FOUR MOMENTS

Once in a while you stumble upon a rare prog gem. And this is the case here. Recently I heard about the Australian prog scene. It seems it was a very small one in the 70´s. Considering the strong commercial and cultural ties they had with both England and USA it is odd that there were so few prog groups down under. Anyway, I finally found this CD and it proved they had at least one great band there. With strong influences by Yes,. Camel and Focus, Sebastian Hardie put out a wonderful record that surely deserved a lot more atention from the world than it got then.

I can understand some comtempt showed by few reviews I´ve seen here on PA concerning this CD. The music is hardly original or too complicated or zany. If that´s what youp´re looking for, go somewhere else. But if like highly emotional stuff, done with passion and dedication, then Four Moments is for you. Those guys were quite good musicians, but what impressed me the most is their excellent songwriting skills: all the songs here are extremely well done, arranged and performed. it is hard to believe it was only their debut. Mario Millo is the kind of guitarrist who is not worried about showing off how he can play a million notes per minute. He is a team worker and his solos are gentle, full of feelings and beauty. He sounds a lot like Jan Akkermann, and this is no small feat!

The keyboards parts are also great, with lots of This Van Leer-like Hammond organ, mini- moog in the vein of Yes and mellotron not unlike Camel. Bass and drums form a strong and versatile rhythm section (Peter Plavsic does some real fine bass lines all over the CD). Vocals are ok. The music is basicly instrumental, but the vocals quite well placed when they appear. Production was quite good for the time. I was delighted to see there is not a single wasted note in the whole record. TGhere are absolute no fillers and the highlight is the last track Openings. This 13 minute instrumental epic is one of those rare songs I play over and over again and still it moves me to tears when I hear it. It´s simply GORGEOUS! The kind of song that is worth the price of the CD alone: beautifully structured, it has the most poignant and inspired guitar and keyboards solos I´ve heard in a long time. It simply takes you to an emotional ride that defies categorizations. Just listen and enjoy!

A real great find and if you like the music of bands like Camel and Focus on their prime, you just can´t misss this one! Nothing really original or groundbreaking, but I can´t care less for that! Because it´s really beautiful and moving. And music to me is all about emotion. Personally I´d give this 5 stars, but as a reviewer I have to take the other factors in consideration as well. Thus my final rating here sits between 4 and 4,5 stars. Excellent addition to any prog rock music collection. Highly recommended.