'HOCUS POCUS BOX' (FOCUS) REVIEW

Santa provided me with the readies to finally secure this boxed set yesterday in Sin City. Released earlier in the year, Hocus Pocus contains all of Focus’ albums with a couple of impressive extras. The box totals 13 CDs and is accompanied by a pretty good information booklet........ but I'm sure that TJ Lammers didn’t activate spell-check when the recount was being composed.

For me, there are two distinct parts to Focus’ career, namely, their initial albums up to- and including- Mother Focus (1975) and then the stuff that follows right up to 2012. Their heyday lies quite firmly in the early to mid-seventies. I saw them in 1974 at the pavlova and they were pretty near untouchable in ‘live’ mode.

But it’s the gear from the other part of their history that’s the real attraction of this box. Focus Con Proby (1978) has occupied a ‘Holy Grail’-like position in my crate and sound lounge searching for decades and, you guessed it, it’s bloody here. One would think that the departure of Jan Akkerman and the hiring of a has-been sixties yank crooner (i.e. P.J. Proby) to front an ailing prog rock Euro outfit would spell ‘disaster’. Wrong! Focus Con Proby is sensational and rates amongst some of Focus’ best work. Eef Albers’ strumming goes off the damn meter.

As well, there’s Van Leer’s and Akkerman’s collaboration on Focus (1985) and Ship Of Memories (1976) included in the set. The latter, made up of outtakes from Focus’ early albums, is a revelation and well worth the price of admission alone.

I’m betting that Hocus Pocus will please Focus scholars but there’s much more to this release than meets the old collector’s eye. Weighing in at slightly less than a C-note, it’s pretty good value.

Review generated for CD Hoarders United and CD Collector Central f/b groups on 30 December 2017.