Focus - 3 CD
SKU
28-RBUL66189.2
Co-led by the great guitarist Jan Akkerman and keyboardist Thijs Van Leer, Focus are the best known Dutch progressive rock band, thanks to their 'novelty hit' Hocus Pocus. Novelty or not, it was a great song with unbelievable hot solos, and was one of the first progressive rock tunes to be a hit in the USA (and certainly was the first basically instrumental progressive rock hit). This was the first album by the classic quartet of Akkerman, Van Leer, Bert Ruiter and Pierre Van Der Linden, and is generally considered to be their overall best work.
"...this collection runs the full range of the group's talent from classically fused pieces, ("Elspeth of Nottingham"), to extended thirty-minute jams ("Anonymous II"). The peak tracks on the album include the medley of Van Leer's subtle ballad, "Focus III" and Akkerman's "Questions, Answers, Answers Questions". The piece builds from a quiet organ passage with an emotive guitar lead. The tone quickly shifts from subtle to frantic in part two of the medley, where dual electric guitar leads burst into the sound map while the rhythm section does its best to hold it all together."- Jeff Melton/Gnosis
- LabelRed Bullet
- UPC8712944661897