4HERO

4HERO
TWO PAGES (1998)
320 KBPS

This album marks 4 hero's shift from the sounds of drum and bass (which they were at the fore-front of, basicly inventing the genre), to the sounds of what has come to be known as "nu jazz". It was one of the first nu jazz LPs, and is respected as a classic within the scene, as well as gaining much praise from the wider music community.
As with other styles, there is a lot of crap modern jazz music made for the dance floor or for the "lounge", but this is where the real goods are found. This album is full of the highest quality musicianship: Spectacular, unique atmospheric sounds, original, high quality live and electronic jazzy beats, and beautiful vocals. The layering of sounds is precise and skillfuly compiled, and hense there is so much to appreciate. The production is just unbeatable. Like anything 4 hero have put their hand to, it's in a league of its own, next level, inspired. The beats are just so good, taking influence from modern and older genres, and not just reproducing, but pushing forward, building on and surpassing infuences. I wouldn't say it's a concept album, but there's a definative 4 hero sound established here ("4 hero" is one of a number of guises for Dego and Marc as a duo and individualy, through which they explore other genres) and the album as a whole has a directional feel. There is a specific soulful (in its truest sense) vibe and subject area in exploration within two pages; the tracks work together musicaly and in regards to the lyrical contributions.
The album has a uniquely spiritual feel, the foundations to which are clearly evident in the lyrics and the sounds. Lyricaly the tracks are forward thinking (at times deeply so), positive, reflective and open minded with no meaningless filler rubbish which too often accompanies all genres of dance music. The focus on notions of love and energy that comes accross in the lyrics is inspiring, and accuratly reflected in the instrumentals. This isn't to say the album becomes inaccesible however; all the tracks can be appreciated on the immediate level.
This album is great to listen to chilling on your own or in a social context, passively or mindfully - the immediate sounds are great and make you grin, dancing, head-noding or relaxing; but there is also much detail to listen to on each track, so much to gain from them.
The manner in which 4 hero have produced an album of such musical quality within a framework that comes from and appeals to the spiritual (intentional or not I don't know), makes this a masterpiece.

Disc 1
1. Loveless (Featuring Rucker Ursula)
2. Golden Age Of Life
3. Planeteria (A Theme From A Dream)
4. Third Stream
5. Escape That
6. Cosmic Tree
7. Spirits In Transit
8. The Action (Featuring Ish Aka ''Butterfly'')
9. Star Chasers
10. Wishful Thinking
11. Universal Reprise

Disc 2
1. We Who Are Not As Others
2. Humans
3. In The Shadows
4. Mathematical Probability
5. Greys
6. Pegasus 51
7. ......
8. Wormholes
9. Dauntless