FOCUS — Focus II (aka Moving Waves) (review)

FOCUS — Focus II (aka Moving Waves) album cover Album · 1971 · Jazz Related Rock Buy this album from MMA partners
4.5/5 ·
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.

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