HOCUS POCUS: THE BEST OF FOCUS

Focus is a Dutch progressive rock band from the 70's, which is considered by many, the best of all Dutch prog bands. They're also considered the founders of the Dutch progressive rock. Focus was founded in 1969 by Thijs van Leer. The first line up of the band comprised Thijs van Leer (vocals, keyboards and flute), Jan Akkerman (guitars), Martin Dresden (bass) and Hans Cleuver (drums). However, and all over the time, the group suffered several changes on their line up.

Despite their huge importance on the Dutch progressive rock, Focus can also be considered as one of the best and most influential bands in progressive rock, one of best that arose outside of the British Islands, in the 70's. Their music is surprising and original. It's characterized by extensive and exclusive instrumental compositions and improvisations containing several references to classical music and jazz elements. It's also characterized by almost absence of vocals.

"Hocus Pocus: The Best Of Focus" is a compilation of Focus that was released in 1994. It has sixteen tracks belonging to all their six first studio albums. The tracks chosen are: "Focus" and "House Of The King" are from the debut "Focus Plays Focus", aka "In And Out Of Focus". "Hocus Pocus", "Janis", "Focus II" and "Tommy" are from the second "Focus II", aka "Moving Waves". "Anonymous", "Sylvia" and "Focus III" are from the third "Focus 3". "Harem Scarem" is from the fourth "Hamburguer Concerto". "Mother Focus", "Focus IV" and "Bennie Helder" are from the fifth "Mother Focus". "Glider" and "Red Sky At Night" are from the sixth "Ship Of Memories". The compilation has also the US single version of the track "Hocus Pocus" that also appeared on "Ship Of Memories" as a bonus track on the CD version.

"Hocus Pocus" is a legendary track from the band with an intensity perfectly astonishing and, at the same time, we may also say that it has some beautiful insanity on it. "Anonymous" is essentially a good improvised track, but that seems to me most enjoyable and interesting played live than performed in the studio. "House Of The King" despite be a short track, is an exciting and refreshing moment that shows the compositional abilities and the harmony between the flute of Thijs van Leer and the acoustic guitar of Jan Akkerman. "Focus (Instrumental)" is a classic gem of the band. It's an astonishing track with about 10 minutes of improvisation that moves constantly between guitar, keyboards and flute. "Janis" is a simple and soft track where the melody and harmonies are perfect and catchy, making of it, somehow, a memorable track. "Focus II" is an interesting and melodic piece that proceed the Focus' series, with good song writing and great performance by all band's members. "Tommy" belongs to the multi-part epic "Eruption". "Eruption" is one of their best pieces but the compilation only includes one of their fifteen parts. "Sylvia" is a very melodic song conducted by the electric guitar of Jan Akkerman. It has great musical performance by all other band's members, in the supporting role. "Focus III" continues the Focus' series. Like the other Focus' themes, it's a great piece of music, gentle, very symphonic and very emotional with great individual performance. "Harem Scarem" is a rock oriented song, with some jazz influences, very frantic from the start to its end. It's a magnificent piece of music with impressive guitar and piano works. "Mother Focus" is a song with a groovy and jazzy mood very pleasant to hear and represents one of the highest musical moments on their fifth album with the same name. "Focus IV" is a song with a groovy and jazzy mood very pleasant to hear and represents one of the highest musical moments on their fifth album. "Bennie Helder" represents one of the best moments on "Mother Focus". It's a song well constructed, with nice musical performances, and with a touch of a medieval feel, which keeps intact the main characteristics of Focus. "Glider" is basically the original demo of what eventually became to be the title track of their fifth studio album "Mother Focus". This is an excellent track with great guitar performance with a mix fusion between funky, rock, jazz and disco. It isn't as good as "Mother Focus", but still is pleasant to hear. "Red Sky At Night" is a powerful and majestic piece that represents one of the best moments on "Ship Of Memories". It's probably the most attractive and appellative track on that album for all true prog heads.

Conclusion: Although I'm not a big fan of progressive bands' compilations, I think "Hocus Pocus: The Best Of Focus" is a perfect way to introduce Focus to the newbies. This is a 13-CD box set gathering all their essential albums, right up to 2012's so-so "Focus X", which means that it has songs from their best studio albums, and because of that and also because the type of their music, I think this is a good starting point for the beginners. Besides, this is also a nice complement for any incomplete progressive musical collection. It'd be a diehard devoted fan who'd claim that the group have improved all over the time, but there's no disputing the huge originality, sumptuousness and musicianship of their 70's heydays. The Dutch instrumentalists soon realised the vocals weren't their strong point (if we exclude the odd vocal style of Thijs), hitting in a confident and consummate style that matched the epic and the downright groovy. Their golden age produced soundscapes of light, shade and colour that can be seen perfectly well on this compilation album.

Prog is my Ferrari. Jem Godfrey (Frost*)

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