Focus - Hamburger Concerto

Released - April 1974

Genre - Progressive Rock

Producer - Mike Vernon

Selected Personnel - Thijs Van Leer (Organ/Flute/Piano/Harpsichord/Vocals); Jan Akkerman (Guitar); Bert Ruiter (Bass); Colin Allen (Drums)

Standout Track - Birth

As I've mentioned elsewhere in my reviews of Focus's first few albums, my love of the oddball group of Dutch prog rockers goes way back to gorging on my step-dad's classic rock collection in the mid-90s, but I essentially rediscovered them at uni when a friend of mine reminded me of the existence of their seminal track "Hocus Pocus," which I hadn't heard in years. After finding them again I was keen to rediscover all the albums I'd enjoyed as a kid - their seminal albums Moving Waves and Focus 3 and the unusually great live album At The Rainbow - but soon decided it was time to delve further into their discography and listen to the albums I hadn't heard as a kid. First was their debut In And Out Of Focus, which is good but inconsistent, and then their delayed follow-up to Focus 3, Hamburger Concerto. I first listened to Hamburger Concerto expecting to be disappointed, considering that Focus never really achieved any great degree of chart success outside of Moving Waves and Focus 3, and it's fairly difficult to even find much passionate support for any of their more obscure work online.

As it turns out, the lack of love for Hamburger Concerto is one of the most unjust thing about Focus's career - never mind the fact that even the legacy of "Hocus Pocus" has these days passed many people by, the fact that this album isn't recognised as one of the finest prog records of the early 70s is bordering on criminal. It's easily their most consistent album, with not a single minute of music that feels like unnecessary filler (the opening "Delitae Musicae" may not be hugely inspiring, but it's a brief and effective prelude to the album to come). If it weren't for the titanic brilliance of their earlier hits "Hocus Pocus" and "Sylvia," I'd be tempted to declare Hamburger Concerto as their finest album outright.

That it turned out so well is certainly surprising, as things in the lead-up to its release didn't look good. With Focus 3, the band had managed to do the impossible and follow up the smash hit "Hocus Pocus" with an album just as exciting and inventive and a song in "Sylvia" that matched its predecessor. But the next step from there wasn't clear. The band began working on material that was ultimately shelved due to disagreements about their musical direction (this material would be released in 1976 under the title Ship Of Memories as a kind of retrospective document after the departure of guitarist and founding member Jan Akkerman and, while it's good, it's clear that the band were struggling to come up with a coherent new direction for themselves). The live album At The Rainbow was released as an interim measure while they worked hard to find inspiration for the next studio album. All this internal wrangling might have suggested that the band was teetering on the brink of collapse, but the time afforded them by At The Rainbow clearly allowed them to galvanize themselves in order to produce another masterpiece.

Essentially, it follows in a similar vein to the cartoonish prog-rock jazz fusion instrumentals of their previous work, although with a far tighter focus and greater coherence, while also leaning more heavily on organist and flautist Thijs Van Leer's classical training than they had previously. While Focus 3 in particular had pushed the jazz fusion jam element of their music to the forefront, here there was a return to the almost Medieval sound of songs like "House Of The King" and the heavily classical compositional structures of pieces like "Eruption" from Moving Waves. These influences lend the album a greater sense of orchestral grandeur than before, whether it be through the harpsichord and stately, graceful flute parts of "Birth" or the baroque-sounding mandolin and recorder of "Delitae Musicae," or, most obviously, the vast sprawling classical suite that is the title track.

It's by no means a radical change of direction, though, as classical music had always been in the blood of Focus's music, just never so obviously as here. Once the overture of "Delitae Musicae" is finished, the familiar Focus of old bursts into life as bold as ever in the form of the blistering "Harem Scarem." It's been called an inferior rewrite of "Hocus Pocus," something I've never felt is a fair description and is based largely on the similarity of the titles. Both are fun, breakneck rockers, but "Harem Scarem" more than distinguishes itself from its (admittedly superior) predecessor by virtue of its pounding, punishing piano riff and upbeat, jazzy interludes. Van Leer gives a characteristically psychotic vocal part with yet more gibberish singing, but it's by no means a direct imitation of his iconic yodelling from that earlier song. After the furious pace of that song, things let up a bit with "La Cathedrale De Strasbourg," an eerily atmospheric piece of music that's perhaps the most emotive thing the band ever wrote, focusing as it does on an ethereal, haunting quality rather than a straight-up prog jam. Akkerman's tastefully restrained guitar interweaves with Van Leer's piano and, while the ghostly mood might be punctured ever so slightly by the lyrics "La cathedrale de Strasbourg, ding dong, ding dong," Van Leer's eery whistling that follows soon after is one of the coolest and, simultaneously, most chilling moments in the band's discography.

Easily the standout moment of the album is Akkerman's incredible "Birth." Being the only significant composition on the album written by Akkerman on his own, it's surprising and commendable that it's far more than just a showcase for his own guitar skills. He steals the show towards the song's end with an explosive solo, but for most of its length his searing guitar lines play second fiddle to Van Leer's harpsichord and slow, stately organ part, as well as his occasional flute contributions. "Birth" is perhaps the band's finest slow-burn song, progressing through a slow, meditative, pseudo-classical motif towards an ever more frenetic finale that truly explodes into life when Van Leer's flute solo goes from tasteful and gentle to a full-blown, lung-bursting show of virtuosity that's easily the best thing he ever did with the instrument and even gives Ian Anderson, the reigning king of flute rock, a serious run for his money.

"Hamburger Concerto" itself is another twenty-minute epic organised as a multi-part suite in the vein of "Eruption," this time modelled on Brahms' Variations On A Theme, and constantly shifts dynamics from grand, classically influenced organ parts and harpsichord flourishes to faster, more intense interplay between organ and guitar and the odd gibberish vocal from Van Leer. Perhaps the finest moment of the piece is around the middle when Akkerman's razor's edge descending guitar line accompanies a portentous organ as the tempo drops to a menacing crawl. It admittedly lacks the focus and concision of the other songs on the album, and for that reason is perhaps the least memorable piece here, but that's picking hairs with an album that's almost faultless and, while it's long, there's not a single moment on the title track that doesn't excite and fascinate the listener.

Hamburger Concerto did fairly decent business at the time, but the accusations of lead single "Harem Scarem" being a "Hocus Pocus" clone hurt the album's success, and the band's pride, and they unwisely decided to try and catalyse a true change in musical direction. It's a great shame, as this is easily not only one of their best works, but also a real high point in the history of prog rock in general, and if the band had had the confidence to keep going in the same vein I'm sure they could have continued delivering quality material. Sadly, they decided to go in a sort of jazz-lite, elevator muzak direction for the appalling followup, 1975's Mother Focus, which was received with such hostility that Akkerman decided to throw in the towel and pursue a solo career. The loss of Akkerman didn't help the sliding quality of the band's work, and essentially the only decent material released under the band's name for many years was the aforementioned Ship Of Memories retrospective. From then on, the band released a couple of further terrible albums before disappearing completely for a couple of decades. Up until one of the most unexpected (and incongruously brilliant) comebacks with 2002's Focus 8.

Track Listing:

1. Delitae Musicae (Jan Akkerman)

2. Harem Scarem (Thijs Van Leer)

3. La Cathedrale De Strasbourg (Thijs Van Leer)

4. Birth (Jan Akkerman)

5. Hamburger Concerto (Thijs Van Leer & Jan Akkerman)