Moving Waves
by Focus

Moving Waves by Focus
Year: 1971
Overall rank: 3,942nd   Overall chart history
Average Rating: 
78/100 (from 124 votes)
  Ratings distribution   Average rating history
Accolades:
Award Top albums of 1971 (70th)
Award Top albums of the 1970s (673rd)
Award Best albums of all time (3,942nd)

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Product Details
Availability

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Moving Waves by Focus - 1988 I.R.S. Records CD
Condition: Very Good


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“Moving Waves” FOCUS (1971) Vinyl OG PRESS
Condition: Used


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Focus Moving Waves Vintage Vinyl LP Sire Record SAS-7401
Condition: Used


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Focus bestography

Moving Waves is ranked as the best album by Focus.

Focus album bestography « Higher ranked
-
This album (3,942nd)
Moving Waves
Lower ranked (4,334th) »
Hamburger Concerto

(N.B. Bestographies include all albums by an artist (and their variations), but do not include albums ranked outside the top 100,000).

Upcoming concerts

Mar
05
Thu
SunSquabi + Manic Focus
The Orange Peel, Asheville, United States. United States
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Mar
05
Thu
SunSquabi + Manic Focus
The Orange Peel, Asheville, United States. United States
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Mar
06
Fri
Manic Focus + SunSquabi
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Moving Waves track list

  Track ratings The tracks on this album have an average rating of 79 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).

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Track pick (1000 - 100 votes) Top-rated track as rated by BestEverAlbums.com members.

Moving Waves rankings

Rankings summary
Overall rank: 3,942nd | 1970s rank: 673rd | 1971 rank: 70th

Moving Waves collection

Moving Waves ratings

Average Rating: 
78/100 (from 124 votes)
  Ratings distribution Help Average Rating = (n ÷ (n + m)) × av + (m ÷ (n + m)) × AV
where:
av = trimmed mean average rating an item has currently received.
n = number of ratings an item has currently received.
m = minimum number of ratings required for an item to appear in a 'top-rated' chart (currently 10).
AV = the site mean average rating.

Showing latest 5 ratings for this album. | Show all 124 ratings for this album.

Sort Sort by
RatingDate updatedMemberAlbum ratingsAvg. album rating
 
80/100
 
02/06/2026 19:28 Gedster  Ratings distribution  16572/100
 
70/100
 
02/04/2026 05:16 Proto  Ratings distribution  4,09133/100
 
60/100
 
02/01/2026 08:19 cicadelic  Ratings distribution  12,06073/100
 
100/100
 
01/05/2026 14:25 MarkusKosmo  Ratings distribution  61085/100
 
75/100
 
01/04/2026 10:28 Exist-en-ciel  Ratings distribution  7,70270/100

Rating metrics: Help Outliers can be removed when calculating a mean average to dampen the effects of ratings outside the normal distribution. This figure is provided as the trimmed mean. A high standard deviation can be legitimate, but can sometimes indicate 'gaming' is occurring. Consider a simplified example* of an item receiving ratings of 100, 50, & 0. The mean average rating would be 50. However, ratings of 55, 50 & 45 could also result in the same average. The second average might be more trusted because there is more consensus around a particular rating (a lower deviation).
(*In practice, some albums can have several thousand ratings)

This album is rated in the top 2% of all albums on BestEverAlbums.com. This album has a Bayesian average rating of 78.0/100, a mean average of 77.3/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 78.5/100. The standard deviation for this album is 13.9.

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Moving Waves comments

Showing all 5 comments |
Most Helpful First | Newest First | Positive Sentiment First | Longest Comments First
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Rating:  
80/100
From 02/06/2026 19:43 | #313031
I got to the end of the album very quickly, and thought - that was a small album, and then I realised the last track Eruption lasted 23 minutes long. That was a bit of a shock but what a great track. There is a bit of singing on Moving Waves and a bit of yodelling on Hocus Pocus, and some chanting on Eruption, but otherwise it is totally instrumental. I've never been much of a fan of this band but this is a pretty good album. A nice fusion of different styles of music and the last track was like a jazz inspired epic meandering track.
I listened to this in conjunction with Tarkus (ELP) (both from the same year 1971) and I prefer this album.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
90/100
From 02/10/2022 18:07 | #281094
My all-time favorite prog album. One of the most listened to one ever. Jan Akkerman a real guitar here ahead of his time.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +2 votes (2 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
85/100
From 02/09/2022 13:33 | #281019
This album is one of the highlights of Focus. Eruption and Hocus Pocus are the obvious candidates of mustlistens. But the rest of the album is great too.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
100/100
From 09/16/2016 02:28 | #175070
Hocus Pocus and Eruption are the highlights
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
90/100
From 11/15/2013 23:34 | #92695
This album is worth buying for the title track alone which is wonderful. The rest of the album is really good with lots of contrasting musical styles melded together with great skill. Musicanship is top notch throughout and Jan Akkerman is one of the greatest guitarists ever
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +4 votes (4 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
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Best Albums of 1971
1. Untitled (Led Zeppelin IV) by Led Zeppelin
2. Who's Next by The Who
3. Hunky Dory by David Bowie
4. What's Going On by Marvin Gaye
5. Sticky Fingers by The Rolling Stones
6. Blue by Joni Mitchell
7. Tago Mago by Can
8. Meddle by Pink Floyd
9. L.A. Woman by The Doors
10. Tapestry by Carole King
11. Fragile by Yes
12. Bryter Layter by Nick Drake
13. Master Of Reality by Black Sabbath
14. Aqualung by Jethro Tull
15. Ram by Paul & Linda McCartney
16. Electric Warrior by T. Rex
17. Imagine by John Lennon
18. Maggot Brain by Funkadelic
19. There's A Riot Goin' On by Sly & The Family Stone
20. At Fillmore East by The Allman Brothers Band
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