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8

a Studio release
by
Focus

Release Year: 2002

Date Label Catalog # Comments
Starting as a cover band with the name of Hocus Pocus the idea was to do some kind of tribute album to Focus. When Van Leer heard the music he decided to join in and the result was a new Focus album
Added To Proggnosis Database on: 11/5/2002 12:00:00 AM
Entry Last Updated on: 1/4/2022 4:57:00 AM by: DBSilver
  1. Rock & Rio (3:27)
  2. Tamara:s Move (5:17)
  3. Fretless Love (6:08)
  4. Hurkey Turkey (4:15)
  5. De Ti O De Mi (6:30)
  6. Focus 8 (6:19)
  7. Sto Ces Raditi Zivota (5:26)
  8. Neurotika (3:47)
  9. Brother (5:39)
  10. Blizu Tebe (6:38)
  11. Flower Shower (5:41)

Thijs Van Leer
organ, flute, vocals


Bobby Jacobs
bass


Jan Dumée
guitar, vocals


Bert Smaak
drums


With:

Ruben van Roon: drums (8)
Geert Scheijgrond: guitar (4)

Reviewed by Nuno on 13 Nov 2002


Ok, so this is Focus without being original Focus. The truth is that, like French band Ange, there is only the front man remaining from the original band. In fact, this case is even stranger than that, for it has happened in the reverse way. This means that it was from the joining of Thijs Van Leer to an already existing band (the cover tribute band Hocus Pocus) that this new Focus incarnation was born.

Nevertheless what matters here is the music, and that is undisputedly recognizable as "old" Focus!
Here you can find the jazzy fusioning into Symphonic passages, the humorous approaches on rock, the emotional instrumental pieces where melody is basing and the soloing is nuclear to that harmony feeling, the energy burst outs and all that has made this Dutch band a success in progressive history.
If there are tracks where the vintage Focus is distinctively rebirth, there are other tracks where the band tries to achieve a more contemporary sound...and those are the ones where the band slightly fails.
Focus 8, Fretless Love, Sto Ces Raditi Zivota and Blizu Tébe perfectly represent that tribute to the past, with the worked out, good mood and precise sounding. These tracks could have been recorded in the 70's and you wouldn't know the difference.
De ti o de mi, Hurkey Turkey and Rock & Rio try to bring some new features to this memorable band but, honestly, with no successful result.

The quality of the players is undisputed. They have learned the soul of the original band and the joining of Thijs must have add the cherry in top of the cake. I find it really awesome to see that new musicians can achieve that task: capturing the essence of the original masters.

Summing, this is an album for the fans of the band. A tribute to the old days when Focus were delighting European stages with their refreshing and overwhelming mix of Symphonic Prog with jazzy tendencies.
Of course it also targets the new progheads, allowing them to discover one of the classic bands from Continental Prog.

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