| Mrtva priroda | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Studio album by Riblja Čorba | ||||
| Released | November 3, 1981 | |||
| Recorded | Maison Rouge Studio, London 1981 |
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| Genre | Hard rock Rock Heavy metal |
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| Length | 32:18 | |||
| Label | PGP-RTB | |||
| Producer | John McCoy | |||
| Riblja Čorba chronology | ||||
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Mrtva priroda (trans. Still Life) is the third studio album from Serbian and former Yugoslav rock band Riblja Čorba, released in 1981.
The album was polled in 1998 as the 19th on the list of 100 greatest Yugoslav rock and pop albums in the book YU 100: najbolji albumi jugoslovenske rok i pop muzike (YU 100: The Best albums of Yugoslav pop and rock music).[1]
Contents |
For the first time, a Riblja Čorba album featured a song written entirely by the guitarist Momčilo Bajagić, "Ja sam se ložio na tebe". Nevertheless, Riblja Čorba frontman Bora Đorđević remained the band's main author, with six songs written by him.
The album was produced by John McCoy. In his 2011 book, Šta je pisac hteo da kaže, Đorđević recalls how the band decided to hire McCoy:
| “ | Manager of PGP-RTB, Stanko Terzić knew he had the goose that laid the golden eggs in his hands, so the label paid us a trip to Lodnon to choose a studio in which we would record and find a producer. [...] As soon as we landed on Heathrow, we bought two [...] most important music magazines in the world: New Musical Express and Melody Maker. We looked at the charts. On the top of the chart in both magazines was the new album by Gillan. Released by Virgin Records, produced by John McCoy. 'He will be our producer', we decided.[2] | ” |
Đorđević also states that the band was offered to record the album in one of the studios in which Deep Purple recorded Deep Purple In Rock, but refused, as PGP-RTB had just bought new equipment for their Studio V, so McCoy and Tony Taverner, who was in charge of recording, travelled to Belgrade.[3]
Đorđević states that he did not want to put "Vetar duva, duva, duva", a short humorous song about cannabis, on the album, but was persuaded to do so by the rest of the members.
| “ | The next day, when we came to the studio, John waited for us in [...] kafana. Here's the trick: in the absence of grass, which would destroy our concentration, the English guy, in order to achieve the real atmosphere, decided to get us drunk. [...] After two or three hours of preparations, the jolly company went into the studio and started to sing.[4] | ” |
The album cover was designed by Jugoslav Vlahović.
Three weeks after the album was released it was sold in 100,000 copies, which was the fastest-selling album in the history of Yugoslav rock music. By the end of the year the number of copies sold was 450,000. Several songs became huge hits: the ballad "Neću da ispadnem životinja", rock anthem "Pekar, lekar, apotekar", "Volim, volim žene" and "Na zapadu ništa novo".
"Na zapadu ništa novo" (named after Erich Maria Remarque's novel All Quiet on the Western Front) was the band's first song with political-related lyrics. League of Communist Youth of Bosnia and Herzegovina demanded Mrtva priroda to be banned because of the lyrics "Za ideale ginu budale" ("Fools get killed for their ideas") and "Kreteni dižu bune i ginu" ("Jerks organize uprisings and get killed") from the song. Before the Sarajevo concert on Mrtva priroda tour, Đorđević had to write an explanation for this problematic lyrics and sign a statement that he would sing the song "Na zapadu ništa novo" on his own risk.
The album was polled in 1998 as the 19th on the list of 100 greatest Yugoslav rock and pop albums in the book YU 100: najbolji albumi jugoslovenske rok i pop muzike (YU 100: The Best albums of Yugoslav pop and rock music).[5]
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