Focus had well proven their ability to write rocking instrumentals by the time of this release.
Their catalog, although consisting of four albums, rarely had a dull moment between them.
Hamburger Concerto is equally consistent, much of it being prime Focus material.
The Akkerman-written "Birth" and "Early Birth" are examples of Focus fully flexing their muscles, featuring superb guitar work and amazing all-round musicianship, as well as sporting some superb riffs.
The usual lengthy instrumentals are present also, as well as some manic vocals from the manic but genius Thijs Van Leer.
Although Hamburger Concerto is not as unerring as Moving Waves or Focus III, anyone who enjoyed the previous releases would undoubtedly find great satisfaction from this album.
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Delitiae MusicaeJan Akkerman | Focus | Play | 01:13 | 2 MB | 5 MB |
| 2 | Harem ScaremThijs van Leer | Focus | Play | 05:51 | 13 MB | 34 MB |
| 3 | La Cathedrale de StrasbourgThijs van Leer | Focus | Play | 05:00 | 11 MB | 24 MB |
| 4 | BirthJan Akkerman | Focus | Play | 07:41 | 17 MB | 43 MB |
| 5 | Hamburger Concerto | Focus | Play | 20:15 | 46 MB | 112 MB |
| 40 mins | 91 MB | |||||
| 40 mins | 221 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jan Akkerman | Composer, Guitar, Handclapping, Lute, Percussion, Timpani |
| 2 | Colin Allen | Cabasa, Castanets, Chinese Gong, Congas, Cuica, Drums, Flexatones, Handclapping, Percussion, Tambourine, Timpani, Wood Block |
| 3 | Hans Eric Cleuver | Drums |
| 4 | Martin Dresden | Bass |
| 5 | Harrison Fisher | Mastering |
| 6 | Focus | Primary Artist |
| 7 | Bob Hall | Engineer |
| 8 | David Hamilton-Smith | Assistant Producer, Engineer |
| 9 | Graham Hughes | Photography |
| 10 | Ian Murray | Art Direction |
| 11 | Bert Ruiter | Autoharp, Bass, Finger Cymbals, Guitar (Bass), Handclapping, Percussion, Swiss Hand Bells, Triangle |
| 12 | Rod Thear | Engineer |
| 13 | Thijs van Leer | Accordion, ARP Synthesizer, Composer, Flute, Flute (Alto), Handclapping, Harpsichord, Keyboards, Mellotron, Organ, Piano, Piano (Electric), Recorder, Synthesizer, Vibraphone, Vocals, Voices, Whistle (Human) |
| 14 | Pierre van der Linden | Drums |
| 15 | Mike Vernon | Producer |
| Quality | Format | Encoding | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | MP3 | 320kps 44.1kHz | MP3 is an audio coding format which uses a form of lossy data compression. The highest bitrate of this format is 320kbps (kbit/s). MP3 Digital audio takes less amount of space (up to 90% reduction in size) and the quality is not as good as the original one. |
| CD Quality | FLAC | 16bit 44.1kHz | FLAC is an audio coding format which uses lossless compression. Digital audio in FLAC format has a smaller size and retains the same quality of the original Compact Disc (CD). |