FOUR LETTER MONDAY AFTERNOON

4.5 stars really.

I would like to say that the reputation of this album being Jazz-rock/fusion is much exaggerated . Sure the band was expanded and added up a temporary full brass section, taking in as a permanent member a second wind blower, but only the second disc can be seen (with the 48+min track divided into three parts) as real Jazz-rock flavoured disc. The sky-lit artwork is a cool but sober artwork for such a superlative work, again released on the now-legendary Kuckuck label.

The first disc starts off with the masterful L S B (17 + min) full of their usual interplay with some very pastoral moments between the flute and the guitar and organ. Only in the last five minutes are sung. The second track is a bonus on CD and is rather folkish as the last track of disc 1. Third comes on of those numbers with an infectious groove coming in soon and being repeated to the end but ever subtly changing and again the vocals come in late in the tune in the form of a great scat (Tsajama) being speeded up as the song is veering towards the end. Black Cards is another gem bringing you back to their second eponymous album.

The second disc is the reason why this does not get five stars. Only one tune on this album, spread out in three movements, with themes repeating themselves, adding up more and improving as they go along. Fascinating, brilliant and adventuresome, but too long and does not stand numerous repeated listenings. They might have made it more succinct into one side of vinyl as they had much more material from those recording session (will not be released until 2002) and some stuff that might have given this disc the full marks it disserves. On this album the jazz intonations are often reminiscent of a brass rock ensemble like Chicago or The Flock and If, than jazz-rock ala Mahavishnu or Weather Report.

A real must-hear, if you do not know the band, start with the previous and work either way, moving on to the excellent two posthumous albums after the official releases of the times. Aside from sometimes being a little self-indulgent, they had a flawless albeit short career, not making a single weak number. There are not too many band, that can be said the same..... What an awesome band they were, said Dag-Erik Asbjornssen. I can only nod in full agreement.

"Four Letter Monday' was the third album by "OUT OF FOCUS" and in sharp contrast to their previous two, expanded to an 11-piece group, adding an extra guitarist as well as a full brass section. This double album features the 2 side long epic track Huchen 55 (parts a, b and c) which is an amazing track and worth the admission alone. The rest of the album plays out covering quite a range (at times I hear early CHICAGO and sounds of BLOOD SWEAT & TEARS). This wild album really hits all the right buttons for me and covers quite a nice large geography. from psychedelic moods to all out krautrock instrumental excursions to Canterbury jazz rock to dark minimalism. The band sound very progressive and this is a highly experimental album full of great guitar, drum , bass and organ with a wild mix of brass thrown in. This album is somewhere in the SOFT MACHINE - NUCLEUS - CARAVAN - COLLOSEUM school of prog rock, but stands out for me as a great album.

The reson this band is listed as Jazz / Fusion is because of this double album. As Sean mentions this is especially the case with the second disc which to me has a SOFT MACHINE("Third") vibe to it. They added 6 guest musicians and went in a different musical direction from their first two albums which are very much in the Krautrock sound and spirit.

"L.S.B." opens dramatically with blasting sax and pounding drums before settling down a minute in with sax leading the way. THE DOORS-like organ 3 minutes in. It gets very chaotic after 4 1/2 minutes with lots of brass and loud thunder. A calm with flute 6 minutes in. The tempo picks up with sax again leading the way before 8 minutes. The bass is prominant.The tempo continues to change. Vocals for the first time 13 1/2 minutes in with piano. Guitar after 15 minutes. "When I'm Sleeping" is actually a bonus track and one of my favourites. It's a laid back, smooth song with vocals. Tasteful guitar as sax, piano, bass and drums stand out. "Tsajama" would then be my favourite original song on this double album. A flute intro before a full sound comes quickly. Guitar and organ 2 minutes in are great. They then jam for a while before vocals come in before 6 minutes. Cool vocal melodies follow. The tempo picks up 8 minutes in as vocal melodies continue. "Black Cards" is mellow with flute, percussion and gentle guitar to start. Vocals and sax a minute in. Organ takes the lead 4 minutes in as they just jam. Great section before the vocals come back. "Where Have You Been" is another mellow song with reserved vocals and acoustic guitar leading the way. Flute does join in but that's all. He drops an f-bomb 2 minutes in for good measure.

The second disc is really one song divided into 3 parts. It's called "Huchen". Like i said earlier it's a sort of nod to SOFT MACHINE. In the first part sax,flute and bass dominate. The second part has some experimental passages where we just get flute sounds without any melody. It gets aggressive for the first time before 10 minutes. The guitar goes on for 2 minutes starting at 12 minutes. Then flute takes over and it blends into the final and longest part of the song. Not much in the way of a melody until the guitar comes in before 6 minutes. Lots of sax later as the mood and tempo continues to change and shift. Impressive second disc but not as enjoyable as the first for me.

Check out "Wake Up !" or their self titled release for some excellent Krautrock.This one blends Krautrock with Jazz / Rock quite well.

I'll start my review by simply notifuing that I haven't heard the previous releases of OUT OF FOCUS so I can't compare them with this release...Some say that ''Four letter Monday afternoon'' was a big step forward.others say that it was a big step down...But for sure to create a double album with over 90 minutes of music was something unique back in 1972...

The album spins off with ''L.S.B.'' and this track has it all...Jazz rock improvisations,folky flute moments,classic rock influences,even a symphonic touch feel...excellent start...Next comes ''When I'M sleeping'',a beautiful track which lies between classic rock and jazz/blues rock with nice vocals...''Tsajama'' shows another face of the band...weird vocalization with improvisations,a psychedelic feel blendid with jazz/blues.a really strange piece of music...The 2 tracks that close CD 1 are rather weak in my opinion...Clearly influenced by JIM MORRISSON and THE DOORS these tracks seem like a fish out of the water in prog terms...Should fit better in a DOORS album,they aren't bad at all,but they also spoil the prog image of the band...

What about CD 2?...It consist of three lengthy tracks between 10 and 24 minutes which seem like a jazz rock suite,full of improvisations with tons of sax,flute and piano!...The question is:Can anyone listen to 45 minutes of improvisatiob?The answer is yes and no...Yes,because the whole thing seems like heading to somewhere,it's not just abstract music,they seem like complete arrangements with changing moods and climates...No simply because 45 minutes of music improvisations are just too long...

Closing this review I'll rate this release with 3.5 stars and I highly recommend this album to anyone who loves jazz/prog rock or to somebody who wants to broaden his collection with another decent prog rock disc...

A super Krautrock band that were full of horns, saxophones, flutes and keyboards creating a wall of sound unlike many of their contemporaries.

Forget the first two albums. This is where it's at. An entirely uplifting and energetic album that doesn't let up for an hour and a half. Despite the English vocals from a Germanic tongue which otherwise might sound really tacky, it had me and my pals singing boisterously in the back seat of a car going on a camping holiday!

The first disc is a real foot stomper in a Germanic Krautrock way with Tuetonic voices and heavy keyboards and bass. The thing that prevents this being a 5 star is the 2nd disc. I think it's the lack of vocals which were so brilliant on the first.

It's still pretty damn good but doesn't have the same playfulness ' as what went before. A superbly clear recording, and one of the best Kraut albums I've heard.

The peak of achievement from this uber-talented band from München, Bundesrepublik Deutschland: a 94-minute of finely polished music. Just remember that there was at least another 94 minutes of excess music from these recording sessions that was left on the cutting room floor or studio shelves gathering dust until someone saw fit to dust them off and publish them on two albums, released in 1999 and 2002, respectively.

LP 1 (46:07): 1. "L.S.B." (17:37) very much like some evolved Big Band jazz--taking Don Ellis a bit further in terms of incorporating elements of avant/free jazz and electronics, but also quite a bit more reigned in in terms of the use of odd time signatures. Still, the song is quite entertaining for its multiple sax-connected multiple motifs covering a range of styles and tempos. There are a lot of elements of blues-rock at the core of a lot of this music (one can still hear the band that did Wake Up! just two years before). I really like the KINGSTON WALL-like vocal motif in the last third of the song. (31.75/35)

2. "When I'm Sleeping" (4:04) sounds like THE ROLLING STONES if they tried covering PETER HAMMILL song as well as a smooth Motown tune for the chorus and instrumental section. Hennse Hering's old-time saloon-like piano play in the background is a delight, as is Stephen Wishen's bass JAMES JAMERSON-like play and the sax work. I don't know why, but the recording of the drums is rather poor. This may be my favorite vocal performance from Moran. (9/10)

3. "Tsajama" (9:23) a great guitar and flute intro leads into an awesome motif with heavy organ and low bass notes weighing things down beneath the flute, guitars, and smoothly-drawn lines coming from the full horn section. Awesome in a Brian Auger/Eumir Deodato kind of way. Remigius Drechsler leads the way with his searing guitar play in the second and third minutes before Hennse's Hammond and the orgasmically-smooth horn section join in to double and back him. Such a great groove! In the second half of the sixth minute the horns, Hammond, and guitars back off and Moran enters in a singing capacity, using Japanese as his language. Interesting. Then he runs off into some poorly-synched scatting in the seventh minute before returning to leading the smoother, multi-channel melody in Japanese in the eighth. But then the band ramps up the pace and breadth of sound dynamics with a return of the horn section, inspiring Moran to gallop off with some more interesting horse-like vocalese scatting(?). (19/20)

4. "Black Cards" (9:38) a gentle weave of organ and electric guitar arpeggi opens this before flute, hand drums, and a second guitar join in. At the one-minute mark the bass jumps on board, ushering the band into a full blues-rock sound palette over which Moran turns back to his Mick Jagger voice for another vocal performance that reminds me of Mick singing his Slow Horses theme song. A return to the opening theme at the end of the third minute allows for a kind of 30-second reset from which they emerge with a VAN MORRISON "Moondance"-like motif over which Hennse solos on his Wurlitzer-sounding organ. This is a great, extended instrumental section with some gorgeous and dynamic flute soloing throughout. At the end we return to the blues swing theme for Moran to finish things off with his Moves Like Jagger. (18/20)

5. "Where Have You Been" (5:35) a gorgeous folk-rock song with one of Moran's most moving and melodic vocal performances. Powerful. Incredible flute solo in the "C" part: heart-wrenching. I know that Moran (and maybe his bandmates) had a very strong moral compass. We are so blessed to have the legacy of their passion and courage. (9.5/10)

Disc One earns itself a five star rating.

LP 2 (48:09): 6. "A Huchen 55" (9:19) opens with mutliple flutes winding and wending their way through a rondo weave for two minutes before giving way to a faded in psychedelic blues-rock jam (that was already in progress). Hammond organ takes the first solo over the bass, drums, and guitar support. At the three-minute mark, a panoply of horns join in, each playing their own melody line but securing their comraderie through mutually-respective pauses and breaks. The music coming from the rhythm section beneath kind of hits a "I'm a Man" pulse-and-let-off pattern as the horns continue their fascinating and almost humorous interplay. In the seventh minute, electric guitar and Hammond start to inject their own flourishes and melodic ideas. By the eighth minute the horn players are starting to tire--and eventually peter out for a full minute or more while the Hammond and sassy electric guitar share a quirky little conversation of quips and epithets. At the end of the ninth minute, then, the bluesy jazz music is fadeout (the same way it came in) replaced by the flute weave that opened the song. (18/20)

7. "Huchen 55, B" (14:32) opening with the flute weave from the previous song bleeding over, a new already-in- progress R&B jam is faded in. The James Jamerson-like bass play that drives the music is once again emitting waves of groovy Motown sound, but this soon fades out to be replaced by Moran's solo flute play. He sounds so much as if he's trying to imitate the breathy play of maestro Jean-Pierre Rampal. Jazz guitars, trumpet, Hammond, each take their turn joining in beneath Moran's increasingly-avat garde flute stylings. In the seventh minute trumpeter Jimmy Polivka tries usurping the lead from Moran, but it is not that easy: Moran is riding along on pure inspiration. So Jimmy gives up. Hennse and Remigius each take their own turns, trying to nudge Moran out, but Herr Hering only seems to get stronger--until the 9:00 mark: then he gives way, sits back and lets the music unfold without him. The band seem to rise to the occasion with a JEFFERSON AIRPLANE-like creativity: slowly, carefully, deliberately. Hennse's excited Hammond is kept at bay via repressed volume, which allows the horns to have their time. In the twelfth minute Remigius steps to the fore and lays out one awesome blues-rock solo. The band is really into the jam here: fully entrained with everyone clicking--expelling their full creative juices. Awesome! Despite its looseness and lack of plan or developmental structure, this song plays out with some infectious power. Moran's multi-flute weave is once again used to bridge this song with the next one. (27/30)

8. "Huchen 55, C" (24:18) What a jam! Wild and crazy: from Moran's lyrics and vocal performance (sounding like a reckless/uninhibited Mick Jagger channeling PETER HAMMILL through DAMO SUZUKI) to the reckless abandon with which everyone blasts and grooves out their passion. I mean, it feels as if everyone, all at once, is given the total green light to play whatever they feel inspired to play. This makes for some very creative and memorable solos--especially from the horn players (the multitude of saxes are of special note), percussionist, and Hennse's Hammond organ. Definitely Krautrock. Definitely hypnotic in a "Low Spark of High-Heeled Boys"-kind of way--a sound that would also seem to indicate the use of mind altering substances. The song's final three minutes are particularly entertaining for the frenetic yet-respectful free-for-all that gradually peters out, making way for yet another reprise of Moran's multi-flute weave. (45.5/50)

Disc Two earns itself a 4.5/5 star rating.

Total Time: 94:16

A-/five stars; a minor masterpiece of wonderfully-creative First Wave Jazz-Rock Fusion. One can definitely trace the influences and inspirations for each song on several levels but in the end the boys have achieved a mastery of their instruments and goals, enabling them to merge admirably their Krautrock influences with the Blues-Rock and Jazz- Rock Fusion trends they've been hearing. As with every other reviewer I've read, it's too bad this band didn't stay together.

With regards to the controversy of whether or not this album (or band) deserves to belong to the Jazz-Rock Fusion sub-genre, I will only say that over the course of the band's three album evolution it has definitely flowed toward Jazz-Rock (though it has also picked up a strong Krautrock foundation as well). This is 1972! Jazz-Rock Fusion was still in it's childhood! The dominant styles and sounds were still as-yet undecided. Herbie Hancock and Mahavishnu John McLaughlin were still evolving! Rapidly! Many bands like Out Of Focus were offering up a wide range of their own personal interpretations--which is one of the most exciting and refreshing aspects of J-R F's "First Wave."