Live At The Rainbow [Remastered] - Focus > Reviews > Classic Dutch Prog

Author's product rating:   

Originality	Definitely a cut above the rest
Lyrics	Not applicable
Quality and consistency of tracks	A couple of weak links
How does it compare to the artist's other releases	Good
Value for Money	Satisfactory

Advantages:	A decent live document of the classic Focus line - up
Disadvantages:	Muddy sound mix, not a full concert

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

With a couple of now legendary appearances on The Old Grey Whistle Test in the early 70s (with "Whispering" Bob Harris clearly loving them) under their belt, Denmark's finest music export took to the UK and a stint at the famous Rainbow Theatre in London. Despite not capturing a full concert, Live At The Rainbow is a good representation of the band during their classic period, with tracks from their two best known albums Moving Waves and Focus 3. Even if guitarist Jan Akkerman can't be bothered with Sylvia (a track he's consistently, and some say purposefully, played out of tune since those OGWT slots), the rest of the album is full of quality music, amazing solos and the obligatory yodelling of the frankly crazy multi-instrumentalist leader, Thijs Van Leer. The sound quality is far from perfect - the mix is fairly quiet and most of the rawness and spontaneity seems to have been glossed over with a mediocre remaster - but with live Focus material from that period being fairly thin on the ground, it's an essential purchase for any prog rock fan. Highlights include a manic Hocus Pocus (perhaps their most famous track) and reprise, and an excerpt from the epic Eruption.

Listen to this if you like - Jethro Tull, Grobschnitt