For Korni Grupa's debut I wrote: "For my tastes, Kornelyans' Not an Ordinary Life is one of Europe's great progressive rock albums. On paper, it goes against one of my key rules: It's sung in English verse the native tongue. There's always an exception."
It's been a dozen years since I last heard this album, but it remains one of the true gems of 1970s Euro Prog. The pop style found on its predecessor has been rubbed out in favor of more complex songwriting. The key contributor here is Kornell Kovach - naturally enough since the moniker of the band carries his name. His keyboard work, in particular his use of synthesizers, is brilliant. His composition style, while certainly understanding rock's appeal, has the mind of a serious classical bent similar to many an Italian prog band. The fact that Not an Ordinary Life was recorded in Italy is not a coincidence, and with Kornelyans the label thought they'd found another international act to promote along with PFM. One cannot blame the perception as vocalist Zlatko Pejakovich proved to be quite adept at singing in English. Guitarist Josip Bocek also puts in some heavy licks here and there.
The highlights here are the 2 lengthy tracks - 'Not an Ordinary Life' and 'Man with a White Flag'. If I recall right 'Fall Off the Land of Woman' is a remake from the debut ('Bezglave ja-ha Horde'), and is also a great hard driving track. The "hit" from the album is 'Generation 1942', which with the proper promotion, really should have been a known song to Western audiences. Great melody, poignant lyrics, excellent instrumental work. But I think a Yugoslav band in 1974 would have been a tough sell in the States. Apparently the album didn't sell well and was mostly forgotten until the reissue era which coincided with a new found audience for all things Yugoslavian prog.
For pure progressive rock, I find Not an Ordinary Life to be the best of all the former Yugoslavian albums, its main competition coming more from the psychedelic Pink Floyd of Igra Staklenih Perli. Arguably it even bests albums from all of the Iron Curtain, maybe only Flamengo offering a better choice.
Ownership: LP: 1974 Ricordi (Italy). As with all my favorite albums, I wanted to possess an original LP as long as it's not going to be a mortgage payment. In addition I really wanted the Italian version which will certainly be of higher quality than its Yugoslav equivalent. That day finally happened sometime in 2016, as I found a very nice copy online at a reasonable price. Single sleeve with a "pinched" spine. Comes with the lyric inner bag as well.
CD: 1991 Vinyl Magic (Italy). Standard jewel case reissue with no extras. Purchased new near the time of release. This was my introduction to the album and band. And it's what I listened to last night. Music this good must have a mobile option even though the CD doesn't offer much else. This is the only reissue of the album by itself, though it you really want to OD on Korni Grupa, there's a 6 CD compilation that came out in 2020.
12//92; 2//10; 10/9/22 (new entry)
