THE LOST ATTIC - A COLLECTION OF RARITIES (1983-1999)

The progressive rock band IQ is releasing a rarities album with old and new songs, unused songs, fan club releases, previously unreleased songs, contributions on other CDs, 12" single releases, gig releases and BBC radio sessions. Previously hard-to-get songs are collected on this release. You might think that this is something only for the die-hard IQ fans out there, but that's oh so wrong! I had never heard IQ before I got this CD, and now I'm really curious to hear more. If these unreleased songs is so good, what about the albums? I can only imagine! Their music is neo-progressive / symphonic rock in the same vein as MARILLION, LANDMARQ and PENDRAGON, but sometimes also RUSH and YES. The vocals are very varied. Sometimes they remind of Dicken and Edward Carter of Mr. Big, and sometimes of Peter GABRIEL. My favourite song is "Hollow Afternoon (1999 recording)". This song is sending shivers down my spine. What a beautiful song! Other highlights are the opening track "The Universal Scam" and the beautiful ballad "Eyes Of the Blind". Both songs were originally intended for their album "Subterranea". Another great track is "The Last Human Gateway (middle section)". The only really awful song on this CD is "Barbell is in (12" Lizard Mix). Another unnecessary track is the spoken track "My Legs", although it's quite funny. The excellent 20-page booklet made by Tony Lythgoe with a cover illustration made by Peter Nicholls is very informative. It's got lyrics, comments, photos, history, and information on each track and much more. This is surely a must have for all IQ fans, but it does stand for itself even though you've never heard IQ before. If you're curious about IQ, buy this album. Recommended!

Well being a big IQ and having access to another CD of their early and unrelased songs sounds like a great idea to me (once again thanks Richard!). "The Lost Attic" explores many of the missing pieces from IQ's past including tracks which did not make it onto "Subterranea", "Tales From The Lush Attic" and "The Wake". But listen my friends don't chalk this up as fragments or scraps from their past which were second rate. . . to quote a "Richard'ism ", this is a "Top Drawer" piece of work. Several songs have been re-recorded including a real lost gem "Hollow Afternoon" which I have had for a long time with major vinyl imperfections throughout. Historical snipets include 3 tracks recorded back in the early 80's for the BBC live, "Barbell Is In (Lizard Mix)" and "Apathetic And Here I" (A delicate piece in memory of the late Geoff MANN with a great IQ touch... a personal fav!!!!) to name a few. Even a few Paul Menel lost gems for those who followed IQ through the thick and thin. "The Lost Attic" is essential if you are into IQ and like me can not ever get enough of 'em.

Another excellent album, featuring some previously unreleased songs regarding the early stuff and other more recent material as well. A good production, sometimes remarkable, which can be a good place to start with their music.

It is not a masterpiece, but it can complete your collection of new progressive rock (naturally if you are into this easier kind of modern light progressive music in the vein of early GENESIS...)

I have always been rather suspect with "rarities" albums. Being Tull or Led Zep ones. So, even if I do like IQ, this album could only be a questionable affair.

The band has been quite unproductive in terms of new material during the last two years. I doubt that IQ have millions of fans to please with whatever release they would output. I am just a fan expecting a good album from this good band. Nothing more, but no less.

There will be some nice moments like "The Universal Scam", "NTOC" and of course the very emotional middle part of "The Last Human Gateway".

When I listen to "Barbell Is In" I can only do one thing : get out as far as possible to avoid listening to this awful song. Even worse than "Corners" on their second album. DO press next. Oooups. Press next again since the bloody "Corners" is just sitting here. I guess that it was one of the lost "jewels" of the band. Absolutely dreadful. One of the top three most disgusting IQ song.

And we'll get all in a row because the stupid "Bold Grenadier" won't add anything interesting to the IQ repertoire. Really dull. An attempt of being funny with "My Legs" is really out of my reach. So stupid and useless...

This "collection" of songs (or partial songs) is absolutely way behind the usual production of the band. At times, there will be some interesting moments but all of these will be taken care on traditional IQ albums. This one is just a PITA.

I am quite hesitant in rating an IQ "album" with one star. This release will only escape this rating thanks to "Awake & Nervous", "Just Changing Hands" and "Widow's Peak".

Do not buy this poor IQ release. It really does not deserve more than two stars. And I have been quite gentle with the band since their first recording. This one is an insult to the fan (to which I belong). Let's quickly forget about this one.

The Lost Attic - A Collection Of Rarities (1983-1999) is a compilation album by UK progressive rock act IQ. As the title suggests it´s a collection of outtakes, single tracks, remixes, re-recordings, radio sessions and other obscurities from the years 1983- 1999. The album features quite an impressive booklet with lyrics for all songs and also comments for each track from the various members of the band.

The compilation features some pretty cool stuff if you´re a fan of IQ but also some more obscure things that even fans might not be very interested in. Fortunately the former is mostly the case. Personally I find the reggae inspired Barbell Is In (12" Lizard Mix), the playing in the studio fun track My Legs and the traditional folky The Bold Grenadier to be on the more obscure side while songs like The Universal Scam, the 1999 re-recording of the 1984 single track Hollow Afternoon ( which also appear in its original form) and Apathetic And Here I... to be some of the highlights. The very Genesis like Wintertell also scores some good points with me. The sound quality is good throughout and even the older songs have quite a nice sound.

I originally purchased The Lost Attic - A Collection Of Rarities (1983-1999) in one of my compulsive album buying sprees at a time where I was very interested in IQ. I didn´t even look hard enough to see that it wasn´t a studio album, so when I came home and discovered that it was a compilation I wasn´t too happy. Knowing very little about IQ in those days I was much more interested in listening to some of their "real" albums. Therefore The Lost Attic - A Collection Of Rarities (1983-1999) didn´t get many spins before it ended up in my basement collecting dust. Having heard most of IQ´s output since then, I suddenly remembered that I had this compilation of rare and unreleased tracks stored in the basement and felt it was time to give it another spin. While I would chose one of the Peter Nicholls led studio albums any day over this compilation album, I actually find it pretty good, and save for a few hardcore fan tracks, I would rate most of the songs on The Lost Attic - A Collection Of Rarities (1983-1999) somewhere between 3 and 4 stars. So a 3 star rating is well deserved.

IQ's The Lost Attic is precisely what it claims to be - a rarities collection - and as such like most rarities collections it aims directly for the "fans and collectors only" category rather than anything better. With tracks taken from various sources ranging from the band's home demos to the Subterranea sessions, the sound quality here is decidedly variable.

Some songs are fairly reasonable - Apathetic and Here, I and Hollow Afternoon are decent pieces (the former having been recorded for a tribute album to the late Geoff Mann, a friend of the band) - and the concluding radio session tracks are pretty good, but for the most part this is a jumble of rejects and alternate versions which will only be of interest to IQ fanatics.

For instance, The Universal Scam and Wintertell are both rejected songs from past albums (Subterranea and Tales from the Lush Attic respectively), and in both cases I'm left with the impression that cutting them out was 100% the right call because they just aren't up to the standards of the other songs from the relevant releases. Most of the alternate versions of tracks here are simply inferior to the versions IQ fans will already be familiar with. And as for My Legs, all that goes to show is that the band had too much time on their hands one afternoon in 1983, creating a "comedic" play which could only possibly be funny if you happened to be there at the time.

It's not a one-star washout, because IQ fans will probably treasure a few pieces on here, but I suspect even they will find themselves drawn to a subset of the tracks on here; this isn't an album which is at all interesting or entertaining to listen to from beginning to end.

While the next couple of years IQ focused on promoting ''Subterranea'' via live performances, they did not stay away from regular appearances on music stores' shelves.First comes the 98' re-recording and release of their 82' premature ''Seven stories into eight'' album, which was a trully exciting trip to the past, and then, in 1999, comes a nice collection, entitled ''The lost attic''.This albums contains recordings spanning from mid-80's to the millenium and includes alternates versions of some of IQ's most well-known numbers, live sessions, covers, demo executions of studio pieces and even some leftovers.

Part of the album offers pieces, originally included in singles heading for the fan club of the band: A lovely performance on the middle section of ''The last human gateway'', a surprising execution of the Folk-oriented ''The bold grenadier'' with beautiful orchestral synths and synthetic vibes in a MIKE OLDFIELD-like enviroment, a version of ''Fascination'' with Paul Menel on vocals, and one of IQ's rarest cuts, ''Hollow afternoon'', which features a big symphonic sound with powerful keyboards and excellent guitar soloing, not far from the sound of ''Fascination''.

The cover presented is ''Apathetic and here, I...'', originally written by Geoff Mann for his album ''Second chants'' and this version comes from the 94' tribute album ''Mannerisms''.It's got a weird New Wave vibe over an atmosphere of acoustic lines with a discreet Neo Prog feel.''N.T.O.C. (Resistance)'' was originally part of the 93' SI compilation ''Disc too'' and here the group exhibits a style reminiscent of the Paul Menel era, featuring a somewhat rockin'/poppy vibe on vocals but also an impressive instrumental depth with full-blown synths and sampled organs as well as some great guitar runs.

''Awake and nervous'', Just changing hands'' and ''Widow's peak'' are the three pieces coming from an 84' BBC session, no more to add, fantastic songs, arrangements and live capturing by the band in three classic cuts of IQ's endless, succesful repertoire.

The ''Subterranea'' outtakes are represented here by ''Eyes for the blind'' and ''The universal scam'', which work as complementary tracks and are up there with the album's atmosphere.Starting with the first, the atmosphere is melancholic, laid-back and lyrical with only bass and keyboards in the forefront, while the second one is bombastic Neo Prog with a rich and dynamic style with the sign of IQ all over the place.

Other tracks include a 1999 re-recording of the lost-in-time ''Hollow afternoon'', the excellent acoustic ballad ''Wintertell'' with its amazing British flavor, the humoristic, almost cartoon-like ''My legs'' with the vocal distortions and the following effects and a rather pale, Reggae-like edition of ''Barbell is in'', which could be a nice listening, while drinking a mojito at a beach bar.

All in all a pretty cool compilation of archival and more recent recordings by IQ, which varies from Pop Rock to bombastic Neo Prog and scans different periods of the band's history.Great addition for all IQ fans, but also a nice purchase for lovers of diverse music discoveries, always surrounded by a proggy background.Recommended.