Focus Plays Focus (also known as In and Out of Focus) is the debut studio album from the Dutch rock band Focus. Released in 1970, the album was recorded at the Sound Techniques Studios in London, England and produced by Hubert Terheggen. It was the first and only album by the band to feature the original line-up of Thijs van Leer (organ, flute), Jan Akkerman (guitar), Martin Dresden (bass guitar, vocals) and Hans Cleuver (drums, vocals).
Original UK version (Polydor 2344 003)
| Original Dutch version | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length | |
| 1. | "Focus" (instrumental version) | Thijs van Leer | 9:45 | |
| 2. | "Why Dream" | van Leer, Hans Cleuver | 3:57 | |
| 3. | "Happy Nightmare (Mescaline)" | van Leer, Martin Dresden, Mike Hayes | 3:56 | |
| 4. | "Anonymous" | van Leer, Jan Akkerman, Dresden | 7:00 | |
| 5. | "Black Beauty" | van Leer, Cleuver | 3:05 | |
| 6. | "Sugar Island" | van Leer, Dresden, Jan Staal | 3:03 | |
| 7. | "Focus" (vocal version) | van Leer, Cleuver | 2:44 | |
| Total length: | 33:30 | |||
| Original German version | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length | |
| 1. | "Focus" (instrumental version) | van Leer | 9:45 | |
| 2. | "House of the King" | Akkerman | 2:20 | |
| 3. | "Why Dream" | van Leer, Cleuver | 3:57 | |
| 4. | "Happy Nightmare (Mescaline)" | van Leer, Dresden, Hayes | 3:56 | |
| 5. | "Anonymous" | van Leer, Akkerman, Dresden | 7:00 | |
| 6. | "Black Beauty" | van Leer, Cleuver | 3:05 | |
| 7. | "Sugar Island" | van Leer, Dresden, Staal | 3:03 | |
| 8. | "Focus" (vocal version) | van Leer, Cleuver | 2:44 | |
| Total length: | 35:50 | |||
| United States version; Japanese 2006 reissue | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length | |
| 1. | "Focus" (vocal version) | van Leer, Cleuver | 2:44 | |
| 2. | "Black Beauty" | van Leer, Cleuver | 3:05 | |
| 3. | "Sugar Island" | van Leer, Dresden, Staal | 3:03 | |
| 4. | "Anonymous" | van Leer, Akkerman, Dresden | 7:00 | |
| 5. | "House of the King" | Akkerman | 2:20 | |
| 6. | "Happy Nightmare (Mescaline)" | van Leer, Dresden, Hayes | 3:56 | |
| 7. | "Why Dream" | van Leer, Cleuver | 3:57 | |
| 8. | "Focus" (instrumental version) | van Leer | 9:45 | |
| Total length: | 35:50 | |||
| United States 1973 reissue | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length | |
| 1. | "Focus" (instrumental version) | van Leer | 9:45 | |
| 2. | "Why Dream" | van Leer, Cleuver | 3:57 | |
| 3. | "Happy Nightmare (Mescaline)" | van Leer, Dresden, Hayes | 3:56 | |
| 4. | "Anonymous" | van Leer, Akkerman, Dresden | 7:00 | |
| 5. | "Black Beauty" | van Leer, Cleuver | 3:05 | |
| 6. | "Sugar Island" | van Leer, Dresden, Staal | 3:03 | |
| 7. | "House of the King" | Akkerman | 2:15 | |
| Total length: | 33:01 | |||
Read more about Focus Plays Focus: Personnel
Famous quotes containing the words focus and/or plays:
“If we focus exclusively on teaching our children to read, write, spell, and count in their first years of life, we turn our homes into extensions of school and turn bringing up a child into an exercise in curriculum development. We should be parents first and teachers of academic skills second.”
—Neil Kurshan (20th century)
“Better to be despised and have a servant, than to be self-important and lack food.”
—Bible: Hebrew, Proverbs 12:9.
RSV translation reads, “Better is a man of humble standing who works for himself than one who plays the great man but lacks bread.”