t exactly mutually exclusive, but from a concertgoer’s point of view they feel incomplete. However you slice it, the main thing is that the double live album is perfect when it comes to repertoire.
Belan really went the extra mile for this one-off moment. He invited special guests and spiced up the live sound and atmosphere with a horn section that stirs up feelings of longing and adds a touch of eroticism to the songs. Dino Dvornik joins Belan for a duet on Ella e (Ella is the name of Dvornik’s daughter). It’s one of Dvornik’s last appearances before his tragic death in September 2008. Then on the second disc Belan works even more intensely in a duet with Massimo Savić on Zar više nema nas, which is one of the highlights of the second disc.
The two discs have very different characters, even though they’re close kin. I count myself among the more serious listeners, so personally I prefer the second disc, “Balade”, which brings out just a little more the great expressive power of Neno Belan and Fiumens on stage.
The festive atmosphere of a big celebration on this live document is created above all by the ecstatic crowd. Belan often hands whole verses over to them. That’s also the thing that can come across as annoying and distracting. I certainly understand the artist’s decision to highlight the special magnitude of that one-of-a-kind experience at Tvornica, but on the other hand, to the ear of a layman who wants the warmth of Neno Belan’s velvety voice, the unified vocal orgy of the extremely shrill crowd at Tvornica (you can tell it’s mostly made up of women) comes across as irritating and, as a result, off-putting. I’m not saying the move isn’t welcome. Of course it is, but you can feel that Belan overdid it a bit at this point. Croatian listeners will see it completely differently and take the album with open arms, though. And that’s the basic purpose of the album anyway.
Belan celebrated his 25th anniversary in a one-of-a-kind way and offered his fans a truly double live document that they’ll idolize and revere for a long time. It’s a case of a healthy, authentic live record that positively bursts with life energy. As mentioned. The committed and deeply understanding communication between the musicians across both discs, and the free flow of high energy between the delirious crowd and the band, guarantee total authenticity, that unrepeatable magic moment, now captured forever, and one that Neno Belan himself will have a hard time ever topping. But let’s be real. The rating is adjusted to the standards of the Croatian market and the legacy of “Croatian mainstream pop rock”. And if I may offer one last quip: Belan will (by temperament) always be closer to Vasco Rossi than to Paul Weller. That’s also the sieve that filters his fanbase.
Lineup
Neno Belan – vocals, guitar
Vedran Križan – keyboards, backing vocals
Olja Dešić – bass guitar, backing vocals
Leo Rumora – drums, backing vocals
GUEST MUSICIANS:
Massimo Savić – vocals on “Zar više nema nas”
Dino Dvornik – vocals on “Ella e”
Žan Jakopač – vocals on “Fiumera (2 Bračanina)”
Boris Mohorić – trumpet
Jakša Kriletić Jordes – saxophone
Track list
CD 1. “Fiesta”:
1. Intro (Bračka balada)
2. Zvuci ulice
3. Kucaj opet (Keep a knockin’)
4. Ivona
5. Divojka sa juga
6. Kad plima se diže
7. Elle e
8. Sunčan dan
9. Rock galama
10. Ludo zaljubljen
11. Ja volim je
12. Stojin na kantunu
13. Najava Žana Jakopača
14. Fiumera (2 Bračanina)
15. Kavanna
16. Ovo jš nisam doživio
17. Bambina
CD 2. “Balade”:
1. Pozdravi
2. Srce od leda
3. Ponoćna zvona
4. Pričaj mi o ljubavi
5. Dani ljubavi
6. Ostani uz mene
7. Dugo toplo ljeto
8. Vino noći
9. Dotakni me usnama
10. Massimo – intro
11. Zar više nema nas
12. Marijan Ban – phoner
13. Kurve
14. Galeb
15. Rijeka snova
16. Odjava
17. Posljednji ples
