SUBTERRANEA

While most people seem cite 1985's The Wake, 1993's Ever, or even one of the band's more recent efforts as their favourite IQ album, and although those albums are both amazing, this 1997 concept album always struck the right chord with me.

Subterranea holds together so well because the band managed to hold together the dark, mysterious musical themes that fit the album's cover art quite accurately. From the opening of "Overture" pretty much straight through to the end of "The Narrow Margin" you get a sense of thematic consistency that makes the album feel like the parts all fit together into a larger picture.

Some people have criticized this as making the whole album sound too similar, but I disagree. The songs do sound as if they are movements within the same larger piece of work and work best as a larger work, but they are still distinct and memorable in their own right. I would rate material like the title track, "Sleepless Incidental", "Failsafe", "Breathtaker", "Unsolid Ground" and "Somewhere in Time" amongst IQ's most enjoyable work.

The closing track, "The Narrow Margin", is 20:00 minutes in length and may be the album's most contentious track. I don't think it's the album's strongest track, but it's still an enjoyable closer with some nice instrumental sections.

Overall: Subterranea is a great album and for a double album has very little filler. It can be considered among the band's best work and is highly recommended.

4.5 rating rounded up to 5.

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