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Thursday, February 6, 2014

Focus - Ship of Memories (1976 dutch, elegant prog rock, japan remaster)



Ship of Memories, a collection of rarities from Focus' catalog, is somewhat more diverse than most of the band's other releases. Starting off with "P's March," a track rooted in the style of Focus' debut album In and Out of Focus, Ship of Memories gradually works its way through the band's many phases to the Mother Focus styled "Crackers." 

The album ends on a superb song, the U.S. version of "Hocus Pocus." For Europeans, this addition to Ship of Memories ("Hocus Pocus" U.S. was never on the LP version, but was later added to the CD release) comes as an absolute delight. Not only is the song a verified rarity on the continent, but it is also vastly different from the U.K. recording. Akkermans' guitar work, Van Leer's yodeling, and Pierre Van Der Linden's drumming are all given a new lease of life by the inclusion of this track. Collectors will be well-gratified by Ship of Memories, while casual listeners will find enough enjoyable material
by Ben Davies


Tracks
1. P's March (Thijs Van Leer) – 4:43
2. Can't Believe My Eyes (Jan Akkerman) – 5:17
3. Focus V (T. Van Leer) – 3:02
4. Out Of Vesuvius (J. Akkerman, Bert Ruiter, Pierre Van Der Linden, T. Van Leer) – 5:5
5. Glider (J. Akkerman) – 4:38
6. Red Sky At Night (J. Akkerman, T. Van Leer) – 5:50
7. Spoke The Lord Creator (T. Van Leer) – 2:32
8. Crackers (J. Akkerman) – 2:42
9. Ship Of Memories (P. Van Der Linden) – 1:48
10.Hocus Pocus (US Single Version) (J. Akkerman, T. Van Leer) – 3:24

Focus
*Thijs Van Leer - Keyboards, Flute, Vocals
*Jan Akkerman - Guitar
*Bert Ruiter - Bass Guitar
*Martin Dresden - Bass Guitar
*Pierre Van Der Linden - Drums
*Hans Cleuver - Drums
*David Kemper - Drums

1970  Focus - In And Out Of Focus (Japan remaster)
1971  Focus - Moving Waves (Japan remaster)
1972  Focus III  (Japan mini lp release)
1974  Focus - Hamburger Concerto  (Japan remaster)
1975  Focus - Mother Focus (Japan remaster)
Related Act
1969-70  Brainbox - Brainbox (2011 Esoteric expanded)

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6 comments:

  1. Just to say, Marios, that your recent series of Focus FLAC posts have been much appreciated over here! Efkaristo, matey! I have a rare live Focus recording ("Sylvia", Live in Japan, 1975); if you'd like it (in thanks), just leave me a comment here, and we'll work something out. Cheers, Dave Sez.

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  2. Hi Dave,
    first of all many thanx to the owner of these Japanese editions, my friend Crunchyfrog, and secondly ofcourse I'm interesting of "Sylvia", Live in Japan, we'll find a way to get in touch.
    All the best.

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  3. Dear Marios,

    First some useful text:

    "Ship of Memories is an instrumental album released in 1976 by Sire Records, featuring previously unreleased material from 1970, 1973, and 1975 by the Dutch progressive rock group Focus. [I didn't know this ...] The first four songs were originally slated to appear on a followup album to Focus III in 1973, but there were disagreements within the band about the quality of the material, and the project was shelved. In retrospect, the musicianship is uniformly high on all of the songs. Starting off with “P’s March”, a track rooted in the style of Focus’ debut album “In and Out of Focus”, “Ship of Memories” gradually works its way through the band’s many phases to the “Mother Focus” styled “Crackers”. The album ends with the U.S. version of their signature song “Hocus Pocus” — it is vastly different from the studio recording; Akkerman’s guitar work, Van Leer’s yodeling and Pierre Van Der Linden’s drumming are all given a new lease of life."

    Second up, I'll see if you have an email .. just a second .. Dave Sez.

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  4. Muchas gracias por todas las aportaciones de los cds de Focus

    ReplyDelete
  5. Indeed, many thanks to Cruchyfrog for these. Could you leave me an email address here (couldn't find one in your profile) so that I can send you the live Focus?

    Cheers, Dave Sez.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Focus - Ship of Memories ...ReUp

    ReplyDelete