(Review from amazon.com, wikipedia)

Their fifth album Mother Focus, featuring new drummer David Kemper, was released to mostly negative reviews. It’s surely one of the most underrated recordings in their discography. Critics and longtime fans were puzzled by the sudden turn to a light jazz-fusion style in several tracks, while the lack of a potential single soured the music industry’s opinion on the band’s ability to capture a wider audience. The quality of the compositions were still high, but the career of Focus was hampered by changing tastes in the audience away from the progressive music that was in vogue when the band started and the lack of a clear stylistic direction.

I still remember listening to Mother Focus the first time. I was disappointed. No prior Focus album had veered so much into jazz (as most evinced by the Bert Ruiter songs– Bert had never been allowed to contribute as a songwriter previously). I was cranky because Jan Akkerman had none of the berserk wild-abandon guitar solos that riveted me three years previously on “Moving Waves.”

Still, this was Focus and I gave it repeated listens. And you know what? There is some serious gold to be found in this album if you’re willing to take the time to hear it. I refer here primarily to the track “Focus IV,” the lead track on side two of the LP. For my money, this is one of the most sublime pieces of music ever recorded–an ingenious short course in the instrumental and compositional virtuousity that made Focus so special in the first place. Like all of the “Focus” series of themes written by the nonpariel Thijs (rymes with “rice”) Van Leer, it is a moody, stately instrumental, showcasing the band’s smarts in tricky & unexpected ways. On first listen (as I well recall), my reaction was, it’s just muzak–but stick with it. Listen a few times and see whether or not the theme and its several variations don’t insinuate themselves into your brain for the rest of your life. The arrangement is sheer perfection also–it’s all about restraint and giving Van Leer’s elegant composition all the space & air it needs to rock your soul. Everything is perfect here– Akkerman’s oh-so-delicate slide guitar floating over Van Leer’s piano/flute theme, Bert’s always-bedrock bass… I must also give special marks to David Kemper’s absolutely on-the-mark drumming. Over the years I have come to very greatly appreciate his lone stand-out snare drum tap, perfectly on time, totally isolated and separating the initial statement of the theme from the main body of the track. Strange thing to fixate on, but get into the song and see if you don’t catch yourself nodding your head, or clapping your hands to match this uniquely brilliant single-note “drum solo.”

Besides “Focus IV”, the remaining Van Leer/Akkerman compositions show great luster and charm also. “My Sweetheart,” “Bennie Helder,” “Mother Focus,” all are in the classic Focus style and worthy additions to the canon.

Line-up:
- Jan Akkerman / guitars
- Colin Allen / drums (2)
- David Kemper / drums
- Bert Ruiter / basses, vocals (2)
- Thijs van Leer / keyboards, flutes, vocals (1)

Track List:
01. Mother Focus (3:04)
02. I Need a Bathroom (3:05)
03. Bennie Helder (3:32)
04. Soft Vanilla (3:03)
05. Hard Vanilla (2:35)
06. Tropic Bird (2:43)
07. Focus IV (3:58)
08. Someone’s Crying… What! (3:19)
09. All Together… Oh That! (3:42)
10. No Hang Ups (2:56)
11. My Sweetheart (3:36)
12. Father Bach (1:33)

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