HAMBURGER CONCERTO

Many people have posted their opinions about this album with excellent rating. I do agree in most of them and I just want to add that this album was different in style with any other legendary albums from other bands like Genesis, Jethro Tull, Pink Floyd, Van der Graaf or ELP. In fact, this album made the kinds of 70s progressive rock music comprehensive. Yes, you might claim that Focus used flute as Jethro Tull did with "Thick as A Brick" or "A Passion Play" or "Aqualung". But, these two bands and any album from these two bands were totally in different vein. Focus is pretty much a combination of classical music, jazz and rock. "Hamburger Concerto" blends all of the influences nicely.

When this album was released I was not really "into" this kind of music offering as I was inclined to observe Genesis, ELP, Yes, Pink Floyd or Led Zeppelin. The reason was probably simple: Focus did not offer vocal and to me (by that time) rock music without vocal was not quite attractive. But as I spun much of those bands with vocals there was time when I wanted to enjoy music in itself without lyrical verse. So I did try Return To Forever, Focus, etc. One thing that caught me was Focus 3 as it had eerie and evocative flute work combined by brilliant, ambient keyboard work. But later I found "Hamburger Concerto" (the track) was inspiring. The song contains great movement from one segment to another. It then became my regular play along with Focus 3. As time went by I found other tracks like "Birth" was interesting also. AT the end, when there was CD era, I upgraded my collection from cassette to CD. I then find joy in enjoying the whole stream of this "Hamburger Concerto" (hey, I like the name!) album. I found that "Delitae Musicae" (1:13) was an excellent acoustic work followed nicely by "Harem Scarem" (5:52) and "La Cathédral De Strasbourg" (4:59).

Overall, this is a tight composition album and it's an excellent addition to any progressive music collection. If you want to have a comprehemsive understanding on the roots of 70s prog music, this album is a MUST have. Highly recommended. Keep on proggin' ..!

Peace on earth and mercy mild - GW (i-Rock! Music Community)