Lambe lays it down on Tabernakel

Stephen Lambe tackles Tabernakel on pages 67-71 of his new book, between the departure of Pierre van der Linden and the arrival of Colin Allen, Focus wise. Lambe considers it a skilful and interesting album and notes that Focus fans like it - because, he says, it is most like Focus. However, he does not sound like a fan and seriously questions the inclusion of five lute tracks, preferring the George Flynn efforts.

He describes the album contents track by track. He likes the opener and the lute solo tracks that follow. He calls the House of the King track "a fun and energetic reworking" but is not entirely convinced. He rather passes over the rest of the tracks on the original side one with the exception of the final track, Javeh, which he suggests gets its title from its seemingly God given nature and Jan's Jewish background. He is still not happy, however, with the diversity of the material.

As for Lammy, he calls it "a sprawling, sometimes brilliant piece" that is unique in progressive rock. Although it "always intrigues" it is too disparate for Mr Lambe. He is particularly unhappy with the choir sections. At least he finds their Amen delightful.

It is interesting to read what Mr Lambe makes of the album but he just doesn't get it, sadly. I remember comparing notes with Jan once on what makes music interesting. I spoke about watching Status Quo in concert on TV in 1982 and being bored by the third song. He spoke of the same response to a Rolling Stones concert in Amsterdam (1998 perhaps?) leaving half way through. It is the variety on Tabernakel that is one of its greatest strengths, not a weakness.

New Book on Focus

A new book has recently appeared on Focus in the Seventies. By Stephen Lambe, the book endeavours to guide the reader through the band's early history year by year, up to the end of the seventies. It deals with eight Focus albums song by song and gives the same treatment to Akkerman and van Leer's solo work 1970-1979. It claims to be a potted history of the band and an insight into the tensions which lead to such a creative - if short lived - peak and "an essential guide to the astonishing music the two men made while at the peak of their powers." Like so many books of this sort it labours under the difficulty of being so appallingly proof read (I'm not sure any attempt was actually made beyond using a computer spell check). The album by album analysis is not appealing to the casual reader either. The approach is to have Lambe voice his own opinion about the music, which is fine where you agree but more difficult where you do not. Apparently, Eruption is brilliant but Anonymus not so and the Introspection albums are too much of their time. It's nice to hear opinions, I suppose. It's greatest achievement is to have persuaded me to buy the latest Focus Collection, the fifty year anthology. Anyway, if you are a Focus fanatic do buy it. PS Mr Lambe, please please let me proofread a second edition.