4 Hero
Two Pages

THE REVIEW

Dennis 'Dego' McFarlane, Mark 'Marc Mac' Clair, Gus Lawrence, and Ian Bardouille are the British "4 heroes" who, in 1998, released the second studio work "Two Pages". We are talking about pure avant-garde, real pioneers of jungle and drum 'n' bass, skillful DJs manipulating sound and mysterious and captivating electronic moods offering a winning blend of music.

To describe the album, it is necessary to talk in detail about the genres that compose it. There's a bit of everything: breakbeat, techno, drum 'n' bass, jungle with an evident and consistently recognizable soul-black-jazz-blues background. Pure research, sound depth, mysticism, astro-ufology, spiritualism characterize, and are the winning card of, this precious album appreciated by critics, remarked upon by the press, and awarded with the "Mercury music prize."

The CD cover is truly fascinating and indecipherable, with alien symbols and mysterious settings evoking the extraplanetary. 19 tracks with a clear dream-like spatial connotation. Choruses, harps, and sinuous strings, piano, bold and mysterious rhythms in "Golden age of life" which effectively opens the album and invigorates its strong introspective value by telling of the "garden of my mind." A nocturnal, dream-like theme is repeatedly reinterpreted, highlighted in tracks like "Planetaria" and the compelling "Third stream." Track 6, "Escape that," is fascinating, elegant, and deep. "Spirit in transit" will intrigue you, and at this point, the album's magic formula will become evident. Surprising. Rap-like and more human, track 10, "The action." Let's move on to the single that made the 4 heroes known to the general public: it's "Star chasers" whose melody will overwhelm you, immersing you in your most intimate reflections. "Wishful thinking" is somewhat peripheral to the album, almost reggae-like. Sad and buttery "Universal reprise." Let yourself be intrigued by the dark final tracks (like "Pegasus 51") full of electronics and intriguing percussion. Alien sound, with Goldie-like atmospheres, in track 18 (the title is untranslatable). Greeting in the original language in "De-sci-fer." Upon first listen, you will come out surprised.

A work that truly has a lot to offer, suitable for your solitary evenings of pure detachment. Resolutive, shocking, spectacular and intimate, indefinable and refined. Offer it as a treat to a guest of yours. You will impress them.