3

Focus III is the third studio album from dutch progressive rock act Focus. Originally released as a double album this album shows all sides of the band. The classical music influenced part, the jazz/ rock part and the jamming part. I am not one of those who feel that the previous album from Focus called Moving Waves is a masterpiece. In fact I only find it midly enjoyable. This album is a bit more interesting but unfortunately has as many flaws as it has enjoyable moments.

Round Goes the Gossip starts the album and it´s a humourous song which I find pretty good. It´s one of the few songs here with vocals. Love Remembered is a very beautiful song. I´ve just recently reviewed Steve Hackett´s Voyage of the Acolyte and Love Remembered reminds me of some of the most mellow flute driven pieces from that album. Sylvia is very classical music inspired and comes of sounding a bit silly to me. Carnival Fugue and Focus III are both enjoyable songs but again the mood and the ideas doens´t really suit me. Answers? Questions! Questions? Answers! is a 14:03 minute long song with some arranged sections but also lots of jamming. It´s pretty good but overstays its welcome IMO. Elspeth Of Nottingam is a classic music inspired acoustic guitar piece which is pretty interesting.Anonymous Two is an endless 26:24 minute long jam. Guitar solo, organ solo, bass solo and drum solo. Too much jamming IMO and way too little arranged sections. The small dose of arranged sections, are very enjoyable, so it´s a shame Foucs does´t focus much more on that part of their music. Jamming is great in a live environment but on a studio album it´s simply too boring. I don´t always feel this way about long jams, but the mood Focus create just doesn´t fit my taste.

The musicianship is excellent and it´s Focus most interesting asset IMO. Bassist Cyril Havermanns has been replaced by Bert Ruiter, but that doesn´t change much as far as I can hear. It´s still the guitars from Jan Akkerman and the keyboards from Thijs van Leer that dominates Focus sound.

The production is excellent. Great sound.

As I said in my review of Moving Waves I think Focus are outstanding musicians and I really enjoy listening to them play. I have a problem with the compositions though as I don´t much enjoy the mood in the songs. Focus sound comes of as a bit silly to my ears most of the time which is a real shame. I´m sure they could have made some really good music if they focused more on songwriting than on playing. 3 stars is all I can give. This is one of those albums I´ve had for a number of years but only take out on occasion and quite frankly it´s a bit dusty every time.