Otadžbina

Otadžbina (Serbian Cyrillic: Отаџбина, lit. "Fatherland") is the debut album of Slaviša Guja Slaja, released in 1992, by VBC. It is highly regarded for its rarity and production.

Отаџбина
Cover of reissue.
Studio album by Славиша Гуја Слаја
Released	1992
Genre	Novokompovana
Label	VBC
Славиша Гуја Слаја chronology
Отаџбина (1992) Судбина (1993)

Background

The songs for the album were written during Slaja's service in Sarajevo and Žepa in 1992. The songs "Naša zemlja", "Drina", "Moj grad" and another song were written in one night.

Unlike other war-related albums produced at the time, the album is more rock-oriented with elements of contemporary rock and blues. When writing each song, Slaja ensured that despite the patriotic theming, anti war elements were incorporated which was rarely seen from other works published at the time. The album is also unique for being a two-man production rather than a studio production.

Release

Otadžbina was released in 1992. While there is a label attached to the album: VBC, it is unknown if the company existed or not. With amateurish label design, as well as a simplistic cover, it is speculated that the production was in-house with VBC being a placeholder. Initial prints have serial numbers on them and the cover slightly cropped, though reissues of the album are more evenly placed, though lack a number sticker and is duplicated at a faster speed.

In 1993, Renome would produce a VHS for the album, though would it would not have the song "Majke" included it it for unknown reasons. To this day, "Majke" remains to be lost media.

According to a 2017 interview, the song "Moj grad" was one of the most popular songs Slaja made during his career in the 90's and its message was so universal, Herceg-Bosnian television would play the song. Like most artists who produced music during war time, Slaja is not very public about his war work, though has stated that it [Otadžbina] still has a special place in his heart.

In present day, Slaja does not wish to have Otadžbina public as in 2019, uploads of the VHS were taken down from the channel Naša Srpska Arhiva with the reason as being that Slaja did not want to have a bad image to foreigners. While uploads of the VHS pre-2019 still exist and Generacide's restoration has been reinstated after a temporary takedown, it is advised to not upload Slaja's patriotic works. The YouTube user RandomAtribute20K has made a video stating that while they are in possession of the tape, they would not upload its contents out of respect for Slaja.

Track listing

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Отаџбина"	Â
2.	"Пријетња"	Â
3.	"Пробуди се"	Â
4.	"Мој град"	Â
5.	"Завичај"	Â

Side B

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Дрина"	Â
2.	"Наша земља"	Â
3.	"Зашто"	Â
4.	"Мајке"	Â
5.	"Свјетлани"	Â

Personnel

Writing

• Славиша Гуја - Музика, програмрали, свирали, пјева
• Нешо - Програмрали, свирали, пјева

Production

• НИКША - Београд- Снимано у студиу

Miscellaneous

Пјесме су написане на сарајевском ратишту и црној Жепи, ратне 92.

Variants

VBC reissue (Year unknown)

Notes

• Good audio quality
• B1 is badly duped
• Audio is duped at a slightly faster speed
• Elements of the cover are more evenly spaced out
• No serial number
• Brown tape instead of black