HAMBURGER CONCERTO

Focus

Symphonic Prog

4.25 | 1143 ratings

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Uruk_hai

Review #135

Even when I adore "Moving Waves" and I believe it is a very underrated album, I can't deny that "Hamburger Concerto" deserves the title of the best album ever made by the Dutch group; the first side of the LP includes four short songs while the B-side is the tremendous suite "Hamburger Concerto".

"Delitae Musicae" is a beautiful Renaissance overture, it lasts less than a minute so it works only as that: an overture. "Harem Scarem" is a very Hard Rock stylized piece, its intense drums were the presentation letter of Colin Allen who was a very decent replacement to Pierre Van Der Linden. "La Cathedrale de Strasbourg" is a very calm melody led mostly by Thijs Van Leer's piano at the beginning, then the instrumentation turns into a jazzy section in which the piano got in the background but still gives a very elegant touch.

"Birth" is my favorite track on the album: the flute is exquisite while the powerful song doesn't rest and keeps going with the incredible Jan Akkerman's solos. "Hamburger Concerto" is the amazing 20-minute track that closes the album, unlike "Eruption" this song is much more homogenous (since the one from "Moving Waves" includes much more independent segments) and, unlike "Anonymous 2", here we can hear a much more rehearsed and original material than lots of improvised filler sections.

Focus reached the peak of its greatness, this was a majestic work for the most important Prog Rock band from the Netherlands.

SONG RATING: Delitae Musicae, 4 Harem Scarem, 5 La Cathedrale de Strasbourg, 5 Birth, 5 Hamburger Concerto, 5

AVERAGE: 4.8

PERCENTAGE: 96

ALBUM RATING: 5 stars

I ranked this album #47 on my TOP 100 favorite Progressive Rock albums of all time.

Uruk_hai | 5/5 | 2021-11-12

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