The album that boosted
Focus into at least semi-fame outside of continental Europe,
Moving Waves blasts off with their hit single,
"Hocus Pocus." Built around a killer guitar hook by
Jan Akkerman and a series of solo turns by the band, this instrumental replaced
"Wipeout" as a staple of FM radio. The bizarrely hilarious vocal and accordion solos by
Thijs van Leer -- one of which absurdly concludes with rousing stadium cheers -- have to be heard to be believed. After this over-the-top performance, the other tracks seem comparatively constrained: the gentle
"Le Clochard" features some gorgeous
classical guitar over Mellotron strings. The album concludes with
"Eruption," which while mimicking the multi-suite nomenclature of
Yes and
King Crimson, is essentially a side-long jam session. Stop-time
Emersonian organ solos alternate with languid sections of jazzy guitar redolent of
Santana, while still other sections are flat-out electric
blues-rock stomps. It's impressive playing, though it comes off as a bit meandering after the tightly structured solos that began the album. ~ Paul Collins
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