Search - Focus :: At the Rainbow

One of the best live albums of the '70s

Chet Fakir | DC | 09/03/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The playing is looser than on the studio versions, but also more impassioned. Jan Akermans guitar playing is amazing, he really stretches out and plays some very fast and creative jazz-rock solos. Excellent playing all around, the band is firing on all cylinders. I have to say that I prefer many of the live intepretations over their studio counterparts. "Answers? Questions! Questions? Answers!" is much better live due to the amazing solos. The sound quality is fine: its well recorded and the mix is ballanced. An excellent album, their third best after Focus 3 and Moving Waves."

Excellent but pointless

kireviewer | Sunnyvale, Ca United States | 12/23/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Like most Focus albums, this had a different cover in the US and Europe. The CD uses the European cover. The CD is 42 minutes long, and the sound quality is good, but not bright.



I don't know whether to give this CD one star or five stars. The music is excellent, but it is not much different than the studio versions on the first three ablums. So, in a way, it is kind of pointless if you already own the first three albums.



The first 20 minutes of the album is a suite of music. Each of the compositions is actually shorter than what was on the original studio albums. But, it is blended together perfectly, and played beautifully. It is very mesmerizing. It is one of those concerts where you can go into a complete daze.



Next comes an 8 minute version of Eruption, which was 22 minutes long on the Moving Waves CD. I usually don't like it when a group plays a truncated version of a track. The group usually plays the main themes and piece comes out as a annoying, frustrating tease of what could be better. A prime example is the excerpts of Six Wives of Henry VIII that Wakeman plays on Yessongs. But, Focus does a good job of editing down the material.



The album ends with an 11 minute version of Hocus Pocus with a little bit a Sylvia mixed in. It contains what is probably the best yodel jam in all of rock history. But, it may get a little overboard and silly near the end. Besides the yodelling, they play this tune with a lot of power and energy.



Besides the elongated Hocus Pocus, there is nothing really that new on this album. But I still enjoy because they take some of their best music and present it in a new way. I played this album just after listening to Moving Waves and Focus III and was still entertained."

Not a Complete Concert!!!

Matthew L. Higley | Utah | 11/11/2005

(3 out of 5 stars)

"This CD - Live At The Rainbow, used to be a double album in the seventies, I bought it back then for proof. It is missing a couple of tracks, namely; Anonymus, but other than that it is a good CD. Because it is missing a few tracks, is why I give it 3 stars. I hope it might get reissued properly, the way it was originally,the way it was released for the U.S.A."