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Sebastian Hardie were Australia's first symphonic rock band and were fronted by the very talented Mario Millo.. They were initially formed in Sydney in 1967 as Sebastian Hardie Blues Band but dropped the 'Blues Band' reference when they became pop-oriented. By 1973 they developed a more progressive rock style sounding similar to the highly popular band Yes, and later performed as Windchase, but they disbanded by 1977. An early member of Sebastian Hardie was Jon English, who became better known after he left and starred as Judas Iscariot in the Australian version of the stage musical Jesus Christ Superstar in 1972, he subsequently had a solo career as a singer, actor and scriptwriter. A later member, Mario Millo became a multi-award winner for his television and movie music. Sebastian Hardie's other early members included Graham Ford, Peter Plavsic and his brother Alex Plavsic. After English and Ford had left, the Plavsic brothers were joined by Millo and Toivo Pilt. With their addition, Sebastian Hardie developed extended progressive rock tracks to become a symphonic rock group before they released their definitive album Four Moments in 1975, which peaked at #13 on the National albums chart. They followed with a second album Windchase in 1976, but it had less chart success. Four Moments is definitely the better album with a mystical feel to it, beautifully showcasing Mario's unique guitar style sounding marginally like slide guitar by using the volume control on his guitar giving his instrument a hauntingly beautiful wind-like sound.
“Rosanna” - the single lifted from the album and my favourite track, won the coveted Australian Music Industry Award for “Best Instrumental Single”. "Four Moments" reached double gold record status selling well in Australia and throughout Japan and Europe. This was an achievement for the band as at that time in Australia, progressive rock did not command much radio airplay as it was considered "not commercial enough".
Millo and Pilt later formed the band, Windchase, to release Symphinity in 1977, it was a heavier jazz-fusion album but didn't have chart success and they disbanded. (extracts from Small Town Pleasures and Wikipedia)
The album rip (thanks to Ozblogdownunder) ripped from vinyl at 256kps with full album artwork.
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Track Listing
Track Listing
01. Four Moments
02. Dawn of Our Sun
03. Journey Through Our Dreams
04. Everything Is Real
05. Rosanna
06. Openings
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Band Members
Mario Millo - Guitar, Mandolin, Vocals
Peter Plavsic - Bass Guitar
Alex Plavsic - Drums / Percussion
Toivo Pilt - Keyboards
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