Focus 50 Years: Anthology 1970-1976 Box Set

Dutch prog-rock heroes Focus released this 9CD/2DVD box set



Tracklist:
* Previously unreleased
** Previously unreleased on cd

CD1 – FOCUS PLAYS FOCUS / IN AND OUT OF FOCUS
Original release: 1970

    Focus (instrumental) 9.46
    Why Dream 3.56
    Happy Nightmare (Mescaline) 3.56
    Anonymus 7.01
    Black Beauty 3.05
    Sugar Island 3.02
    Focus (vocal) 2.43

BONUS TRACKS

    House Of The King 2.23
    Eruption (Live Lanx 1970) 37.31 *

CD2 – FOCUS II / MOVING WAVES
Original release: 1971

    Hocus Pocus 6.41
    Le Clochard (Bread) 1.59
    Janis 3.06
    Moving Waves 2.41
    Focus II 4.03
    Eruption (Orfeus – Answer – Orfeus – Answer – Pupilla – Tommy – Pupilla – Answer – The Bridge – Euridice – Dayglow – Endless Road – Answer – Orfeus – Euridice) 23.07

BONUS TRACKS

    Hocus Pocus (single version) 3.27 **
    Tommy (single version) 3.25
    Focus I (Live Texel 1971) 14.11 *

CD3 – FOCUS 3
Original release: 1972

    Round Goes The Gossip… 5.16
    Love Remembered 2.48
    Sylvia 3.32
    Carnival Fugue 6.07
    Focus III 6.05
    Answers? Questions! Questions? Answers! 14.03
    Anonymus II (Part 1) 19.33 **
    Anonymus II (Conclusion) 7.34 **
    Elspeth Of Nottingham 3.13

BONUS TRACKS

    Sylvia (single version) 3.32 **
    Love Remembered (single version) 2.49 **
    Hocus Pocus (US single version) 3.25

CD4 – AT THE RAINBOW
Original release: 1973

    Focus III 3.52
    Answers? Questions! Questions? Answers! 11.26
    Focus II 4.24
    Eruption (Orfeus – Answer – Orfeus – Answer – Pupilla – Tommy – Pupilla) 8.40
    Hocus Pocus 8.27
    Sylvia 2.47
    Hocus Pocus – reprise 2.48

BONUS TRACKS

    P’s March (original mix – single version) 3.27 *
    Ship Of Memories (original mix) 4.40 *
    P’s March (original mix – full version) 4.03 *

CD5 – HAMBURGER CONCERTO
Original release: 1974

    Delitiæ Musicæ 1.13
    Harem Scarem 5.50
    La Cathédrale de Strasbourg 4.57
    Birth 7.45
    Hamburger Concerto (Starter – Rare – Medium I – Medium II – Well Done – One For The Road) 20.23

BONUS TRACKS

    Early Birth 2.56
    Harem Scarem (single version) 3.08 **
    Birth (alternate mix) 7.43 **
    Harem Scarem (alternate mix) 5.51 **

CD6 – MOTHER FOCUS
Original release: 1975

    Mother Focus 3.05
    I Need A Bathroom 3.04
    Bennie Helder 3.33
    Soft Vanilla 3.04
    Hard Vanilla 2.35
    Tropic Bird 2.45
    Focus IV 3.57
    Someone’s Crying… What! 3.19
    All Together… Oh That! 3.41
    No Hang Ups 2.56
    My Sweetheart 3.38
    Father Bach 1.33

BONUS TRACKS

    Focus IV (rough mix) 4.02 *
    Bennie Helder (rough mix) 3.45 *
    Vanilla (rough mix) 5.42 *
    Mother Focus (rough mix) 3.02 *
    All Together… Oh That! (rough mix) 3.42 *
    My Sweetheart (rough mix) 3.46 *
    Someone’s Crying… What! (rough mix) 3.18 *
    Studio 55 Jam 6.56 *


CD7 – SHIP OF MEMORIES
Original release: 1976

    P’s March 4.48
    Can’t Believe My Eyes 5.22
    Focus V 3.02
    Out Of Vesuvius 5.51
    Glider 4.40
    Red Sky At Night 5.52
    Spoke The Lord Creator 2.33
    Crackers 2.42
    Ship Of Memories 1.47BONUS TRACKS
    Elektrisch Levenslicht (Neerlands Hoop in Bange Dagen) 3.09
    The Shrine Of God (Ramses Shaffy with group Focus) 3.39
    Watch The Ugly People (Ramses Shaffy with group Focus) 2.19
    House Of The King (rough mix version 1) 2.27 *
    House Of The King (rough mix version 2) 2.26 *
    Focus III (unreleased single version) 4.37 *
    Hocus Pocus (US single version – takes 14-17) 7.12 *
    Glider (single version) 3.28 **
    P’s March (single version) 4.07 **
    O Avondrood 5.10 **
    Crackers (vocal version) 2.31 **

CD8 – FOCUS BBC 1973

    Focus III 3.54 *
    Answers? Questions! Questions? Answers! 12.09 *
    Focus II 5.06 *
    Anonymus II 23.30 *
    Focus I 4.27 *
    Hocus Pocus 7.38 *
    Sylvia – Hocus Pocus (reprise) 5.52 *

Produced and recorded by BBC Radio 1 In Concert, Paris Theatre, London, 17th January 1973.

CD9 – LIVE 1971 – 1975

    Eruption (Live Rotterdam 1971) 46.37 *
    Birth 11.38 *
    Improvisation #1 8.35 *
    House Of The King 3.02 *
    Improvisation #2 6.23 *
    Hocus Pocus 3.20 *

Track 1: Recorded by AVRO radio at the Newport Jazz Festival, Grote Zaal, De Doelen, Rotterdam, 29th October 1971. Track 2: Recorded at the Festival Hall, Osaka, 2nd July 1974. Track 3-6: Recorded at Nippon Budokan, Tokyo, 21st June 1975.

DVD1 – FOCUS SIGHT & SOUND VOL. 1

    BBC The Old Grey Whistle Test (May 1972) 24.26 *
    BBC The Old Grey Whistle Test (December 1972) 16.01 *
    Focus At The Rainbow (May 1973) 47.28 *
    BBC In Concert (April 1974) 36.18 *

DVD2 – FOCUS SIGHT & SOUND VOL. 2

    NOS Van Gewest Tot Gewest (July 1970) 1.54 *
    NOS Uit De Kunst (June 1972) 3.51 *
    RTE The Music Makers: Focus at the Stadium (November 1973) 48.00 *
    VARA Nederpopzien (December 1973) 34.22 *
    AVRO Toppop: Harem Scarem (May 1974) 3.01 *
    AVRO Toppop: O Avondrood (June 1976) 4.51 *
    Veronica Goud van Oud (April 1990) 16.44 *
    NCRV Classic Albums: Moving Waves (June 1997) 50.02 *

Source:
https://www.superdeluxeedition.com/news/focus-50-years-anthology-1970-1976

SouthSideoftheSky wrote: While it is nice to see something "new" from this great band, I personally would much rather see separate releases of these albums plus Focus Con Proby which is very hard to find on CD.

I bet many people should also prefer separate editions for the live material and the rarities...

Heart of the Matter wrote: SouthSideoftheSky wrote: While it is nice to see something "new" from this great band, I personally would much rather see separate releases of these albums plus Focus Con Proby which is very hard to find on CD. I bet many people should also prefer separate editions for the live material and the rarities...

Sean Trane wrote: Heart of the Matter wrote: SouthSideoftheSky wrote: While it is nice to see something "new" from this great band, I personally would much rather see separate releases of these albums plus Focus Con Proby which is very hard to find on CD. I bet many people should also prefer separate editions for the live material and the rarities... Well, TBH, this boxet is all you really need from the band (and Con Proby as well), but you get tons of live footage, and films, whicjh makes it a bargain (I paid 39.00 at a B&M store in Brussels). Plus the albums come in square papersleeves and there more (empty) space inside the box for more disc (without the jewel cases). You could even fit in the Focus 8 to 11 discs with just the booklet. You can always do what I chose: I put the old CDs in the outgoing pile BTW, don't throw away your Focus Master From The Vault DVD, for there is some stuff on that not present in the boxset.

Nice update (and nice gift!)

Bought this for next to nothing, seems its going out of print soon (European searches)

I was listening to the first CD the other day, and besides the bonus (a massive live rendition of Eruption) the remastered sound itself is awesome, a vast improvement over the old In And Out Of Focus CD.

Well ok, but its also a good way to tidy up a collection and provide accessability. I am a sucker for a box set generally, forking out for the VDGG one even though I own a lot of it already. Since I moved recently I've been able to leave 2 very large packing boxes of CD's unpacked because i can easily access my favourite artists via their personalised box sets. I did consider getting rid of everything that is not a box set and would have done that if I had properly downsized as I had originally intended.