#focus band

[pokemon-cards-hourly]

[therecordblog]

Album Review #81: Focus // Ship of Memories // 1976

What's there to say about Focus? A Dutch prog rock band with so much talent it's kind of mind-boggling. This is an unusual album, from what I can tell it's a bunch of cut demos and content that didn't make their main albums. Let's dive in!

You may have heard this band before. Their most famous song, "Hocus Pocus", makes the rounds on the internet every so often, and it was featured in the soundtrack of the 2017 movie Baby Driver. Take a listen here:

Frontman Thijs van Leer is an absolute maniac! He is joined by guitarist Jan Akkerman, bassist Bert Ruiter, and drummer Pierre van der Linden.

It's really a shame this group isn't more well known, they are all insanely gifted musicians. I think the weirdness didn't help with the popular charts. Rock yodeling is a fairly unexplored avenue. But once you get past the weirdness, these guys have some serious chops. I would put Jan Akkerman right up there with the great guitarists like Clapton and Beck. And van Leer is a true renaissance man, exceptionally talented on keys, as well as flute, voice, and songwriting. His vocal range is absurd: easily over four octaves and he sounds great at every register.

The back of the jacket has producer Mike Vernon's tale of his exploits with Focus, talking about how each track on the album came along. It an eclectic mix for sure. All instrumentals, but the vibe of each song is very different. It makes sense, as these were all basically demo tracks taken from across the band's entire career (up to that point).

I have to say my favorite is "Red Sky at Night". It's a slower ballad, a little less upbeat than the rest of the tunes. Something about that main melody in the guitar is just so emotional, though... There's a melancholy there, something difficult to put into words. As I said before, Akkerman is a beast. You also get to hear Thijs van Leer's flute playing in this, which is always a treat. I actually have his solo flute album too, he's like a professional level orchestral flute player!

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It feels wrong to just pick this one song though. The entire album is great. Other favorites include "Can't Believe My Eyes", "Glider", and "Crackers". I would listen to the whole album if I were you. If you like instrumental jazzy, funky, rocky stuff put the whole thing on!

Until next time, keep spinning!

[waitingforasong]

[torson]

Albums I’ve been listening to this October:

Focus, Moving Waves ~ 1971

Pete Sinfield, Still ~ 1973

McDonald and Giles, McDonald and Giles ~ 1970

Hatfield and the North, Hatfield and the North ~ 1973

[pokemon-card-of-the-day]

Pokemon Card of the Day #2892: Focus Band (Neo Genesis)

One of the first batch of Pokemon Tools was Focus Band, and it was one of the most important. When the Pokemon it was attached to would be Knocked Out by the opponent's attack, you flipped a coin. If heads, the Pokemon wasn't Knocked Out but had 10 HP remaining instead. Focus Band would then be discarded. This brought one more coin flip to a game that was full of them, as if any more luck was needed in the era of Baby Pokemon.

Baby Pokemon were even the best users of this, as Cleffa would have to get 2 tails flips to fall if attacked instead of 1. Giovanni's Machamp was also a good user due to the need to flip twice to be Knocked Out, and Kingdra could get a 50-50 to take a strong hit and then heal everything off with Pokemon Center if the heads was hit. But really, any Pokemon that wasn't taking recoil from its attacks could use Focus Band rather well, and the card that had to be at least considered in most decks while it was available.

[chrysochromulina]

[vinyl-connection]

Gentle, orchestrated sounds from the Focus flautist

[longliverockback]

Focus Mother Focus 1975 Polydor ——————————————————————— Tracks: 01. Mother Focus 02. I Need a Bothroom 03. Bennie Helder 04. Soft Vanilla 05. Hard Vanilla 06. Tropic Bird 07. Focus IV 08. Someone’s Crying… What? 09. All Together… Oh That! 10. No Hang Ups 11. My Sweetheart 12. Father Bach ———————————————————————

Jan Akkerman

Colin Allen

David Kemper

Thijs van Leer

Bert Ruiter

* Long Live Rock Archive