FOCUS Singles, Deep Cuts & BBC Live RSD (2LP) Vinyl

Yodel. That's the word. Jan Akkerman was one of the most technically gifted guitarists of the early seventies and Thijs van Leer was out there yodeling over jazz-inflected prog rock and somehow it worked so completely that Focus became the first continental European rock band to crack the worldwide touring circuit.

The Dutch don't get enough credit in the classic rock conversation. Focus were doing things with time signatures and genre collision in 1971 that most bands still haven't caught up to. Hocus Pocus remains one of the genuinely strange chart hits of the era, a song that sounds like nothing else before or since. This compilation pulls together singles, deeper album cuts, and BBC live recordings, which means you get the hits and the proof that they could do it without a studio safety net. Two records worth of reasons why prog heads, jazz-rock obsessives, and anyone who likes their alternative music with a sense of the absurd should pay attention.

Record Store Day exclusive double LP. Includes singles, deep cuts, and BBC live recordings. Gatefold or standard packaging, check listing for confirmation.

Fans of: Camel, Gentle Giant, Yes, Soft Machine, Van der Graaf Generator