Customer Reviews

Four Moments

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

very moving music here and great to relax too. wish they were still around. great music.

a real masterpiece. for all lovers of the best progressive rock in the world. Don't miss!

Four Moments was one of those albums talked about reverently among progheads in the early days of the internet on places like rec.music.progressive, and as the years passed its legendary status grew. French label Musea was smart to snatch up the rights to this and the follow-up Windchase and get them back into circulation. This is symphonic prog painted with very wide brush strokes, loaded with huge melodies and bathed in washes of mellotron and Hammond organ. The vocals are solid and the rhythm section warm but precise. Think of Camel circa Moonmadness and you have a feel for the sound of this album, though SH were even more ear-friendly and less reliant on leads or solos. This is an easy recommendation for anyone with a soft spot for classic 70s prog.

Despite the previous reviewer's remarks, this is a wonderfully pure, symphonic prog-rock masterpiece. The movements that comprise the title composition (Four Moments, parts 1-4) are alone worth the price of the album. The writing is ambitious and original, the recorded performance is very good, if not spectacular, and the production quality of this record is especially good, particularly for 1975 standards. This is fun, uplifting, dramatic symphonic prog. There are hints of other bands and influences throughout the record, but I've always felt that Sebastian Hardie was unique and deserved their own standing. This album is better than their followup Windchase, in my opinion, although the title track from that record is very good. Four Moments really should be viewed as an important and classic contribution in the annals of progressive rock history.

This is one band that I guess I am totally missing the boat on. Yea, they have a lot of Mellotron, but so what? So do a lot of other mediocre prog bands. I keep hearing these guys being compared to Camel, and I just have to say, "come on, give me a break"! Sebastian Hardie don't even hold a candle to Camel composition wise. While they do have an occasional pretty melody and some nice instrumental passages, as well as some nice guitar work, most of this stuff I find to be boring, and about as clichéd as progressive rock could possibly get. All-in-all they are just ho-hum nice and totally, totally overrated.

Mid-70's guitar rock that thinks it's Progressive (only three songs; lots of mellotron; lots of long instrumental passages). The compositions are neither particularly engaging nor imaginatively performed. If you like early Camel, fine. It's like that, without Peter Bardens or Andy Latimer. Or Doug Ward. Or Andy Ferguson. Only worse.