''Focus X'' (also known as ''X'') is the eleventh studio album by the Dutch

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. Init ...

band

Focus Focus, or its plural form foci may refer to: Arts * Focus or Focus Festival, former name of the Adelaide Fringe arts festival in South Australia Film *''Focus'', a 1962 TV film starring James Whitmore * ''Focus'' (2001 film), a 2001 film based ...

, released on 5 November 5, 2012 by Eastworld Recordings.

Background

''Focus X'' is the group's first studio album in six years. The album features Menno Gootjes on guitar, replacing

Niels van der Steenhoven Focus is a Dutch progressive rock band formed in Amsterdam in 1969 by keyboardist, vocalist, and flutist Thijs van Leer, drummer Hans Cleuver, bassist Martijn Dresden, and guitarist Jan Akkerman. The band has undergone numerous formations in ...

, who played guitar on the ensemble's previous album ''

Focus 9 / New Skin The discography of the progressive rock band Focus consists of 11 studio albums, 1 compilation album, 6 live albums, and 8 singles. Studio albums Compilation albums Live albums Singles References External links * {{Focus Discograph ...

'' (2009). The Japanese edition contains two bonus tracks, "Santa Teresa", and a live version of the band's successful 1971 single, "

Hocus Pocus Hocus-pocus is an exclamation used by magicians, usually the magic words spoken when bringing about some sort of change. Hocus Pocus or Hokus Pokus or ''variant'', may also refer to: Books * ''Hocus Pocus'' (novel), a 1990 novel by Kurt Vonneg ...

". The album generally received positive reviews. The cover art is designed and painted by Roger Dean.

Track listing

Personnel

Thijs van Leer Thijs van Leer (pronounced: ; born 31 March 1948) is a Dutch singer and keyboardist, best known as the founding member of the rock band Focus as its primary vocalist, keyboardist, and flautist. Born and raised in Amsterdam among a musical famil ...

–

Hammond organ The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond and John M. Hanert and first manufactured in 1935. Multiple models have been produced, most of which use sliding #Drawbars, drawbars to vary sounds. Until 1975, Hammond organs ...

, flute,

vocoder A vocoder (, a portmanteau of ''voice'' and ''encoder'') is a category of speech coding that analyzes and synthesizes the human voice signal for audio data compression, multiplexing, voice encryption or voice transformation. The vocoder was ...

spoken vocals Spoken word refers to an oral poetic performance art that is based mainly on the poem as well as the performer's aesthetic qualities. It is a late 20th century continuation of an ancient oral artistic tradition that focuses on the aesthetics ...

(tracks 1, 7, 11) *

Pierre van der Linden Pierre van der Linden (born 19 February 1946) is a Dutch drummer, songwriter and member of the band, Focus. Biography Van der Linden was influenced by his childhood hero Buddy Rich. He finds inspiration in French philosophers and classical comp ...

–

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair of matching drumsticks ...

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...

* Menno Gootjes –

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected string ...

acoustic guitars An acoustic guitar is a musical instrument in the string family. When a string is plucked its vibration is transmitted from the bridge, resonating throughout the top of the guitar. It is also transmitted to the side and back of the instrument, ...

(track 8) *

Bobby Jacobs Bobby Jacobs (born 1965) is a Dutch bassist, songwriter and producer best known as the former bassist for the Dutch Rock music, rock band Focus (band), Focus, from 2002 to December 2016. Biography Jacobs was born in Hilversum, Netherlands. He is ...

–

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and s ...

, pro ducting and mixing *

Ivan Lins Ivan Guimarães Lins (born June 16, 1945) is a Latin Grammy-winning Brazilian musician. He has been an active performer and songwriter of Brazilian popular music (MPB) and jazz for over thirty years. His first hit, "Madalena", was recorded by ...

– vocals (tracks 6, 11) * Berenice van Leer – vocals (track 10) * Geert Scheijgrond - producing and mixing

References

External links

* http://www.focus10.net * http://www.focustheband.com {{Authority control Focus (band) albums Albums with cover art by Roger Dean (artist) 2012 albums