Waves of Focus Kourosh Dini

Kuckuck was responsible for releasing many great albums in Germany in the early 1970s, including those by the wonderful Out Of Focus. Featuring Moran Neumuller (vocals, sax, flute), Remigus Dreschler (guitar), Hennes Hering (keyboards), Stephan Wisheu (bass) and Klaus Spori (drums), this legendary Munich based band were contemporaries of acts such as Amon Duul II and recorded three classic and highly collectable albums for the label. Their music is somewhat similar to early British prog but will gradually evolve to a certain jazz-rock while staying very politically and socially conscious (in the typical German style of those years).

The sprawling double LP Four Letter Monday Afternoon is generally considered the best effort from these jazzy Krautrockers. Rats Road, issued 30 years later, consists of recordings from those same sessions that had to be left off the original release because of lack of space, with material nearly as strong. Like Four Letter, this finds Out of Focus expanded to an 11-piece and stretching out on long jams with loose, funky rhythms and lots of lengthy instrumentals on various brass, keyboards, and guitar. In fact, this record is even more instrumental, with only two tracks with vocals, the energetic "I'd Like to Be Free" and "Tell Me What I'm Thinking Of," the latter which also appeared as a bonus track titled "When I'm Sleeping" on the CD reissue of Four Letter Monday Afternoon…

Focus' debut album is gentler and more low-key and vocal-oriented than their subsequent efforts; fans of Jan Akkerman's pyrotechnics may be disappointed by his relatively restrained presence, but others may be pleasantly surprised to find a more economic group than they remember. A fair collection of progressive rock tunes without a clear focus, the material is dominated by Thijs Van Leer, often introducing classical sensibilities. But at least as often, it sticks with fairly conventional period folk-rock and blues influences, with occasional jazzy shadings. Akkerman's "House of the King" is the most accurate Jethro Tull imitation ever recorded.

Focus' debut album is gentler and more low-key and vocal-oriented than their subsequent efforts; fans of Jan Akkerman's pyrotechnics may be disappointed by his relatively restrained presence, but others may be pleasantly surprised to find a more economic group than they remember. A fair collection of progressive rock tunes without a clear focus, the material is dominated by Thijs Van Leer, often introducing classical sensibilities. But at least as often, it sticks with fairly conventional period folk-rock and blues influences, with occasional jazzy shadings. Akkerman's "House of the King" is the most accurate Jethro Tull imitation ever recorded.

50 Years: Anthology 1970-1976 is a forthcoming box set that contains the complete work of Dutch rock group Focus between 1970 and 1976.

Riding on the success of their hit single "Hocus Pocus" from the revolutionary Moving Waves album, Focus got to work on this, their third LP in four years. While the debut album featured a style not too dissimilar to the Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band, Focus' second LP, Moving Waves, was purely instrumental and wholly serious-minded. Focus III kept this same sound, but approached it with a jollier, more accessible tone. As with its predecessor, Focus III featured only one tune that would have a chance of being a hit single. The enjoyable rhythm of "Sylvia," partnered with Jan Akkerman's victorious guitar solo, some of Van Leer's finest organ work, Bert Ruiter's tight basslines, and Pierre Van Der Linden's mellow drumming, assured the track classic status…