4 Hero – Two Pages

this is simply a perfect album!
they put so much work into it, with huge love for details.
it is almost too perfect...and very influential.
broken beats, breakbeat, jazzy drum&bass, soul...but that are only works, they created a new style of music, musically and productionswise a new standart, a classic masterpiece, a timeless wonder, a rare pearl and a class of it's own.
very, very, very well done.
still today i am always stunned, when i listen to it.

Knowing the cd very well, the vinyl release shows the digital mixing and compression used during recording and is highlighted only in a couple of songs. However, the release is outstanding generally and well worth the price. Generally it's a very clean vinyl, there is a little crackle at the start and end of sides, however the music itself is very clean.
If you love ninja tune label or XL records, then this album is basically the template those used for at least 10 years, way ahead of its time and really it only becomes more relevant with modern times and global warming.

ALL TIME FAVOURITE ALBUM
ORGANIC/SYNTHETIC
AS NEAR TO PERFECTION AS YOU CAN GET
KILLS ME EVERYTIME
BIG UP THE WHOLE REINFORCED MASSIVE
UNIVERSAL LOVE

Rnb, soul and jazz rest atop a template of Tom and Jerry's drum programming. On disc one cello, piano, upright bass, violin and guitar make for a lush and very organic tone. Ursula Ruckers opening lyrics in "Loveless" dictate this expansive double album's thesis, that Humanity is a hostile enger aboard the sacred vessel Earth. As our destiny and Earths destruction play out we witness a cosmic dance of lush Corea-esque piano chords, soaring angular strings of Ornette Colemans "Skies of America", the poetry of social activist Ursula Rucker pronouncing our fall from grace, not unlike Archie Shepps "Attica Blues" album that melded the traditions of blues and rnb into the saxaphonists post hard bop style. Here we see scientists of amen break-ology and sampling weave a concept album from an unexpected palette. This album has more heart than an albums tend to have. This is the breaking point where electronic music became it's influences and beyond. This was the point where the form was more than the sum of its parts. Dego and Marc have left us a wonderful gift with Two Pages, an album I will cherish always.

the main chord progression (timing included) in "Third Stream" is suspiciously similar to one present in "The Heat of the Day" by the Pat Metheny Group, released two years prior to this. interpolation or pure coincidence?

It is significant to say the least or it is as a matter of fact a timeless album (and no that is not irony)! What does that mean? That is very hard to define. All I can say is that look me up in 1998 + 19 + XX years and I will let you know what I think about this album. It is close to perfect. Nobody would ever imagine, contemplate or considering to repaint a masterpiece with acrylic? You need to like the Jazz though...

I am one of the biggest 4hero fans on the planet and have eagerly absorbed ust about anything they have produced in just about every genre and sub-genre they have produced it in under every alias from their solo work as Manix, Tek 9, Nu Era, et. With that said, this goes down as my least favorite 4hero release - both' "pages" for me are overwrought and lack the fun spontaneous nature of so many of their other records. I'm not saying this isn't a great album(s) in its own right. And I'm not saying the R & B style broken beat on page one sucks....it is probably the best music of its kind ever made and the first music of its kind ever made.......I just think they are at their best when they are doing raw hardcore, jungle, and Detroit-techno influenced recordings.

if you really can buy this superb box for a lower price: nothing to think about. just do it.

This album is absolutely incredible.

This is a garbage release that does a complete disservice to this "Two Pages", arguably one of the best electronic records ever released. There's a reason why it was called "Two Pages" - because it was TWO CD's, each with a distinct vibe.

This is a musical mangling in the finest American tradition - think of the single-CD version of the Orb's "Adventures Beyond the Ultraworld" or the single CD version of Goldie's "Timeless." Trust me, take the extra time and money to track down the 2-CD versions of these - they blow away these "Reader's Digest Condensed Editions."