FOCUS 8

Warning! I'm not saying that this release is better than HC or MV; the music is undoubtely very good, but moreover, the fifth star is for the context: how many prog bands sound as fresh as Focus 8 in this new millenium?

Mr. Thys is back with too many ideas in his mind. Are there some dull track here? No, there aren't. Maybe this album is a bit less complex than all his predecessors, but songs like Blizu Tebe, De Ti O De Mi and Brother, touch me deeply everytime I hear them. Jan Dumee is very fine playing guitar solos. Every song on this CD has a special flavour and meaning. You'll never get boring with this album, because it has too many variations and beat changes, and the music never left the feeling.

And if you're an older Focus fan, this release has some moments, some passages of the first works. For example: the yodels on the opening track reminds me, of course, Hocus Pocus. "Fretless Love" is similar to Focus II in some passages of the starting melody, and "Brother" (this instrumental version is too much better than the awful version of Mr. Proby) ends like Eruption begins, with that typical guitar melody.

Highly recommended.