{{Short description|Serbian pop rock band}} {{Infobox musical artist | name = Kristali | image = Serbian band Kristali.jpg | caption = | image_size = 250 | alias = | origin = Belgrade, Serbia | genre = {{flatlist| * Pop rock * britpop}} | years_active = 1993–2025 | label = L.V.O. Records, Metropolis Records, PGP-RTS, B92, Multimedia Records | associated_acts = Del Arno Band, Babe, Đura i Mornari, Familija, Qrve, U Škripcu | website = | current_members = | past_members = Dejan Gvozden<br />Željko Markuš<br />Dejan Kostić<br />Milan Popović<br />Nenad Potije<br />Aleksandar Šišić<br />Bojan Dmitrašinović<br />Dejan Škopelja<br />Ratko Ljubičić<br />Ivan Krstić<br />Predrag Manov<br />Marko Orlović<br />Ernest Džananović }}
'''Kristali''' ({{lang-sr-Cyrl|Кристали}}; trans. ''The Crystals'') were a Serbian pop rock band formed in Belgrade in 1993. The group gained mainstream popularity in mid-1990s with their britpop-influenced pop rock sound, scoring several hit songs. Having released four studio albums and a live album, the band ended their activity in 2025, following the death of the group's frontman and leader Dejan Gvozden.
==History== ===1990s === Prior to the band formation, vocalist and bass guitarist Dejan Gvozden and guitarist Željko Markuš performed blues and rock standards in Belgrade cafes.<ref name="janjatović361">{{cite book|last=Janjatović|first=Petar|title=Ex YU rock enciklopedija 1960-2023|year=2024|publisher=self-released / Makart|location=Belgrade|page=361}}</ref> They started working under the name Kristali in January 1993, after they were joined by drummer Dejan Kostić.<ref name="janjatović361"/> Only six months later, the band had their first hit with the single "Dva metra" ("Two Meters"),<ref name="janjatović361"/> for which the music video was directed by Milutin Petrović.<ref name="facebook bio">[http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=37956704126&topic=6712 Interviews on the official Facebook page]</ref> Soon after, they were joined by bass guitarist Milan Popović, Gvozden continuingas vocalist only.<ref name="janjatović361"/> The band was further expanded with the arrival of former Del Arno Band member Nenad Potije on trombone.<ref name="janjatović361"/> During the same year, the band had their first song released, with "O kako si lepa" ("Oh, How Beautiful You Are") appearing on the L.V.O. Records various artists compilation ''Academia vol.1''.<ref>[http://www.discogs.com/Various-Academia-Vol1/release/1877495 ''Academia vol.1'' at Discogs]</ref> The live version of the song, recorded at the band's performance in Belgrade club Prostor on 9 February 1994, appeared on the 1995 live various artists compilation ''Groovanje Vol. 1'' (''Grooving Vol.1'').<ref>[http://www.discogs.com/Various-Gruvanje-Live-Vol-1/release/2067097 ''Groovanje vol. 1'' at Discogs]</ref>
The band's debut album ''Kristali'' was released by L.V.O. Records in 1994.<ref name="janjatović361"/> The album featured guest appearances by Eyesburn frontman Nemanja Kojić on trombone, Borivoje Borac on saxophone, Vladimir Lešić on percussion and Đorđe Vasović on keyboards,<ref name="janjatović361"/> with Dža ili Bu member Aleksadar Mitanovski playing the guitar solo on the track "Emili" ("Emily").<ref name="Kristalilmc">[http://www.discogs.com/Kristali-Kristali/release/1312085 ''Kristali'' at Discogs]</ref> The album was produced by Goran Živković "Žika" and Rodoljub Stojanović, and the album cover was designed by renowned photographer Goranka Matić.<ref name="Kristalilmc"/> With songs "Dva metra" ("Two Meters"), "O kako si lepa", "Znam" ("I Know") and "Osmi dan" ("The Eighth Day"), the band promoted pop-structured songs inspired by the current britpop trends in Great Britain.<ref name="janjatović361"/><ref>[https://nova.rs/kultura/dejan-gvozden-kristali-beograd-se-toliko-mentalno-promenio-da-sam-morao-da-odem/ "Dejan Gvozden (Kristali): Beograd se toliko mentalno promenio da sam morao da odem", Nova.rs]</ref>
The band's second studio album, ''Dolina ljubavi'' (''The Valley of Love''), was produced by Igor Borojević and released in April 1977.<ref name="janjatović361"/> It featured guest appearances by Block Out member Aleksandar Balać (bass guitar), Aleksandar Tomić (saxophone), and Rambo Amadeus, who played acoustic guitar on the track "Sad se svega sećam" ("Now I Remember Everything").<ref name="janjatović361"/> With the song "Talasi" ("The Waves"), "Novi dan" ("New Day"), and "Hajde, hajde" ("Come On") the band followed the same musical patterns found on their debut.<ref name="janjatović361"/> The following year, the band recorded the music for the theatre play ''Furka'' (''Rush''), performed in Belgrade's Boško Buha Theatre,<ref name="janjatović361"/> and in 1999, they appeared on the various artists cover album ''Korak napred 2 koraka nazad'' (''A Step Forward 2 Steps Backwards'') with a cover version of the song "Baby, baby", originally performed by the fictional band VIS Simboli in Slobodan Šijan's 1984 film ''Strangler vs. Strangler''.<ref name="janjatović361"/>
=== 2000s === In 2001, the band released their third studio album, ''Sve što dolazi'' (''All That Is To Come''), featuring new members, bass guitarist Aleksandar Šišić and drummer Bojan Dmitrašinović, whereas Gvozden, beside the vocal duties, also took up playing the rhythm guitar.<ref name="janjatović361"/> With all the songs authored by Gvozden and Markuš, including the hits "Ustani, kreni" ("Stand Up, Go"), "Menjam se" ("I am Changing") and "Moje srce" ("My Heart"), the album was produced by Mirko Vukomanović.<ref name="janjatović361"/> The following year, the remix of the song "Ustani, kreni" by the electronic band Intruder appeared on Intruder album ''Collector's Item''.<ref name="janjatović361"/>
The band celebrated their tenth anniversary with the release of the live album ''Live @ Studio 6'', recorded at PGP RTS Studio 6 by the band's new lineup, featuring Gvozden, Markuš, bassist Dejan Škopelja (formerly of U Škripcu), drummer Ratko Ljubičić and keyboardist Ivan Krstić.<ref name="janjatović361"/> During the same year, the band appeared in Srđan Koljević's film ''The Red Colored Grey Truck'', performing the song "Mesto za nas" ("A Place for Us").<ref name="janjatović361"/> In 2006, Gvozden acted in two popular Hello Juice commercials, also providing vocals for a pop punk cover of "Jingle Bells" used in the commercials.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KqBHp9ic_Dk Hello Reklama - Hello i Tebi Vuce - Nova Godina, YouTube.com]</ref><ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VxxvUpMuCxY Hello Reklama - Hello i tebi Zmaje, YouTube.com]</ref>
===2010s=== In 2010, the band recorded the song "Drvoseča" ("The Woodcutter"), a cover of the Crveni Koralji version of Tim Hardin's "If I Were a Carpenter", for Srđan Koljević's film ''The Woman with a Broken Nose''.<ref name="janjatović361"/> In March 2013, Kristali released their fourth studio album, ''Samo bluz'' (''Only Blues''), in the linuep featuring Gvozden, Predrag Manov (guitar), Marko Orlović (bass guitar) and Ernest Džananović (drums).<ref name="janjatović361"/> During the same year, they recorded the song "Proleće" with the children's choir Kolibri for the choir's album ''Kolibri planeta'' (''Hummingbird Planet'').<ref name="janjatović361"/>
On 22 February 2014, the band held an unplugged performance at the Parobrod club in Belgrade. The recordings of the songs "Znam", "Talasi" and "Moje srce" appeared on the 2014 various artists live album ''Parobrod Unplugged'', featuring recordings from different unplugged performances held at the club.<ref name="janjatović361"/> In June 2014 appeared the band's last release, the single "Divan dan" ("Beautiful Day"),<ref>[http://www.b92.net/kultura/vesti.php?nav_category=271&yyyy=2014&mm=06&dd=04&nav_id=856724 "„Divan dan“ - novi singl grupe Kristali", b92.net]</ref> and in October of the same year, they celebrated their 20th anniversary with a concert in Belgrade Youth Center, featuring guest appearances by the band's former members Željko Markuš–who had a year earlier started his new band Pacifik (''Pacific'')–and Milan Popović.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://balkanrock.com/briljantna-rodendanska-proslava-kristala-u-beogradskom-domu-omladine/ |title="Briljantna rođendanska proslava Kristala u beogradskom Domu omladine", balkanrock.com |access-date=2014-10-20 |archive-date=2014-10-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141021024827/http://balkanrock.com/briljantna-rodendanska-proslava-kristala-u-beogradskom-domu-omladine/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>
===2020s=== The band's frontman and the only remaining original member Dejan Gvozden died on 5 October 2025, aged 55, Kristali thus ending their activity.<ref>[https://www.danas.rs/kultura/odlazak-urbanog-gospodina-koji-je-pesmama-unosio-svetlost-u-devedesete-dejan-gvozden-1970-2025/ "Odlazak urbanog gospodina koji je pesmama unosio svetlost u devedesete: Dejan Gvozden (1970–2025)", Danas.rs]</ref>
== Legacy == In 2006, the song "Osmi dan" was ranked No. 74 on the B92 Top 100 Domestic Songs list.<ref>[http://www.b92.net/radio/100yunajboljih/ The B92 Top 100 Domestic Songs list at B92 official site] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070328190959/http://www.b92.net/radio/100yunajboljih/ |date=March 28, 2007 }}</ref>
In 2021, the band's album ''Dolina ljubavi'' was polled 73rd on the list of 100 Best Serbian Albums Since the Breakup of SFR Yugoslavia. The list was published in the book ''Kako (ni)je propao rokenrol u Srbiji'' (''How Rock 'n' Roll in Serbia (Didn't) Came to an End'').<ref name="antonić">{{cite book|last=Antonić|first=Duško|title= Kako (ni)je propao rokenrol u Srbiji|year=2021|publisher=Take It Or Leave It|location=Belgrade|page=215}}</ref>
== Discography == === Studio albums === *''Kristali'' (1994) *''Dolina ljubavi'' (1997) *''Sve što dolazi'' (2001) *''Samo bluz'' (2013)
=== Live albums === *''Live @ Studio 6'' (2004)
=== Other appearances === *"Kako si lepa" (''Academia vol. 1''; 1993) *"Kako si lepa" (''Groovanje vol. 1''; 1995) *"Baby, baby" (''Korak napred 2 koraka nazad''; 1999)
== References == {{Reflist}}
== External links == * [https://www.youtube.com/@KRISTALIBAND Official YouTube channel] * [http://www.discogs.com/artist/Kristali Kristali] at Discogs {{Authority control}}
Category:Serbian pop rock music groups Category:Britpop groups Category:Musical groups from Belgrade Category:Musical groups established in 1993 Category:Musical groups disestablished in 1993 Category:1993 establishments in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia