FOCUS — Focus II (aka Moving Waves)

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4.20 | 9 ratings | 3 reviews

Album · 1971

Filed under Jazz Related Rock
By FOCUS

Tracklist

A1 Hocus Pocus 6:35
A2 Le Clochard (Bread) 1:55
A3 Janis 3:00
A4 Moving Waves 2:30
A5 Focus II 4:00
B Eruption 22:35
B.1a Orfeus 1:20
B.1b Answer 1:35
B.1c Orfeus 1:20
B.2a Answer 0:50
B.2b Pupilla 1:00
B.2c Tommy 1:45
B.2d Pupilla 0:30
B.3a Answer 0:45
B.3b The Bridge 5:15
B.4a Euridice 1:40
B.4b Dayglow 2:05
B.4c Endless Road 1:35
B.5a Answer 0:35
B.5b Orfeus 0:50
B.5c Euridice 1:30

Line-up/Musicians

Bass – Cyriel Havermans
Drums – Pierre Van Der Linden
Guitar, Bass, Acoustic Guitar – Jan Akkerman
Organ, Harmonium, Organ [Melotron], Flute [Soprano], Flute [Alto], Piano – Thijs Van Leer
Vocals [Voices] – Cyriel Havermans , Thijs Van Leer

About this release

Imperial – 5C 054-24385 (Netherlands)

Recorded in Sound Techniques and Morgan Studios London between: April 13th and May 14th 1971

Reissued later same year as "Moving Waves" (Polydor – 2310 150)

Thanks to snobb for the addition

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FunkFreak75

One of the seminal albums in my induction into the world of progressive rock music, I can never forget the first time hearing with awe the artistry and skills put on display by the radio friendly "Hocus Pocus." Amazing speed from all players, amazing guitar leads, amazing drum play, amazing flute play, and simply shocking display of yodelling. (Yodelling?! Yes! Yodelling!) Guts and innovation. The album that I bought out of this radio experience, was slightly disappointing except for the stunning beauty of the "Tommy" section of "Eruption." I think I was just a bit too new to complex and eclectic music making to appreciate the shorts on Side One. And then, while I wore out the grooves of my Side Two ("Eruption") twice (I still own three copies of "Moving Waves"), the song has not kept it's lustre for me over the years (though a recent listen surprised me with just how familiar and how adrenaline-pumping the song was to me). However, with age all of the songs from Side One have won me over to the point that I truly believe that these musicians were truly geniuses--virtuosi, too!--creating music that blended classical, folk, jazz traditions more cleverly, more deftly and certainly more skillfully than 99% of the bands out there. I mean this was 1971!

Everytime I hear the gorgeous "Le Clochard" (2:01) (10/10) I mistakenly think I'm listening to a Steve Hackett piece. "Janis" (3:08) (9/10) is equally gorgeous just not as technically impressive (though there are amazing flourishes there). "Moving Waves" (2:43) (8/10) is impressive for its English and classical feel--though I always felt singing with lyrics was an incongruous manouevre for this band. "Focus II" (4:04) is one of those classic beauties with its jazzy, YES-like in and out of focus tempos. It's only flaw for me was that it exposed (for me) a little of the weakness of the drummer (Who I've never been able to embrace with the praise and admiration that so many others do). (10/10) The side-long (over 23-minutes!) "Eruption" is one of the daring masterpieces of the classic era of progressive rock music. It has the ELP feel and classical structures to it but it has the added bonus of the presence and contribution of the great Jan Akkerman--perhaps the greatest guitarist of his generation.

A few years ago I rated this with only four stars but, no more, this is one of the unsung and seminal masterpieces of the progressive rock movement of the early 1970s.

5 days ago
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Report #574509

Moshkiae

Focus Moving Waves 1971

With a massive opening with a song that hit the airwaves and a lot of folks loved it, this band came alive, and their musicianship, only got better, with their mainstays and leaders Jan Akkerman and Thijs Van Leer.

The famous single is fun to listen to, and pretty much all of us want to have fun with it, and it's not hard to do so. But, as much fun as that is, after you are out of breadth, here comes the next piece ... and it is very soft, quiet, and ... c'mon ... in the same album? Yep ... but it sets us up for getting to know this band ... we know they have a hard edge and then ... wow, a very classical melodic edge.

The album continues in its softer edge, with some material that is really outstanding and pretty, and just as we get to the last piece, we wonder what is next ... and what is next is an "eruption" ... ooopppss, that's the name of the piece, sorry! But it is a super nice thing that goes through many changes and bits and pieces, and it has its very nice and loud parts, and then the smooth parts, which are, likely, better thought of as "jazzy", even though it is hard to not think of this as a rock band ... Jan Akkerman has a lot of touches here and there, that appear to be jazz oriented, and this he will do more of in later years.

It is a very nice album, with only one thing that might leave a question in your mind. What next? Do we have some more fun stuff? Or will we have more classical pieces? Or even another eruption of abilities in a long piece? And in the end, when you get the next three or four albums, it's all of the above and none of the above ... but, it is very well put together, definitely a nice classical feel, and a very nice set of extended pieces that are actually satisfying, though it seems that this is the part where the band puts all their little pieces together because they did not develop into anything?

A very nice album, and if you have a collection that has a leaning towards a rock edge, you probably want to add FOCUS to your list, up until the next 3 or 4 albums, when they were really special ... and that was the time when things kinda went different, and Jan Akkerman started up his solo thing, so he could do more "jazz" material, which was/is, really ... fusion.

2 months ago
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Report #574161

siLLy puPPy

Originally released as FOCUS II and re-released under the title MOVING WAVES, this was FOCUS' greatest moment in their entire career. The world went absolutely wild over the lead single “Hocus Pocus” which even hit the top 10 on the Billboard singles chart. An oddity it was in every way especially in the prog world. This song was a riff-driven proto-metal track that actually predicted the use of 80s metal techniques like using the Hungarian minor scale. The mix of this early hard rock with yodeling sessions is still an eclectic oddity even today. Unfortunately this song is an anomaly in the FOCUS canon as well since the rest of the album sounds absolutely nothing like it.

The next three tracks are average classically inspired tracks that really don't offer much and feel a little hokey since they insinuate grander things to come and kind of fizzle out. The title track is the worst on here with horrible vocals and it kind of reminds me of ELP. I wish they would have skipped this one and added another rocker to usher in the grand finale “Eruption.”

“Eruption” seems to be equally loved and disliked. I'm on the love-it side. This 23 minute long piece is a hard rock version of the tale of “Orpheus” and Jacopo Peri's opera “Euridice”. There are many meanderings and variations of a basic melody that repeats subtly throughout the entire piece. I can understand why some may think this is boring as it is repetitive at times. For me I find the subtle spiraling of variations to be interesting and really love the odd breaks and also the more rocking parts. The transitions are unpredictable and I find the melody very infectious which sustains my interest.

Because this album is so strange with two really strong tracks that take up most of the album time and the fact that the rest of the instrumentals are average with only one track that I truly dislike I think this just squeaks by for me as a 4 star album.