Customer Reviews

Focus III

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Focus have been overlooked by several rock historians who should know better. For instance, the band fails to get its own entry in Donald Clarke's 'Penguin Encyclopedia of Popular Music.

The band has also been very poorly served on CD: there have been no re-masters until recently (only 'Moving Waves' has undergone the treatment, and I haven't yet heard it); some track listings have been re-sequenced; worse still, some tracks have been entirely omitted; across the EMI edition which I own, producer Mike Vernon's sleevenotes are identical on each CD.

Availability of these Focus CDs is extremely erratic, so when they appear on Amazon's catalogue, you should snap up the good ones as quickly as you can.

To my ear, 'Focus III' and (sometimes) 'Hamburger Concerto' are the band's really outstanding albums, though 'Moving Waves' also some real highs. 'Focus III' was a double LP, which meant it needed four manual interventions to play in its entirety. It's better suited to CD -- you can play it from start to finish with one loading, and there's the additional benefit that the classic 'Anonymous II' no longer spans two discs. For some bizarre reason which only Mike Vernon will know, 'Elspeth of Nottingham' now appears before 'Anonymous II'. And even more bizarre, the beautiful 'House of the King' (2:23 minutes) has been left off this 68-minute CD. Don't some CDs stretch to 79+ minutes these days?

I still have the LP, which I played alongside the CD yesterday. The good news is that the CD sounds better, but the album is still crying out for a proper remastering treatment with a new focussed set of sleevenotes -- pardon the pun. Sometimes the drums sound boxy; at other times, they are pumping the air from the speakers so much that I feel my ear drums will burst. Similarly Bert Ruiter's wonderful bass is always there, thick in the background, each note delivered without a percussive attack. The bass solo and subsequent climax on 'Anonymous II' remains one of the outstanding moments of 70s rock.

Focus as a group was launched onto the British market fully formed early in 1973. They had already recorded at least three decent albums, and had two cracking singles in 'Hocus Pocus' and Focus 3's 'Sylvia' to win over the Brits. Indeed, given the simultaneous onslaught by another band from the Polydor stable, Golden Earring, with their excellent 'Moontan' LP, we felt the Dutch might overrun the country. But whereas Golden Earring could be classified as a straight-ahead Stones-like band with a bit of moog and flute thrown in, Focus were harder to place: part-jazz, part-rock, part-classical. Perhaps they sit closest to some of the other jazz-rock bands of the time, but they had their own highly distinctive niche and sound.

'Focus III' is undoubtedly the band at their best. Jan Akkerman had been living in England in 1972 and become enamoured of renaissance lute music, as exmplified on the gorgeous 'Elspeth of Nottingham' here. There is not a single duff track here. There is no yodelling. But Van Leer squeezes in some singing ... in Latin. Any prog-rock album that quotes liberally from Virgil's 'Aeneid' gets my vote!

The MOJO guide calls this a 'luxuriant double set brimming with energy, improvisational brilliance, catchy tunes and exquisite taste'. In the absence of a proper CD remaster -- and there is no sign of one on the horizon -- this is the best CD by one of the 70s' finest rock-jazz bands....

All the way around for lovers of accoustics, this album is a classic. Each track on this album is uniquely different. Base guitar solo on Anonymus two is superb. Take the time to listen to this album and you will not regret it. Even though this recording is reaching the 25 years it has few equals.

This is Focus's third album, and it rocks (one of their best albums). One of the best progressive bands of all time! This has fast and slow beautiful music. You should definately get this cd if you like good music. With flute, percussion, guitars, and piano/organs, make this wonderful. It is also out of print and hard to get, this is place to get it, if you want to get it. : ) ENJOY!!!!!

Recorded effectivley "live" in the studio, this is one of Focus' defining moments. It was not originally intended to be a "double lp" but the recording sessions produced such a wealth of quality music and musicianship that plans were hastily changed. Highlights are Focus III, Answers? Questions! Questions! Answers!, Anonymous II and the worldwide hit single Sylvia. Earlier vinyl verions also contained House of the King now sadly deleted from the CD version. The guitar solos in Answers? Questions! and Anonymous are the best I have ever heard and even now, 26 years later, few guitarists (if any) can match Akkerman for improvisation, feeling and melody. Pure joy !

Not much singing with these guys, but if you like listening to musical instruments even from the early 1970s, this was a really nice session. All the things that Focus was known for are featured in this album that was originally issued as a two record set incuding pop, progressive rock, jazz, classical, and even 17th century English folk (Elspeth of Nottingham). Two singles, House of the King and Sylvia may be recognizable to some as they had been used in TV commercials as background music back in the 70s & 80s. Good road music.

Focus at their height. "Answers, Questions" is arguably their best ever. "Anonymus 2" would be just as good were it not for the de rigeur drum solo (the bane of 70s prog rock!). Van Leer's flute and Akkerman's guitar work beautifully together, especially on "Answers, Questions." This album explains why Akkerman was voted best guitarist by Melody Maker in 1973. Even Clapton admitted that Akkerman was better than he. Van Leer has no peer on flute.

All the way around for lovers of accoustics, this album is a classic. Each track on this album is uniquely different. Base guitar solo on Anonymus two is superb. Take the time to listen to this album and you will not regret it. Even though this recording is reaching the 25 years it has few equals.

Focus is incredible on their third album. Their craftsmanship and style is so tight, and the jams are incredible. An extremely technical band whose acoustic perfection can only rival that of Steely Dan's. A great album to have.