Posts tagged Focus

(Review from progarchives.com)

Despite certain criticism, the debut album of Focus is a quite original and artistically coherent music statement. True, critics are mainly complaining about the weak vocal tracks and surely Black Beauty and Sugar Island are not the kind of songs you cannot live without. But the rest is pretty much excellent!

The opening – vocal – and the closing – instrumental – versions of the self-titled “Focus” are pretty solid progressive rock statements and present a blueprint for later albums, where this composition would traditionally be re-interpreted. The instrumental Focus contains some wonderful Akkerman’s solo parts that suggest a nice, relaxing, almost lounge atmosphere of the kind Peter Green had composed in Albatross.

“Anonymous” is another gem presenting a mixture of medieval/renaissance elements with a strong, hard-rocking jazz improvisation, with some wild and vivid use of flute, piano and lead guitar. There is a solo part on bass guitar where Martijn Dresden shows that his performance skills were not the reason for his departure after this album. The bass sounds like the similar part of the crazy improvisation suite by their fellow countrymen Ekseption done few years later.

“Happy Nightmare” and “Why Dream” are vocal tracks, but both are fine melodic and slightly psychedelic songs, an obvious traces of Beatles and early Pink Floyd influences. There is a fine chamber jazz section in the former, with mellotron and strings/violins. The vocals are indeed not very convincing, they were probably never meant to be in the forefront – much like its use in later Camel albums – their role is pure atmospheric. Whether this was an intention of the band while recording this album is a different story and they probably were rather experimental. On the subsequent albums they were reduced to occasional scat and yodelling and that’s what Thijs van Leer would become a famous for.

Finally, here comes House of the King! Acoustic guitar chords and lively percussive rhythm make just enough space for Thijs van Leer’s extravaganza flute solo play. It is one of the most memorable and popular flute solos in rock music, a melody that gained a widespread popularity across generations.

“In and Out of Focus” is a good debut that is often overlooked in the wake of Focus’ later stronger albums.

Line-up:
- Thijs van Leer / vocals, keyboards, flute
- Jan Akkerman / guitars
- Hans Cleuver / drums
- Martijn Dresden / bass

Track List:
01. Focus…(Vocal) – 2:44
02. Black Beauty – 3:08
03. Sugar Island – 3:05
04. Anonymous – 6:32
05. House Of The King – 2:51
06. Happy Nightmare (Mescaline) – 3:58
07. Why Dream – 3:59
08. Focus (Instrumental) – 9:45

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(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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(Review from progarchives.com)

Baroque and Roll is only one of the many eclectic ways to describe the wonderful sound of Focus on the Hamburger Concerto album. The baroque influence shines through here more than on any other album previous but the music is consistently as strong as the previous two studio albums at least. No yodelling here as on “Hocus Pocus” which kicked off Moving Waves but the opener proper (after “Delite Musicae” served as a fine gentle prelude) on this album while not being the forceful driving rock anthem that “Hocus Pocus” was still bears an identity to the hard rock traits of Focus and especially the guitar playing of Jan Akkerman and in fact both songs come from the same common ground musically and even the names of both have a trait in common too but it would be wrong to state that Focus were trying to achieve the same effect as both tunes are quite different, “Hocus Pocus” is a unique track that could never be copied without it sounding too blatant. I even heard some whistling in there somewhere… If Focus are a progressive rock, which they have been cited as, then they are like no other. In my opinion the typical prog rock outfit takes themselves too seriously but Focus add humour to their depth of textures and allow some fun to creep into the songs while never losing face. The rocking “Harem Scarem” has some odd noises thrown in for good measure alongside some fluid and clean musicianship as is par for this entire album which is joyful and a fine exploration of varying styles like the afore mentioned baroque with the lute making sweeping moves. But it is the guitar playing which is the biggest draw for me when listening to Focus and in that department they never fail to excite. Hamburger Concerto is an electrifying album with a sense of theatre involved in the execution and arrangement, especially on the 20 minute plus title suite. It is unlike anything else in my book and certainly works better than previous lengthy workouts. I still cannot split their first three albums, they all have their own merits but they might just have progressed a little more with the Hamburger Concerto. A band this consistent merging good songwriting talent with carefully executed musicianship must be heard. Focus is an apt name for a band who play this sharp.

Line-up:
- Thijs van Leer / organ, piano, harpsichord, electric piano, flute, alto-flute, arp synthesiser, recorder mellotron, vibes, accordion, the organ of St. Mary the Virgin – Barnes, handclaps, all voices, whistling
- Bert Ruiter / bass guitar, auto harp, triangles, chinese finger cymbals, handclaps, swiss bells
- Colin Allen / drums, conga drum, tambourine, castanets, cabasa, woodblock, chinese gong, timpani, handclaps, flexatone, cuica
- Jan Akkerman / flute, timpani, handclaps, all guitars

Track List:
01. Delitae Musicae (1:13)
02. Harem Scarem (5:52)
03. La Cathédral De Strasbourg (4:59)
04. Birth (7:46)
05. Hamburger Concerto (20:19)
i) Starter
ii) Rare
iii) Medium I
iv) Medium II
v) Well Done
vi) One For The Road
06. Early Birth (2:54)

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