It's their best album.I have a lot love also for Focus Con Proby.
Dedicated to No.Nine
Focus - Eddy
I love this LP! Fave Focus I've heard and for many years (as a teenager) it was in my top ten. These days It'd still make my top one hundred.
I don't think the suite on side 2 is 100% successful, but even so I REALLY love this album! Some stunningly beautiful moments throughout. Gives Moving Waves a run for it's money for sure.
Matt.
Thank you!
Am I remembering correctly that I mentioned "Eddy" in a thread about songs with the best use of Moog bass? And that you investigated Focus con Proby further because of that? (And BTW, I'd add "Red Sky at Night" from Ship of Memories to that "best Moog bass" list.)
"I tah dah nur!" - Ike
I have a love/hate relationship with Con Proby. All the instrumental tracks are amazing, and even a couple of the vocal tracks don't totally suck on toast, but some of it... Gah! I don't know what crack they were smoking when they decided Tokyo Rose was a good idea. Actually, that awful- I hesitate to call it rap- aside, even that's a good funky track. And hey- Steve Smith!!
re: Con Proby --- I dig Wingless .. Kick ass guitar from Albers. Not much of a jazz/fusion zealot but Maximum strikes a chord with me.
re: HC --- Love Jan's work on it, but I agree that more synths would have been better. In general, the all organ/no vocals thing that Focus specializes in bores me a bit, but than Jan grabs me with another killer guitar part, and I'm back.
I was 15 , to me Hamberger Concerto was the album of the year and Akerman the guitarist of the year in 1974. Before that I also enjoyed Moving Waves and some cuts from focus 2 and 3.
“One good thing about music, when it hits you, you feel no pain.”
Ah, yes, that's right. The 'Best Moog Bass' thread did exist, though, so I'm not completely crazy!
But yes, I actually count con Proby among my favorite Focus albums, even though I understand why a lot of Focus fans don't care for it. I think "Eddy" is a simply beautiful melody, and when that Moog bass kicks in - for me, it's nirvana! I also think "Maximum" and "Sneezing Bull" are two of their greatest tracks.
Focus as a fusion band isn't something that many fans were willing to accept, and admittedly one or two of the vocal tracks weren't among their best work, but this album still manages to push a lot of the right buttons for me.
Yes. He's another great thing about the album.
Yeah, Proby's rap on the song makes me laugh (not with it, but at it), but I still find it strangely enjoyable.
"I tah dah nur!" - Ike
HC is my favourite Focus album, unlike other Focus discs, there’s no throwaway parts for me, it’s all A material. For some reason, whenever I hear other people (at least here) talk about the album, they always gripe about the drumming. It’s never bothered me, so long as the drummer isn’t totally inept or a machine, I’m generally not going to bash drummers. I guess I’m not as spoiled as some listeners with regards to drumming, he’s a better drummer than me, that’s for sure! At least there’s no f$%*ing drum solo!
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MIKE (a.k.a. "Progbear")
"Parece cosa de maligno. Los pianos no estallan por casualidad." --Gabriel Garcia Marquez
N.P.:“Downtown Tonight”-Racing Cars
Yeah, honestly I'm fine with the straight ahead drumming on the album. I have seen video of them performing it live and it was... not good. But for the purposes of the album I actually like it with a nice, straight groove. Judging by Ship Of memories, Pierre was starting to lose it a bit by the time he was let go. Going with Steve Smith on Con Proby was a really good call though. It would have been pretty sweet to hear his take on the HC music.
You're right, he felt stifled. He left mainly because he wanted to do music which was more free, as I recall. I know he eventually joined a free jazz group, the name of which escapes me, but I'm not sure if that came immediately after leaving Focus. It's not common knowledge, but he temporarily rejoined Focus after Colin Allen's departure, doing two short tours with them in '75 of Japan and Australia.
"I tah dah nur!" - Ike
Yep, and for quite awhile in fact. He's now done two albums, 9/New Skin and Focus X. Flawed albums but still pretty good. And Pierre's one of the reasons why - he's still got it! It's a shame Akkerman hates van Leer so much, or these reformation albums could have been even better still. But I have to say that I find their current guitarist, Menno Gootjes (the third one since the band's re-launch), to be the most satisfying replacement for Akkerman.
Right, their debut is one of my favorite albums! How could I forget? I guess I really AM getting old...
"I tah dah nur!" - Ike
hans Cleuver from the first album would have been a good fit for Hamburger, he was a sort of middle ground between Pierre's jazzy leanings and a more straight rocking approach.
just listened to this for the first time in a LONG time... and thoroughly enjoyed it. much to like here.
It's amazing that a bottom-of-drawers compilation like Ships is much better than a turd like Mother Focus
my music collection increased tenfolds when I switched from drug-addicts to complete nutcases.
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