Cherry Red (label)
30 October 2026 (released)
7 h
Since their original emergence in 1969, Focus have gone through a great many lineup changes with the only original member being the band’s founder Thijs van Leer. The lineup on all these 3 double albums is Van Leer on vocals, keyboards and flute, drummer Pierre van der Linden plus ‘Live in Europe’ and ‘Live in England’ has Niels Van Der Steenhoven on guitars and Bobby Jacobs on bass, ‘Live in Rio’ has Menno Gootjes on guitars and Udo Pannekeet on bass.
The boxset has two CDs from Europe, two from London and two from Rio.
The sound is unmistakably Focus. Swelling Hammond, clean guitar lines, Van Leer’s tuneful flute passages, changeable tempo and rhythms. Most of the tracks are instrumental although Van Leer’s vocals are strong. The music swings between jazz, classical and Blues orientated numbers and the recording quality on all 3 albums is excellent. As usual with Cherry Red, the digital mastering is fine with clean and 3 dimensional soundscapes.
Tracks from all the Focus albums from ’69 onwards are included and while there are inevitable repetitions, the band change things up enough so that multiple versions of tracks such as ‘Harem Scarem’ and ‘Eruption’ or ‘Sylvia’ each have their own charms.
The package is excellent, each of the 3 releases in a facsimile of the original sleeves and artwork, plus a booklet with essay, pictures and other info.
It is very much a release for fans of the band but it doesn’t alienate newcomers.
