(Review from progressiveworld.net)

For the 9th Focus album, Pierre van Der Linden is back in the band and we welcome a new guitarist, Niels van der Steenhoven.

The album opens with “Black Beauty” which contains all the typical Focus ingredients such as the immortal organ, the close to Jan Akkerman sound of the guitar, the patented drum sound of Pierre Van Der Linden and the original whistling by none other than Thijs Van Leer.

Next to the uptempo wacky stuff, the band has always approached material with a high emotional value as well. The wonderful romantic “Focus 7″ surely is a great example of this. In “Hurkey Turkey 2″ van Leer’s flute is omni-present, which sees Focus deliver it’s own adaptation of Mozart’s “A La Turka”, although using a hilarious rhythm.

The new guitarist Niels van der Steenhoven delivers a very own composition here with “Niel’s Skin”, a funky, jazzy improvisation which uses various rhythms and sees Van Leer having a field day on the organ. Sung by guest singer Jo De Roeck “Just Like Eddy” is a reprise of the song “Eddy”, which was released way back in 1977 on the Focus Con Proby album. “Aya-Yuppie-Hippie-Yee” depicts the band’s newborn vitality and “joie-de-vivre”.

At more than ten minutes, “European Rap(sody)” not only is the longest track on the album, it’s also the weirdest by using a Russian atmosphere in the beginning, adapting deep vocal contributions from Thijs. Just like Barclay James Harvest did with Beatles songs for their song “Titles”, so is the second part of “European Rap(sody)” based around titles of older Focus songs spoken in rap form. It sounds like kind of a retrospective that highlights all of the band’s impressive career.

The tribute to Pim Jacobs (Bobby Jacobs’ uncle and the famous bandleader) in “Pim” sounds uncomplicated and playful with Niels van der Steenhoven as a true virtuoso who lets his guitar chords blend ever so well with Thijs’ wonderful organ and flute playing. With the intimate “It Takes 2 2 Tango,” the album closes in a very dreamy way, illustrating that Focus is once again ready to inject more incredible music over the coming years.

With two older members of the band and two young musicians, Focus now contains maturity, creativity and skill all under one roof.

Line-up:
- Thijs van Leer / hammond, keyboards, flute, vocals
- Pierre van Der Linden / drums
- Bobby Jacobs / bass
- Niels van der Steenhoven / guitars

Track List:
01. Black Beauty – 4:14
02. Focus 7 – 5:23
03. Hurkey Turkey 2 – 4:06
04. Sylvia’s Stepson – Ubatuba – 4:50
05. Niels’ Skin – 6:06
06. Just Like Eddy – 5:10
07. Aya-Yuppie-Hippie-Yee – 5:19
08. Focus 9 – 7:58
09. Curtain Call – 4:36
10. Ode To Venus – 4:30
11. European Rap(sody) – 10:24
12. Pim – 3:02
13. It Takes 2 2 Tango – 8:03

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