Moving Waves [Original recording remastered]

1. Hocus Pocus

2. Le Clochard

3. Janis

4. Moving Waves

5. Focus Ii

6. Eruption (Including Parts A - O)

Tracks:

Hocus Pocus
Clochard
Janis
Moving Waves
Focus II
Eruption: Orfeus/Answer/Orfeus/Answer/Pupilla/Tommy/Pupilla/Answer/The
Answer (Eruption)
Orfeus (Eruption)
Answer (Eruption)
Pupilla (Eruption)
Tommy (Eruption)
Pupilla (Eruption)
Answer (Eruption)
Bridge (Eruption)
Break
Euridice (Eruption)
Dayglow (Euruption)
Endless Road (Eruption)
Answer (Eruption)
Orfeus (Eruption)
Euridice (Eruption)

Album Description

Reissue of 1971 album for Dutch progressive rock act best known for their 1973 hit single 'Hocus Pocus', included here. 2001 release. Standard jewel case.

Album Details

Digitally Remastered Version of the Dutch Progressive Rockers' Second Album, which Includes the Worlwide Smash Hit that Made Yodeling Chic for 15 Minutes, 'hocus Pocus'. Includes Some of the Finest Guitar Work by Jan Akkerman.

Customer Reviews:

A quirky album that plays to their strengths..........2006-11-18

Focus caught a wave in the US with their eccentric hit, Hocus Pocus. The song was novel and catchy enough to give Moving Waves some notice, although some were surely surprised at how unique Hocus Pocus was even within the context of the rest of the album. The rest of it is decidedly more serious and less focused, as it were. Short on vocals (thankfully so) and long on classically influenced instrumental suites, Moving Waves covers a lot of musical territory, sometimes within the same song. For serious prog rock fans it's a delicious cornucopia. For casual listeners who are expecting more songs like Hocus Pocus it can be maddening. The album's centerpiece, Eruption, is by far the most interesting song (plenty of opportunity as it comprises the last half of the album), even if its foundation is little more than an extended jam featuring lengthy keyboard and guitar solos by Van Leer and Akkerman. It's hardly a spontaneous affair though, carefully laid out to range from somber to achingly beautiful to borderline chaos with a keen sense of musical drama keeping it all tied together as it reaches an end that seems to arrive all too soon despite its length. If you really like Hocus Pocus, a compilation might be the way to go as most of them include the shorter, more accessible songs. If you're willing to hang on for the ride, Moving Waves offers a wild one indeed, but a very satisfying one as well.

Pop. Rock. Progressive rock. Arty pop. Call it what you like. Just listen to it....Brilliant!.......2006-05-10

This album was so well composed and executed that it has easily stood the test of time. It is good music through and through; clever, exciting, beautiful and moving. This band of dutch guys really knew what they were doing and boy could they play. They were (and still are) essentially an instrumental outfit with the melody carried by guitar, flute, keyboards and occasionally vocals. Focus didn't appear to be too much swayed by music fashions or commercial pressures of the music business when they recorded this album and that is one of the reasons why "Moving Waves" still sounds as fresh and exciting today as it did when it was released in the early 1970's. I wonder if dutchman Eddie van Halen was paying homage to Jan Akkerman and Focus when he used the title "Eruption" for his ground-breaking solo piece for guitar in the late 1970's.

The album kicks off with the one that was released as a 45, "Hocus pocus" a thunderous, relentless rocker composed by Akkerman and van Leer. Comical, but brilliant and hailed by many as a so-called rock classic, it has lots of novelties, tricks and dazzling guitar licks. Keyboardist Thijs (pronounced Tys) van Leer plays the jester with his wild flute playing, whistling, yodelling and other crazy vocal gymnastics, effortlessly hitting notes higher than Brian and Carl Wilson ever went on any Beach Boys recording. Not to be outdone, guitarist Jan Akkerman provides a lot of the thrills and excitement with his amazing gibson les paul guitar antics. Cracking job by the rhythm section, drummer Pierre van der Linden and bassist Cyril Havermans.

In contrast to this, on the next track Jan displays his talent on classical guitar by playing his own composition, the gentle, haunting "Le clochard(bread)". Lovely touch by Thijs with the mellotron accompaniment which adds a bit of weirdness and eerieness to the piece. GORGEOUS! Track 3 "Janis", another Akkerman composition features Thijs on multitracked, interwoven flute parts. The impressionistic title piece "Moving waves" (one of the few actual songs with words that Focus ever did) is one the sayings of Hazrat Inayat Khan set to music by Thijs on vocals and piano. Listen to the words with the music that van Leer has written. The rippling piano chords and the crescendos and diminuendos conjur up the image of ocean waves as they "become excited and then all calm together". The ascending last few chords rise with the waves as they "reach upwards" (to the moon). This is good composing. Track 5, oh yes! Thijs van Leer's "Focus II" with classical and jazz influences and beautifully sensitive guitar playing by Jan. It is typical of Akkerman to add expression with the use of dynamics and subtle phrasing to enhance a melody as he does on this magical piece. Nobody does this better than him. STUNNING!

However, the best is yet to come. The final piece is made up of several compositions, most by Thijs who came up with the overall concept "Eruption", aptly titled lasting 23 minutes. It commences with a line borrowed from Monteverdi's "L'Orfeo" with hammond organ, bass guitar and Jan Akkerman's violin guitar effect (guitar volume control tweaking. You hear a smooth note without the sound of the plucking). The sound is mesmerising and really grabs your attention. After a minute or two, it bursts into life taking you on a journey through the most amazing music, including stunning guitar solos and a couple of incredibly skillful drum solos which add hugely to the overall piece and don't lose your interest for a second. The variety of musical styles in "Eruption" is incredible; from the renaissance style compositions "Orpheus" and "Dayglow" to the Santana-esque organ break segment of "The bridge". Thijs's rock/jazz hammond organ playing is fabulous. In "Euridice" he shows his talent as a flautist producing the richest timbres achievable on a flute. The richly melodic guitar oriented segment "Pupilla/Tommy" is spine-tinglingly SUBLIME! As mentioned in an earlier Amazon review of this album by Ryle Shermatz, a lot of the impact of these individual pieces comes from the contrast between each one and the next. The whole is greater than the sum of the parts.

Technically brilliant with a lot of feel and a real understanding of music, Jan Akkerman is one of the most versatile guitarists in the business. Drummer Pierre van der Linden has a lot of musicality, not only providing the beat and rhythm, but hugely augmenting the music with his incredibly creative and expressive, skillful drumming. Cyril Havermans (later replaced by Bert Ruiter) plays a highly musical, rhythmic and solid bass. Multi-talented keyboardist, flautist and vocalist Thijs van Leer has a great gift for composition and has written music which stands among THE MOST EXCITING, ORIGINAL AND BRILLIANT ROCK/POP MUSIC EVER PRODUCED.

Get "Moving waves" if you are interested in hearing something dramatically different. You won't believe your ears and you will not be disappointed!

Simply the Greatest Prog Rock LP of All Time.......2006-01-14

My Amazon recommendation string led me to the Focus "Moving Waves" page, and I was (as usual) interested in having my own long-held opinions validated by kindred spirits world wide. Unfortunately, I find only scattershot praise for what in my estimation is in fact THE GREATEST PROG ROCK ALBUM OF ALL TIME.

I should quickly explain that as we grow up, we all have awakening experiences that open up new dimensions of life to us. Some we can remember, some we can't. For me, however, at age 15-16 or so, hearing Focus' "Moving Waves" around 1972-73 on a cruddy console stereo in a friend's basement was surely a defining musical experience in my life. I'd grown up (like everyone else) with the Beatles & Stones and the rest of the great British invasion sounds, and they certainly deserve their spot in the firmament of R&R heaven. But "Moving Waves" was (and is) a unique synthesis of rock, jazz, classical, all fused into an in-your-face whole that grabbed me by the throat and shook me for the rest of my life.

I will not presume on your attention any longer than necessary except to point out that the fury and swagger of Jan Akkerman's guitar solos has NEVER been equaled by any other guitarist in my hearing. Yeah, you could call "Hocus Pocus" (by Focus) "silly", but you'd be WRONG WRONG WRONG. This is a band completely hitting its stride, a band that can do ANYTHING and if you got a problem with the yodeling, go buy the new Bobby Sherman album instead. What other band has had the sheer audacity to even consider such a thing and pull it off with such blistering panache?

I cannot close without trying to impart some of the emotional majesty of side two's (yeah, I'm an LP era guy) track-long opus "Eruption;" several instrumental themes are introduced and repeated over the course of a 20+ minute "suite." It's all a more than worthy effort, and I won't belabor your attention with a blow-by-blow description, but the BIG MOMENT comes toward the middle of the piece--the section titled "The Bridge" concludes with two smashing chords repeated as a launching pad for Akkerman's blistering descending Gibson Les Paul custom runs; repeated three times with variations by the angelically-inspired Akkerman, he's left snarling in the void on his own with no accompaniment. Closing with a final descending left-hand only tear-off riff (I know of no other guitarist who could do this), the section ends abruptly, segueing to flautist/organist Thijs Van Leer's sublime "Euridice" (pron. "you-rid-a-sea" for the benefit of those not aware of Greek mythology), a gentle flute/piano duo eventually adding the entire quartet that is as close to perfection as I can imagine. It's not just the beauty of the composition--it's the amazing, stark contrast between the "over the cliff" fury of Akkerman's guitar followed by the Johann Sebastian consonance of Van Leer's singular genius. I KNOW I can't be the only person in the world totally captured for life by this moment. But let me hear from you.

FOCUS deserves a lot more love than this forum can lavish on them, and those who are harmonious with my assessment of "Moving Waves" should advance quickly to "Hamburger Concerto," two albums later and almost equally sublime (Van Leer is ascendent on HC, and that is NOT a bad thing). EVERY Focus album has something GREAT, including their "worst" album, 1975's "Mother Focus" which still has one of the greatest short compositions of all time, "Focus V." Very few bands ever working in "rock" had the musical chops that Focus did, and NONE came anywhere close to the absolutely unique synthesis of styles they achieved. If you're willing to give this recording a chance I do believe it can still echo down your life as it has with mine.

Best work by a good instrumental band.......2005-12-30

One of the original great bands. I also highly recommend Jan Akkerman's recent DVD - he returns to some good playing. Moving Waves is a classic.

pretty good.......2005-09-06

you'll probably buy this disc for the same reason i did - to hear "hocus pocus" again. i can't blame you. i listened to the entire disc and it's not bad at all - a bit odd here and there, but not bad at all. i'll admitt this though, i'll probably play only "hocus pocus" 90% of the times i pull this disc out of the collection. but it's worth it. enjoy.
space puppy, out

Average customer rating:

Moving Waves
Focus
Manufacturer: Jvc Victor
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Rock | Styles | Music

Progressive Rock | Progressive | Rock | Styles | Music

Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music
Similar Items:

Focus III

ASIN: B000K2VGCY
Release Date: 2007-01-01

Tracks:

Hocus Pocus
Clochard
Janis
Moving Waves
Focus II
Eruption: Orfeus/Answer/Orfeus/Answer/Pupilla/Tommy/Pupilla/Answer/The
Answer (Eruption)
Orfeus (Eruption)
Answer (Eruption)
Pupilla (Eruption)
Tommy (Eruption)
Pupilla (Eruption)
Answer (Eruption)
Bridge (Eruption)
Break
Euridice (Eruption)
Dayglow (Euruption)
Endless Road (Eruption)
Answer (Eruption)
Orfeus (Eruption)
Euridice (Eruption)

Album Description

Limited Edition Japanese pressing of this album comes housed in a miniature LP sleeve. Victor. 2007.

Album Details

K2 Digitally Remastered Japanese Limited Edition Special Issue of the Album Classic in a Deluxe, Miniaturized LP Sleeve Replica of the Original Vinyl Album Artwork.

Average customer rating:

Moving Waves
Focus
Manufacturer: Red Bullet
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Rock | Styles | Music

Progressive Rock | Progressive | Rock | Styles | Music

Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music
ASIN: B000A2G9ZI
Release Date: 2005-10-04

Tracks:

Hocus Pocus
Clochard
Janis
Moving Waves
Focus II
Eruption: Orfeus/Answer/Orfeus/Answer/Pupilla/Tommy/Pupilla/Answer/The
Answer (Eruption)
Orfeus (Eruption)
Answer (Eruption)
Pupilla (Eruption)
Tommy (Eruption)
Pupilla (Eruption)
Answer (Eruption)
Bridge (Eruption)
Break
Euridice (Eruption)
Dayglow (Euruption)
Endless Road (Eruption)
Answer (Eruption)
Orfeus (Eruption)
Euridice (Eruption)

Average customer rating:

Amazing
One word: godhead

Danny Kravitz
Danny Kravitz
Manufacturer: Long Pants and a Sweatshirt
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music

Adult Contemporary | Pop | Indie Music | Stores | Music
ASIN: B00004LMJ3
Release Date: 2000-01-01

Tracks:

Disappear
The Mirror Has Been Broken
Jonesy's Days
Paper Moon
Flower Princess
This is Not Who I Am
I Could Be
Another Raincloud
She's Got All I'll Ever Need
Painting Pictures
The Muse of Reluctance
I Can Hear Your Voice

Album Description

Adult Alternative

Customer Reviews:

Amazing.......2000-09-19

This album just totally blew me away. Kravitz has a true gift for songwriting. He bares his soul, and yet speaks to everyone's heart. The music is masterful, and his guitar playing subtly lulls you into his world.

One word: godhead.......2000-05-12

Kravitz wears his emotions on his album sleeve. If you listen hard enough, you can see yourself in any number of these songs, and if "She's Got All I'll Ever Need" doesn't give you goose flesh, you're in a coma. A vast treasure trove of humanity to help you survive in a vulgar world.

Average customer rating:

Moving Waves
Focus
Manufacturer: Jvc Victor
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Rock | Styles | Music

Progressive Rock | Progressive | Rock | Styles | Music

Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music

Rock | Imports | Stores | Music
ASIN: B00006HBPF
Release Date: 2002-09-23

Tracks:

Hocus Pocus
Clochard
Janis
Moving Waves
Focus II
Eruption: Orfeus/Answer/Orfeus/Answer/Pupilla/Tommy/Pupilla/Answer/The
Answer (Eruption)
Orfeus (Eruption)
Answer (Eruption)
Pupilla (Eruption)
Tommy (Eruption)
Pupilla (Eruption)
Answer (Eruption)
Bridge (Eruption)
Break
Euridice (Eruption)
Dayglow (Euruption)
Endless Road (Eruption)
Answer (Eruption)
Orfeus (Eruption)
Euridice (Eruption)

Average customer rating:

Collectors: Get the Japanese edition!

Moving Waves
Focus
Manufacturer: Jvc Japan
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Rock | Styles | Music

Progressive Rock | Progressive | Rock | Styles | Music

Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music

Rock | Imports | Stores | Music
ASIN: B00005NSAV
Release Date: 2001-11-20

Tracks:

Hocus Pocus
Clochard
Janis
Moving Waves
Focus II
Eruption: Orfeus/Answer/Orfeus/Answer/Pupilla/Tommy/Pupilla/Answer/The
Answer (Eruption)
Orfeus (Eruption)
Answer (Eruption)
Pupilla (Eruption)
Tommy (Eruption)
Pupilla (Eruption)
Answer (Eruption)
Bridge (Eruption)
Break
Euridice (Eruption)
Dayglow (Euruption)
Endless Road (Eruption)
Answer (Eruption)
Orfeus (Eruption)
Euridice (Eruption)

Album Description

Japanese 20-bit K2 remastered reissue of the Dutch prog-rock act's 1971 album that's out-of-print domestically, packaged in a limited edition miniature LP sleeve.

Album Details

Japanese Limited Version featuring an LP Style Slipcase Cover. Digital K2 Remastering.

Customer Reviews:

Collectors: Get the Japanese edition!.......2002-07-01

There's no need to review this masterpiece, desert island kinda CD for those who enjoy Progressive Rock of early 70's. But the Japanese edition deserves a word for its quality. Impressive sound and excellent art. The package truly resembles the original record in small scale. The extra $$$ is worth the while.

Average customer rating:

Beautiful Rock
No Difference to Red Bullet Release
Good album by a forgotten prog-rock band
Best Focus record by far
Forgotten masterpiece

Moving Waves
Focus
Manufacturer: Capitol
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Rock | Styles | Music

Progressive Rock | Progressive | Rock | Styles | Music

Album-Oriented Rock (AOR) | Classic Rock | Styles | Music
ASIN: B000000QFY
Release Date: 1991-07-01

Tracks:

Hocus Pocus
Le Clochard
Janis
Moving Waves
Focus II
Eruption: Orfeus/Answer/Orfeus/Answer/Pupilla/Tommy/Pupilla/Answer/The Bridge/Break/Euridice/Dayglow/Endless Road/Answer/Orfeus/Euridice

Album Details

Digitally remastered version of the Dutch progressive rockers' second album, which includes the worlwide smash hit that made yodeling chic for 15 minutes, 'Hocus Pocus'. Contains some of the finest guitar work by Jan Akkerman.

Customer Reviews:

Beautiful Rock.......2003-03-09

No progressive rock fan should be without this album. I won't say it's great but I think it is. The radio stations practically wore "Hocus Pocus" out and shortened it besides. I agree, the rest of this album doesn't sound like "Hocus Pocus" but that's the kind of group Focus is. I've gotten some of the other Focus albums but haven't heard one I like as much as this one. This album goes good with the two Yes albums, "Fragile and "Close to the Edge" and also "Trilogy" by Emerson Lake & Palmer. Actually the first listens will sound the best. After the years go by the songs are too easy to follow.

No Difference to Red Bullet Release.......2003-03-03

Looking at both CD releases (IRS from the early 90s and the Dutch Red Bullet from 2001), they're identical. Both share the same pre-mastering from the very early 90s by Ian Gillespie and Mike Vernon at Tape One. Very misleading that this version is billed as "Original Recording Remastered". The only difference is that IRS released the first three Focus records only, which share the identical liner notes.

Good album by a forgotten prog-rock band.......2002-11-10

This is a 3-1/2 star album, but I'm happy to round up to 4 because it's good to see these albums available on CD. When I looked two years ago, I couldn't find anything by Focus for sale. Focus is a Dutch progressive-rock band that mostly does instrumentals, centered on Jan Akkerman's guitar and Thijs Van Leer's flute. "Hocus Pocus" is as good a novelty single as prog-rock ever produced, with its combination of power-chord guitar, yodeled verse, a vocal bridge that sounds like Popeye on uppers, and Tull-like flute solo. "Janis" is a lovely flute-based piece. "Eruption" is a long piece with several repeated riffs; in true annoying prog-rock fashion, each riff is given its own name.

(1=poor 2=mediocre 3=pretty good 4=very good 5=phenomenal)

Best Focus record by far.......2002-11-05

Focus should have been massive but they made one fatal mistake. They didn't come from England. In 1970s the UK music scene was very strong and therefore self-sufficient and anything not home-grown was viewed with suspicion. Focus produced four superb albums, crafting a finely balanced blend of classical, jazz and rock n roll. Progressive rock in the purest sense of the word.
Moving Waves is in my opinion their crowning achievement. Focus III and Hamburger Concerto are great though marred by passages of unnecessary indulgence. Moving Waves is a pristine example of musical genius. What do they sound like? Well, Ive always thought they sounded like Camel would have done had they attended the Royal College of Music for three years. Both bands have much in common, though I must say that Moving Waves is a record Camel could only have dreamt of doing. Best tracks? Moving Waves plays vfrom start to finish - yes even Hocus Pocus - although I like the beautoful title track and Eruption in particular. Many would say Focus actually comes closer to being Fusion rather than Rock, but here I would disagree. Moving Waves is as rock n roll as they come. Or Im a Dutchman

Forgotten masterpiece.......2001-11-05

It's sad how much good music is lost under the piles of trash masquerading as music. Moving Waves one of the true masterpieces
of progressive rock. Excellent and intelligent instrumental songs
(with the exception of the title song, which has a vocal), and
shifting tempos and moods makes this an enjoyable album and a break from the 3-chord variety of music. The tracks "Focus II" and the suite "Eruption" have always been my favorites. The first song "Hocus Pocus" is kind of goofy but, its fun and has fantastic guitar work. I say "goofy" because it's not often that you hear yodeling in a rock song. It was a big hit at the time of it's release and it is the reason most people bought the album. After people got tired of playing that song over and over, an unexpected treasure was found when people started listening to the entire album. Listening to the entire album revealed one of the best albums of the 1970s.

Average customer rating:

Moving Waves
Focus
Manufacturer: Msi Music Corp
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Rock | Styles | Music

Progressive Rock | Progressive | Rock | Styles | Music

Album-Oriented Rock (AOR) | Classic Rock | Styles | Music

General | Classic Rock | Styles | Music
ASIN: B0000DEPUN
Release Date: 2002-08-07

Average customer rating:

Moving Waves

Manufacturer: Msi Music Corp
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD
ASIN: B0000DEOVQ
Release Date: 2002-08-07

Rock Music:

Rock Music