Focus: What do I listen to next? - Progressive Rock Music Forum

So long story short I’m a millenial who just got into prog rock a year or so ago. I absolutely loved Moving Waves (especially Eruption, I’m a drummer lol) and I’m not sure where to go next in terms of their discography. What would you suggest?

Hi,

HC is probably right ... but for a drummer?

I think that listening to the early Guru Guru is probably the best idea ... to see how a drummer who likes to say that he doesn't drum with anyone except the music, and I like to think that often this is not something that most players are used to ... since in Guru Guru, for the first 6 albums (through Tango Fango), it is not exactly about the rhythm ... specially in the early days of the experiments and stuff that Ax Gernrich did with them. How do you drum to the LSD march? You kinda don't ... you just add touches to it! Not "drumming".

Nowadays, you would get a strict time keeper that could not let off his snare drum, and ruin the freedom of the music by sticking it to plastic!

I would recommend Bill Bruford, btw, but not in the early days ... what he does in YES is nowhere near as good as some of his work in KC ... and then later when he was able to do complete improvisations with a guitar player and they never discussed anything they would do or did ... move along to something else ... and knowing, feeling, and wanting to "color" those moments is what the music is about ... not time keeping ... Berklee music can not get its head around that yet!

And then ... there is one drummer, that does not use his snare a lot ... he uses a circle of toms instead ... but this is probably too advanced to suggest to a "drummer" maybe?

I would rather suggest you hear someone like Steve Gadd, and what he does for Rickie Lee Jones (early albums), and many years later to Kate Bush (Snow) ... and in this last one, there is no "format" or time keeping, because she is already on to the next phase or section of a song, that is continuous and not "time" tied! At that point ... it is all ... what do you do when you should NOT be keeping time ... something that most drummers have no idea how to do and refuse to learn!

In one example, this group had a marvelous piece of music, and one of the saddest drummers I have ever heard ... it's like he was hitting the snare hard to ask the band to return to the beat ... and he did not know how to color anything, except hit the snare ... it was by far, one of the saddest exercises in drumming I have ever seen ... and his drumming was the same the whole thing through.

Carl Palmer is something special, and it's hard to not look at his impact in ELP ... his work is about helping the ACCENTS in the lyrics and how Greg Lake sings them, and then help Keith maintain the solo ... but strict time keeping as most drummers do today, would ruin the flavor of the music ... think about this ... "don't tell me lies" ... boom boom boom ... quick silence ... not snare drum ... you have to think outside your beat keeping to add to the music ... and this is a good learning thing from CP ... and in a lot of ELP's work.

All depends on how you look at things ... develop into something special or just go back to high school tempo and time!

Edited by moshkito - August 09 2020 at 19:27

Music is not just for listening ... it is for LIVING ... you got to feel it to know what's it about! Not being told!
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I just love this oddly titled closing track from Sebastian Hardie's "Four Moments" album. Recommended for Focus fans

Edited by kenethlevine - August 09 2020 at 20:19

If we're talking drummers, I second Steve Gadd. The group he's in with Michael Brecker is great (Steps Ahead). One of the greatest drummers of all time in my opinion is Vinnie Colaiuta. He can be heard on plenty of albums. He played with Zappa from 1978-1980 (so he HAS to be good, it's a requirement), and he played on one of my favorite Allan Holdsworth albums, Secrets. In general, I think any drummer needs to hear the playing on Zappa's records, particularly from his 70s and 80s output (including posthumously released live albums, his groups were better live). Aynsley Dunbar, Ralph Humphrey, Chester Thompson, Terry Bozzio, Vinnie, Chad Wackerman, all essential.

Hamburger Concerto is maybe the best Focus album in terms of material, but if you're a drummer you might want to try Focus 3 first as that's a double album with longer arrangements and features some great work by Pierre van der Linden, especially on Anonymous II.

"And now...on the drums...Mick Underwooooooooood!!!"

"He's up the pub"

Hamburger Concerto is excellent. And the live album Live in England is fantastic.

Psychedelic Paul wrote:

The ideal solution would be to give the Dutch band Solution a listen. I think you'll like them.

Absolutely. Stunning music (vocals less so, but most of their stuff is instrumental) and the musicianship is stellar.

I'd also give Moonmadness a listen: Andy Ward is a stelllar drummer.

A TVR is not a car. It's a way of life.

Any of the first 4 Triumvirat releases.

Thank you for supporting independently produced music

I wouldn't skip on 'Ship of Memories' as well, perhaps my favorite Focus record. A bit more jazz/fusion-like, but the compositions are quite diverse and intense.

I'm guitarist and songwriter for the prog-related band Mother Bass. Find us at http://www.motherbass.com. I also enter stages throughout the Netherlands performing my poetry.

dr wu23 wrote:

kenethlevine wrote:

I just love this oddly titled closing track from Sebastian Hardie's "Four Moments" album. Recommended for Focus fans

Love that one..recommended it on another thread recently.

yeah it captures such a wonderful almost pastoral mood. And, well, the mellotron solo is to die for

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