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4 Hero's varied Musical influences compelled onto Cd....

fetish_2000 | U.K. | 03/22/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Primarily known for their `intelligent' take on Drum'N'Bass/Breakbeat....4-Hero have been asked to collate some of their musical influences & Inspirations. Rather surprisingly it eschews dance/breakbeat music & focuses on the Jazzier side of things. Moving smoothly via Funk ("Sly and the family Stone"), through to Hard bop, Fusion Jazz ("Horace Silver, Herbie Hancock, Ramsey Lewis"), and stopping off via smouldering ("Debbie Taylor, Nancy Wilson, Syreeta Wright")...there's nothing here for those expecting a continuation of 4-Hero's lively breakbeat albums. But there is something more important, in that there are some real nuggets of lost Soul & Jazz here, that will delight those knowing what to expect here.....and the mixing is unobtrusive & intelligently handled. But it should be carefully noted, that this is not a traditional 4 Hero album, and merely compiles a (admittedly stunning) collection of rare/obscure tracks that have influenced the band (if you listen carefully, you listen you can hear how some of these songs went on to influence their intelligent Drum n Bass/Breakbeat sound). And if you're prepared to hunt around for a copy there's a limited 2-Cd version, this makes for an album that's a very worthy purchase."