George Starostin's Reviews

FOCUS

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Introduction

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ALBUMS
IN AND OUT OF FOCUS

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MOVING WAVES

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FOCUS III

Martijn Louwes <m.louwes@home.nl> (09.12.2001)

I think Focus III is the best record Focus ever recorded. Please mind that the record was recorded in only three days or so, and I think that it sounds fantastic. I really like the production. The songs you call "jams" are just amazing, I haven't heard anything like it yet. Mayby I'm biased because I'm dutch, but man, just hear them freak out on the nice themes. I really dig the bass solo, and I think Pierre van der Linden is one of the most fluent drummers I have ever heard. See the album as one gigantic jam, and then you'll completely understand the greatness of this album. Have you ever heard Hamburger Concerto, the follow up to Focus III? That one also had some amazing tracks......

Jason Saenz <jsaenz@sagetelecom.net> (09.07.2004)

Great album, crappy vocals if any vocals at all. Boring and beautiful, but more boring than beautiful but well at least they know how to use their instruments, sometimes.


LIVE AT THE RAINBOW

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HAMBURGER CONCERTO

John Evers <johne0112b@hotmail.com> (31.08.2005)

Hamburger Concerto was the best of all Focus' albums, and to my taste the best thing that ever came out of progressive rock. It is a tight piece of music, from the beginning of side A to the end of Side B. The free form jamming (such as on Focus III) was much less obviously improvised. The whole album has a thoroughly classical sound.

So it should've been no surprise... Late one night while I was in high school, I was up writing a term paper (due the next morning) and listening to the local classical station. Suddenly there's Hamburger Concerto, played by an orchestra! Turns out there is a "Sirloin" Concerto, aka, "Variation on a theme from Hayden, by Brahms." Imagine that.

H. Concerto is just a plain old fashioned piece of fine music, and their last.

After H.Concerto, who knows what happened to Focus. They never put out anything that sounded like a musician crafted album - just garbage their label likely released from their "outtake" bin. Drugs? Whatever, the band went to hell. Maybe they just reached critical mass from taking themselves too seriously, and sucked up into their own hole. This is something you could expect after any first hearing of "Moving Waves," a song so pretentious you just want to frag the whole damn band.


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