FOCUS II [AKA: MOVING WAVES]

My favourite Focus album. It's not entirely perfect, but the best bits are astonishing and compensate for a few flaws on side one. The album starts with Hocus Pocus, a frenetic blend of keyboards, scything guitar, flute and yodelling backed up by bass and drums. It's an assault on the mind and quite unique and brilliant. Van Leer's vocal range is amazing; he can yodel so high it hurts! The remaining tracks on side one are quieter and less manic; they are all pleasant and reflect the classical leanings of the musicians but Cyril Haverman's vocals on Moving Waves are not really to my taste. Havermans left after this album; he was a fine bassist but his vocals were not up to the job. Janis, with its exquisite flute work, and Focus 2 are the pick. The second side is a number of pieces linked into one; 23 minutes of complete genius except for a slightly boring drum solo (Endless Road). The highlight of all this brilliance is Tommy, a reworking of a piece by Tom Barlage of Solution. Akkerman produces some fabulous guitar solos with melody and lightning fast fretwork and van Leer propels the piece along with dynamic organ work. This one is up there with Close to the Edge and Supper's Ready - in fact it's my favourite of the three.

This album combines hard rock, classical and prog at times and is well worth buying. Probably strictly worth 4.5* given the imperfections but in this case, I'm rounding it up!