HAMBURGER CONCERTO

I can't believe I have not yet written a review for one of my favorite albums from my college days. While I would most often play Side 2-- the one containing the concerto--"La Cathédrale de Strasbourg" remains one of my favorite all-time prog songs. (Partly because I lived in Strasbourg, France, 1978-79, but more for the beautifully refined and respectful ministrations of vocal, flute, and guitar entwined therein.) While "Harem Scarem" (9/10; a kind of "Hocus Pocus" reprise) and "Birth" (9/10) are good, solid songs, FOCUS, for me, excelled when they brought the old, 'ancient and medieval' sounds or the quirky odd sounds into their music rather than performed straightforward rock. Still, this is the best all-around record of a, IMHO, notoriously underachieving band (think of the potential they had with the likes of Ruiter, van Der LInden, van Leer, and Akkerman on board!). Though really 4.5 stars, it is one of those masterful milestones of progressive rock that one cannot but hold up high for others to try.