Review Summary: This is a solid debut. One of the most original works in the 70's.
“Focus Plays Focus” aka “In And Out Of Focus” is the debut studio album of Focus that was released in 1970. The line up on the album is Thijs Van Leer, Jan Akkerman, Martijn Dresden and Hans Cleuver.
Focus is a Dutch progressive rock band that was formed in Amsterdam, in 1969. Of all rock bands that were founded in the 70’s, in the Netherlands, Focus is, without any doubt, the most notable Dutch prog group widely known outside the Netherlands. Focus was able to combine the elements of rock with the traditional elements of the classical music. Focus was original formed by keyboardist, vocalist, and flautist Thijs Van Leer. He recruited the bass guitarist Martijn Dresden and the drummer Hans Cleuver. Later, they were joined by guitarist Jan Akkerman. The result of this had its climax with the release of their debut studio album “Focus Plays Focus”, also known as “In And Out Of Focus”. “Focus Plays Focus” was the only album of the band to feature the original line up. Focus is regarded as one of the best Dutch prog bands ever. They became one of the best and most recognizable prog bands that were born out of UK, at the time.
Unfortunately, “In And Out Of Focus” was little noticed outside the Netherlands. Because of that, dissatisfied with the lack of success of this first album, Jan Akkerman left the group to form another band. Hans Cleuver and Martin Dresden also left Focus shortly after that. However, Jan Akkerman and Thijs Van Leer joined again and with two new members the bassist Cyril Havermans and the drummer Pierre Van Der Linden, they continued with the Focus musical project.
On this work, Focus dedicated themselves to the light jazz classic rock that was influenced by the Beat era. On “Focus Plays Focus”, a quiet basic sound prevails, which is presented in a smooth melody and already lays the foundation for the dreamy variant of the sound of the band on their following works. The restrained singing lets the listener lean back and relax. But, we mustn’t forget that Focus is mainly an instrumental band. The debut work of the Dutch prog masters seems to have come off a little badly so far, if we compare it with their following works in the several expert prog music sites. It’s maybe debatable whether it belongs to her classic phase or not. For me, it’s undoubtedly and definetely one of them. But, perhaps this is a typical question of perspective. In my assessment of the individual songs, I can see that this album is largely a bit different work, a starting point that is yet a bit linked with the music of the end of the 60’s.
“Focus Plays Focus” has eight tracks. “Focus (Vocal)” is calm with soft vocals. It’s a sweet opener with a nice and simple atmosphere. It has a gentle guitar playing with a nice sound, a repetitive bass line and a good drum beat. “Black Beauty” is different. It sounds as a song of the 60’s. It’s a good song with an elaborated melody. It’s nice but sounds a bit dated. “Sugar Island” has common parts with the previous song. It also sounds to the 60’s and is a bit dated too. Still, it’s better. It has some fine flute playing and a good guitar playing too. “Anonymous” is the first great moment on the album. It sounds like the Focus band that we all know and love. It’s a typical Focus track, a classic of the band. The performance is amazing, showing their great talents. “House Of The King” is a legendary track of the band. It shows the compositional abilities of Akkerman and the perfect harmony between the flute of Thijs and the acoustic guitar of Akkerman. It’s one of the most exciting and refreshing moments on the album. “Happy Nightmare (Mescaline)” is a different track. It’s a good song influenced by jazz with pleasant harmonies and a beautiful use of Mellotron and electric guitar. “Why Dream” has a weird starting but that develops gradually and that ends in a good way. It’s a melancholic tune with a nice strong melody. The aggressive guitar performance of Akkerman is great and is well accompanied by the Hammond organ of Thijs. “Focus (Instrumental)” is a revisiting of the peaceful opener. It’s the best and the most prog song on the album, a classic gem of the band. It has about 10 minutes and is full of great improvisations that move constantly between guitar, keyboards and flute. This is Focus at their best that shows the high quality of their music.
Conclusion: I must confess that I’m sincerely convinced that “Focus Plays Focus” is an underrated album on this site. I know it has some weaker musical moments such as “Sugar Island” and especially “Black Beauty”. However, it has also some great musical moments such as “Anonymous”, “House Of The King” and especially the title track “Focus”. As we all know, all these songs became classic tracks of the band. By the other hand, despite some tracks are a bit dated, “Focus Plays Focus” is, in my humble opinion, a marvellous debut album that already has the main seeds of the musical magic formula that would put Focus and Netherlands on the progressive rock map. Of course it isn’t, for sure, their best album, but it’s certainly an enjoyable and diverse work. Somehow, we can say that Focus is the father of the Dutch progressive music. Focus it’s also one of the best and most representative progressive rock bands of the 70’s.
Music was my first love.
John Miles (Rebel)
