Customer Reviews

Moving Waves

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is a fantastic album; a true classic! A majority of the tracks on this CD are instrumentals, with the exceptions of "Hocus Pocus", featuring Thijs Van Leer's manic yodelling, and the title track "Moving Waves", in which the "lyrics" are more or less a Nostradamus-like reading, or a "quatrain" set to music.

As some have pointed out, "Hocus Pocus" is basically the bizarre curio on this album, as the 2nd track "Le Clochard (Bread)" with it's gentle, lilting classical guitar phrasings and Mellotron backing are indeed in sharp contrast to "Hocus Pocus". "Focus II" is a wonderful instrumental track, which sets the tone for the lengthy "Eruption", containing a "suite" of individual songs; most notably "Tommy" and "The Bridge", both of which amply display the screaming guitar pyrotechnics of Jan Akkerman.

In my opinion, this is one of the greatest progressive rock albums ever recorded!

This album was so well composed and executed that it has easily stood the test of time. It is good music through and through; clever, exciting, beautiful and moving. This band of dutch guys really knew what they were doing and boy could they play. They were (and still are) essentially an instrumental outfit with the melody carried by guitar, flute, keyboards and occasionally vocals. Focus didn't appear to be too much swayed by music fashions or commercial pressures of the music business when they recorded this album and that is one of the reasons why "Moving Waves" still sounds as fresh and exciting today as it did when it was released in the early 1970's.

The album kicks off with the one that was released as a 45, "Hocus Pocus" a thunderous, relentless rocker composed by Akkerman and van Leer. Suitably titled and very clever, it has lots of surprises, tricks and dazzling guitar licks and is comewhat comical. Keyboardist Thijs (pronounced Tys) van Leer plays the jester with his wild flute playing, whistling, yodelling and other crazy vocal gymnastics, effortlessly hitting notes higher than Brian and Carl Wilson ever went on any Beach Boys recording. Not to be outdone, guitarist Jan Akkerman provides a lot of the thrills and excitement with his amazing gibson les paul antics and oh what a cracking job by the Rhythm section, drummer Pierre van der Linden and bassist Cyril Havermans.

In contrast to this on the next track Jan displays his talent as a classical guitarist by playing his own composition, the gentle, haunting "Le clochard". Nice touch by Thijs with the mellotron backing which adds a touch of weirdness and eeriness to the piece. GORGEOUS. Track 3 "Janis" is another Akkerman compostion and features Thijs on multitracked, interwoven flute parts. This is probably the weakest track on the album, but is still interesting to listen to. The impressionistic title track "Moving waves" is one of the sayings of Hazrat Inayat Khan set to music by Thijs on vocals and piano. Listen to the words with the music that van Leer has written. The rippling piano chords and the crecendos and diminuendos conjur up the image of the waves as they "become excited and then all calm together". The ascending last few chords rise with the waves as they "reach upwards" (to the moon). This is good composing. Track 5, oh yes! Thijs van Leer's "Focus II" with Jazz and Classical influences and the most beautifully sensitive guitar playing by Jan. It is typical of Akkerman to add expression with the use of dynamics and subtle phrasing to enhance a melody as he does on this magical piece. STUNNING, however the best is yet to come.

The last track is made up of several different compositions, most by Thijs who came up with the overall concept "Eruption", aptly titled lasting 23 minutes. It commences with a line of music borrowed from Monteverdi's "L'Orfeo" with Thijs on Hammond organ and Jan using his violin guitar effect (volume control tweaking. You hear a smooth note without the plucking). The music is mesmerizing and quickly grabs your attention. After a few minutes it bursts into life taking you on a journey through the most amazing music with stunning guitar solos that never get boring and a couple of incredibly skillful and creative drum solos which add hugely to the overall piece and don't lose one's interest for a second. The richly melodic guitar oriented section "Tommy/Pupilla" segment is spine tinglingly sublime. The range of musical styles in this piece is incredible, from the Renaissance-style "Orpheus" and "Dayglow" to the Latin American style organ solo segment of "The bridge". The impact of each composition is enhanced by the contrast between it and the next, but despite the great variety it all flows and makes musical sense. Thijs displays his talent a a flautist producing the richest timbres achievable on a flute. His jazz-rock hammond organ playing is fabulous. I wonder if dutchman Eddie van Halen was paying homage to Focus when he used the title "Eruption" for his ground-breaking guitar piece for solo guitar in the late 70's.

Musically the band were in a different league to any other at the time if you consider the musical progressions within each piece and the expertise of each musician. Technically brilliant with a lot of feel and a real understanding of music, Jan Akkerman is one of the best and most versatile guitarists in the business. Drummer Pierre van der Linden has a lot of musicality, not only providing the beat and rhythm, but hugely augmenting the music with his incredibly creative, expressive and skillful drumming. Cyril Havermans (later replaced by Bert Ruiter) plays a highly musical, rhythmic and solid bass. Multi-talented keyboardist, flautist and vocalist Thijs van Leer has a great gift for composition and has written music which stands among THE MOST EXCITING, ORIGINAL AND BRILLIANT ROCK/POP MUSIC EVER PRODUCED.

If you want to hear something dramatically different, then give "Moving waves" a few listens and you will be much rewarded. This is one of the best albums of "rock/pop" music ever recorded.

Focus caught a wave in the US with their eccentric hit, Hocus Pocus. The song was novel and catchy enough to give Moving Waves some notice, although some were surely surprised at how unique Hocus Pocus was even within the context of the rest of the album. The rest of it is decidedly more serious and less focused, as it were. Short on vocals (thankfully so) and long on classically influenced instrumental suites, Moving Waves covers a lot of musical territory, sometimes within the same song. For serious prog rock fans it's a delicious cornucopia. For casual listeners who are expecting more songs like Hocus Pocus it can be maddening. The album's centerpiece, Eruption, is by far the most interesting song (plenty of opportunity as it comprises the last half of the album), even if its foundation is little more than an extended jam featuring lengthy keyboard and guitar solos by Van Leer and Akkerman. It's hardly a spontaneous affair though, carefully laid out to range from somber to achingly beautiful to borderline chaos with a keen sense of musical drama keeping it all tied together as it reaches an end that seems to arrive all too soon. If you really like Hocus Pocus, a compilation might be the way to go as most of them include the shorter, more accessible songs. If you're willing to hang on for the ride, Moving Waves offers a wild one indeed, but a very satisfying one as well.

My Amazon recommendation string led me to the Focus "Moving Waves" page, and I was (as usual) interested in having my own long-held opinions validated by kindred spirits world wide. Unfortunately, I find only scattershot praise for what in my estimation is in fact THE GREATEST PROG ROCK ALBUM OF ALL TIME.

I should quickly explain that as we grow up, we all have awakening experiences that open up new dimensions of life to us. Some we can remember, some we can't. For me, however, at age 15-16 or so, hearing Focus' "Moving Waves" around 1972-73 on a cruddy console stereo in a friend's basement was surely a defining musical experience in my life. I'd grown up (like everyone else) with the Beatles & Stones and the rest of the great British invasion sounds, and they certainly deserve their spot in the firmament of R&R heaven. But "Moving Waves" was (and is) a unique synthesis of rock, jazz, classical, all fused into an in-your-face whole that grabbed me by the throat and shook me for the rest of my life.

I will not presume on your attention any longer than necessary except to point out that the fury and swagger of Jan Akkerman's guitar solos has NEVER been equaled by any other guitarist in my hearing. Yeah, you could call "Hocus Pocus" (by Focus) "silly", but you'd be WRONG WRONG WRONG. This is a band completely hitting its stride, a band that can do ANYTHING and if you got a problem with the yodeling, go buy the new Bobby Sherman album instead. What other band has had the sheer audacity to even consider such a thing and pull it off with such blistering panache?

I cannot close without trying to impart some of the emotional majesty of side two's (yeah, I'm an LP era guy) track-long opus "Eruption;" several instrumental themes are introduced and repeated over the course of a 20+ minute "suite." It's all a more than worthy effort, and I won't belabor your attention with a blow-by-blow description, but the BIG MOMENT comes toward the middle of the piece--the section titled "The Bridge" concludes with two smashing chords repeated as a launching pad for Akkerman's blistering descending Gibson Les Paul custom runs; repeated three times with variations by the angelically-inspired Akkerman, he's left snarling in the void on his own with no accompaniment. Closing with a final descending left-hand only tear-off riff (I know of no other guitarist who could do this), the section ends abruptly, segueing to flautist/organist Thijs Van Leer's sublime "Euridice" (pron. "you-rid-a-sea" for the benefit of those not aware of Greek mythology), a gentle flute/piano duo eventually adding the entire quartet that is as close to perfection as I can imagine. It's not just the beauty of the composition--it's the amazing, stark contrast between the "over the cliff" fury of Akkerman's guitar followed by the Johann Sebastian consonance of Van Leer's singular genius. I KNOW I can't be the only person in the world totally captured for life by this moment. But let me hear from you.

FOCUS deserves a lot more love than this forum can lavish on them, and those who are harmonious with my assessment of "Moving Waves" should advance quickly to "Hamburger Concerto," two albums later and almost equally sublime (Van Leer is ascendent on HC, and that is NOT a bad thing). EVERY Focus album has something GREAT, including their "worst" album, 1975's "Mother Focus" which still has one of the greatest short compositions of all time, "Focus V." Very few bands ever working in "rock" had the musical chops that Focus did, and NONE came anywhere close to the absolutely unique synthesis of styles they achieved. If you're willing to give this recording a chance I do believe it can still echo down your life as it has with mine.

About as good as they get. Focus continues with their second album without original drummer and bass man. Instead, they pick up the great rhythm section of Duth group Brainbox (originally of whom Akkerman was a member before joining Focus), which gives the band a more tightened sound. Obvious is the extent of chemistry within the band than the first Focus release, after all, it's three members from Brainbox and Van Leer as their hub.
Beautiful melodies in the bread song and interspersed throught. Absolutely soaring flute and guitar solos. They make some hesitation about rocking out as in Hocus Pocus, when the opening rocker ends and the mellow stuff begins, it sounds like two different bands. But they return in full form in the funky middle part of Eruption. More ups and downs than a yo-yo. A bit overwrought for some, but all pretentiousness is cast aside with Hocus Pocus.
Very well orchestrated with superb production, tight performances, and a little humor. A standout of the prog genre.

I was introduced to Focus through the song Hocus Pocus. A quite bizarre song BUT a good one. Some of the best drumming and guitarwork in all of classic rock!

Not only that, it was The Guess Who who introduced me to it. When the fake Guess Who (only Jim Kale & Garry Peterson were a part of it from the classic line-up) played a show locally (free so i went) they did Hocus Pocus to do their band introductions... at first i couldnt figure out what Guess Who song it was, then i heard the yodeling and thought wow, thats not Guess Who, so who the hell is it? After the show, replacement vocalist, Terry Hatty told me who Focus was and urged me to check them out, so i did.

This was one of the 2 albums i got. (The other being the best of 16 track cd) I was blown away. Just sit with headphones on and listen to gems like Focus 2 over and over. You will hear a different part every time. Same with Eruption featuring some of the greatest guitarwork (in the Bridge section) and some of the most beautiful piano work (in the Eurdice section). Janis sounds like a slow Jethro Tull song (in fact when i DJ i play it during dinner hour and people ask me what Tull album it is on. Le Clochard is a short piece and decent. Moving waves is bizarre with the only vocals on the album except for a short piece in Eruption and that damn yodeling.

Actually i love the yodeling, drive down a 65 max limit interstate with it playing. Especially when you are angry. I guarantee Yodeling along (and driving at around 85 by the time you are done) will reduce the stress. (just make sure the windows are closed)

A Must have if you like Emerson Lake & Palmer & Jethro Tull.

Please check out my other reviews and vote for them.

This 1971 recording opens with the explosive Hocus Pocus (6'42"), which features yodeling, whistling, crazed laughing, and silly vocalese parts along with the searing 200-mph guitar work of virtuoso Jan Akkerman. In a jarring and abrupt change, the tempo shudders to a grinding halt and the mood shifts from the opening madness to the dreamy classical guitar and mellotron of the 2'01" Le Clochard. This reflective mood is maintained through Janis (3'09"), which features some very nice flute parts, the title track Moving Waves (2"42"), and the somewhat up-tempo Focus II (4'03"). Of the four shorter pieces, only Moving Waves features vocal parts. The high point of this disc however is the largely instrumental, 15-part Eruption suite, which goes on for about 23 minutes. This lengthy suite includes brief vocalese sections, unaccompanied guitar and drum solos, very churchy sounding Hammond organ, brooding mellotron parts, and impressive ensemble work. This is a decent bit of prog from the Netherlands that is certainly worth adding to any collection.

This is a 3-1/2 star album, but I'm happy to round up to 4 because it's good to see these albums available on CD. When I looked two years ago, I couldn't find anything by Focus for sale. Focus is a Dutch progressive-rock band that mostly does instrumentals, centered on Jan Akkerman's guitar and Thijs Van Leer's flute. "Hocus Pocus" is as good a novelty single as prog-rock ever produced, with its combination of power-chord guitar, yodeled verse, a vocal bridge that sounds like Popeye on uppers, and Tull-like flute solo. "Janis" is a lovely flute-based piece. "Eruption" is a long piece with several repeated riffs; in true annoying prog-rock fashion, each riff is given its own name.

One of the classic releases of progressive rock. Hocus Pocus, a spoof, became a hit. A nice variety of short songs and the expanded composition. Jan's fingers fly at speeds beyond belief. A must for collector's of the era.

This is quite simply one of the most amazing records ever made in any genre. It's had a profound impact on my musical life ever since I first heard it in the early 70s. The track "Hocus Pocus" was just to get everyone's attention. The real greatness is in the rest of the tracks. Actually, "amazing" doesn't really do it justice.