IQ

At the end of the first verse of "The Wrong Side Of Weird", a few bars capture for me what makes IQ the top progressive band in Europe. Up to then the band has been slowly building through the introduction and then the verse itself. The keyboards play a repeated motif, but the simple act of changing the bass line totally changes the mood and attack.

Ask five IQ fans to pick the single most important member of the band and they could each well pick a different person. Peter Nicholls is without doubt not only a superb lyricist and vocalist, but also one of the best frontmen in the business. Widge not only is renowned for his keyboard playing but also for the fact that many bands would love to have him as a singer. Michael Holmes is a guitarist with control of so many different styles while John Jowitt is Mr Bass. That only leaves Paul Cook. One of the times, I played the album I concentrated solely on the drums, and his impact not only on what he plays but where he doesn't (if that makes sense) is superb. There is a long period on "Weird" where he doesn't play at all, but when he comes back in, the fills and patterns he plays totally switch the mood.

It is hard yet to say if this is my favourite IQ album, ask me again in a year or so when it has sunk into my psyche. If you like prog, then you must have this. Yet again, IQ set the standard.

Originally appeared in Feedback #62, May 01

Neo-prog have been the harder gender for me to swallow. Of course it have some great bands and albums, I have good neo-prog albums here. But looking overall, neo-prog is cheesy. I like this kind of cheesy rhythmn and melodic riffs, but sometimes I miss something different into the genre. Well, I'm not an expert into neo-prog, so I was looking for high-rated bands of the genre and I was attracted by this cover art. And the music is good and intelligent too. Their sound escape from the Marillion clones without escaping the genre, and that's what I really wanted to find into a neo-prog album. Highlights: First three tracks.

Ask any prog lover to name the most important concept album of the Nineties and they will come up with IQ's 'Subterranea'. When they took it on the road they amazed audiences with the use of film and also using a front projection screen where the band could be seen performing behind a screen on which images were shown. By also using an actor, with vocalist Peter Nichols playing his part to the full, the story was brought to life and the complete double album was played in its' entirety.

On 4th April 1999, the show was recorded at Tilburg in Holland and has now been released on double CD and on video. I have found it very difficult to review this. Why? Because it is just so good and it is impossible to convey in words just what this package is like. There is an explanatory booklet in both CD and video, giving details of the story and containing many photos. The film and the live almost seems to merge, with the specially shot footage giving way to Peter sat on the stage. There is no talking between the individual songs, so that there is no distraction from the story or effect.

IQ have used dramatic camera angles and technology to add to the overall impression of what was going on. At times the stage seemed very small for all that was taking place, but with films sometimes behind the band, and sometimes in front, along with extremely dramatic lighting, it is really no surprise. The viewer is taken along for the ride, and the result is one of the most dramatic and invigorating concert videos I have ever seen. The music has to be something very special indeed to be able to lift the band above all of the effects and be more than bit players, but it is all here in a glorious cohesion of strength and beauty.

Originally appeared in Feedback #60

The discovery of this website, and of all the prog activity I never knew about since my early days with Genesis/Gentle Giant/Yes/ELP, The Canterbury group and Henry Cow, has been a huge even in my life. Hitting 50 soon, and a whole new world of music that brings me back to the way music felt when I was a teenager. Thank you, truly. But, like then, when I couldn't quite "get" why certain music was popular, even here in Prog-Land, with my new compatriots, I feel strangely at odds. I began to choose new music based on the star-ratings and the kinds of adjectives people use, as well as what would tip me off as to their musical sophistication., So, here comes IQ, a band I never heard of, with some serious 4-stars-and-up ratings. Strange thing is, I responded to Dark Matter emotionally, hearing some passion, perspective, and simple, moving iconic phrases......but, with this and all other IQ albums, got bored after a maximum of twelve minutes. And then, I starting reading reviews raving about the sophistication, musicianship, and a comparison to The Lamb......and it started to hurt. I don't want to be a musical snob. I don't want to think I know more than my peers. This is music, dammit, and there are so many kinds and so many ways into the heart.....but, really? The Lamb? Some of the highest ratings of all the bands out there. So, what's my problem with IQ, as a complete newcomer to post-90's prog? FIrst, formula: As though they have three or four templates for types of chord progressions, song structure, tempo - extreme interchangeability of songs. Some of their recipes are GOOD, mind you....nothing wrong with a good, simple cookie. But, after being really happy listening most of Sacred Sound, song after song, after album after album, I heard music lego pieces being re-used again and again. I hear a solidly competent keyboardist with a feel for types of evocative but simplistic major to minor to major progressions played on limited number of synth settings; a guitarist who feels deeply while trying to find new uses for the Hackett, Howe and Cure licks and tics he practiced all those years ago; a passionate singer with an evocative but tonally and emotionally limited instrument, singing every Deeply Meaningful line as though it meant exactly the same thing as a Deeply Meaningful line in a bunch of other songs on this and other albums; a CLUNKY drummer with solid time and absolutely no groove or feel for the tone and soul of the drums (I'm a drummer, and learned from a combination of Collins/Bruford/Palmer and the jazz greats); competent no-ego bassist who does what is needed and doesn't over-reach. Basically, a shrewd and sincere group of adequate but limited musicians re-hashing the prog cliches they are capable of playing into a product that pleases fans who relate to a particular sound and vibe. This is the opposite of the Lamb, or Genesis, or Echolyn, or any of the really gifted creators of new music, of compositions that surprise and evoke emotions you didn't know you had. This is, I think, their best album, and has some memorable moments. But they are, to me, a one-trick pony, creating their trick out of moves their role models played with far greater competence and compositional variety. Not in the same musical universe as The Lamb, or Close to The Edge, or As The World, or Free Hand, or Stardust We Are. If it pleases the fans, all good....just don't call it progressive.

My comment is based on the re-recording made ​​in 1998.

Witnessed in 1999 in Buenos Aires the performance of It All Stops Here, so far unknown to me. Along with Intelligence Quotient and About Lake Five, are the highlight of this good work.

I also like For the Taking and Eloko Bella Neechi. Fascination does not reach the hierarchy of other classic songs from the group of the same duration as Headlong, Leap of Faith or Somewhere in Time, but is quite acceptable.

The task of Mike Holmes on guitars is superb, the production is sublime, and the group is in great shape for this play much more mature.

A very good decision of the group was editing this album, otherwise would have been lost for many an important part of musical history.

Rating between 3.5 and 4.

From the end 94' and on, while IQ were hitting the road promoting the ''Ever'' album, they begun playing snippets and early forms of tracks from what was to become their most ambitious work.As the recordings of their new album were coming to reality, IQ even refused to play live, focusing on this grandiose effort.After a couple of cancelled release dates, finally ''Subterranea'', a 2-CD and over 100 minutes concept album, sees the light at the end of 1997 on Giant Electric Pea.

For many this album is the reincarnation of ''The lamb lies on Broadway'', both because it is a long theatrical and inventive fantasy story and because IQ were always a heavily GENESIS-influenced group.The story is built around a man, isolated from reality, part of a weird experiment, who is eventually let loose by the men they imprisoned him and begins a long trip for searching the reasons he was kept locked.His story passes many different stages, meeting plenty of characters, in a dramatic attempt to find the truth about his existence.

Practically IQ did not abandon the style of music they made them one of the most beloved Progressive Rock bands worldwide.This time though it is extremely highly recommended to follow the lyrics as part of the listening in order to penetrate as more as possible into this fantasy story.What really differs is maybe the slightly increased use of more mellow parts, some with acoustic guitars, and the diverse singing style of Nichols, part of the varied atmosphere of the album.But again it is impossible for IQ to miss their main target, which is to produce elaborate, well-polished and grandiose Progressive Rock with lots of bombastic grooves and symphonic references.But these would mean nothing if there weren't of the fantastic melodies IQ are used to bring on surface.Despite the lyrical importance of the album the group still manages to keep a great balance between vocal and instrumental moments.Some of the best music ever produced by IQ is also included in this work and the listener will face series of smooth piano arrangements and calm vocal performance blended with powerful compositions full of sharp and angular synthesizers, pounding bass lines, hard drumming and shining guitar lines.The most impressive fact though is that the group decided to close the album with the longest track of the album, the 20-min. ''The Narrow Margin'', already a classic composition of IQ, full of changing climates, haunting melodies, dark passages and more uptempo moments with excellent and tight musicianship from the start to the very end.

A Progressive Rock classic?Maybe yes, definitely a Neo Prog classic considering how hard it is to come up with both an impressive concept story and a very long album, that never tires the listener.No doubt, IQ succeded in both sections with this album.Highly recommended.

(9/10)

Well, I've been saying for years that all that it would take to push this album up to 5 stars would be a decent re-recording. So I guess my prayers have been partially answered in 2013 when Mike Holmes, took it upon himself to remix (not re-record) "Tales From The Lush Attic", and add a bunch of other goodies to the package.

Those who have been following IQ's progress throughout the years will know that Mike Holmes has been getting steadily better at mixing records throughout his career, and with 2009's "Frequency" he really reached a tremendous sonic high point. Presumably 30 years on from the original, he now felt he was ready (and had the time) to have a go at remixing. He's done a great job here, keeping what made the original such fun whilst brightening and cleaning up a lot of the sound, as well as adding a few new twists here and there.

It's not the first time IQ has revisited old material, the are re-recorded songs from before "Tales" on "Seven Stories Into 98", and even re-written and re-recorded material from The Lens. This is just a remix though. I was blown away seeing IQ live, performing "The Last Human Gateway Live", by how much they improved an already brilliant song, so a re-recording is what I really wanted, but to be honest this is easily good enough. The 'raw' vocals (and a few other instruments) are still present but actually I liked it then and I like it now. This 2013 version still captures the youthful joy of the original and I like that a lot.

The bonus material should please long-time fans of the band, or those interested in the history. My favourite of the lot is probably the 2012 version of "Wintertell", a compact and beautiful little piece that I really enjoy. The demos are fun too, full of Mike Holmes' melodic guitar. It's all of a good standard really. There's so much of it as well! More IQ than you can shake a stick at, they've really tried to give you a lot for your money.

I won't repeat myself on the actual content of the songs, you can read my review of the original if you want to know, but basically I though it was excellent: full of excellent melodies, complex rhythms, ambition and progressive vision, at a time when most of the 'classic' prog bands were giving up (KC excluded). This album (massive package really) cements the place of "Tales From The Lush Attic" as one of the most important Neo-Prog albums of the 80s (sorry Martin!), and should be owned by all IQ fans. I still think some of the definitive versions of these songs are the live recordings though, and that's why the DVD material is probably the most exciting thing about this album. I wonder if we will we get a similar treat for "The Wake"; that would really be fantastic.

What a great double album, artwork. I saw this band in Buenos Aires presenting Subterranea in 1998 and the perfomance was as good as one might expect. I don´t understand some people consider second disc lower than first. Second disc is little less intense, but close with a epic gem like Narrow Margin. No filler songs, the short songs have a vital rol in construction and unification of the piece. Best songs; Sleepless incidental, Failsafe, Tunnel Vision, Breathtaker, Somewhere in Time and The Narrow Margin. Lyrics and art reveal the fight between good and evil. Keyboards, guitar and bass stand out in perfect form, and voice of Nicholls gets instill lyrics strength. The drums of Paul Cook are accurate and complex.

When I hear the first sounds of Headlong, which form Nicholls's voice and keyboards of Orford, I go back to my youth when I discovered this sensational album. Symphonic purists '70s with whom exchanged, ironically despised. The neo prog was an affront to the ideals of the pillars of the symphony.

A fantastic album that time placed and continue to place as a classic of the genre.

Outer Limits, The Magic Roundabout and Widow's Peak form the basis of this masterpiece, along with the aforementioned Headlong. In presenting Underground tour, enjoyed excellent performances of some of these songs, as well as the title track.

Each band member plays a significant role, outlined the work of Paul Cook. I consider it the best drummer of progressive neo. It gives a prominent musical flight. Essential! 4,5

IQ have long been one of my favourite bands going back to the days of Tommy Vance and the Friday Rock Show in the mid eighties. What struck me immediately from the first time I heard them on a BBC session was this was a band that had the 'chops' to be a proper prog band and not a pale representation. The Last Human Gateway and Through The Corridors have splendid amounts energy and complexity that is unlike most neo prog of the time. This was punk clashing head on with punk and vocalist Peter Nicholls was well able to put across all the pent up angst you could possibly want. Dark atmospheric brilliant and complex. What more could you possibly want? Well a better production for starters and that is what this new package is about. Its NOT a remaster but a total remix. AS I learned from the interesting commentary on the bonus DVD Holmes was able to go back and fix many of the issues that existed with the original production. The synths and mellotron now have a much warmer feel altogether and there are some interesting vocal effects from the use of tailored'plug ins' (software devices apparently).

What was a masterpeice with a poor production is now a masterpeice. The bonus DVD gives you a live performance of Gateway and a few other tracks including The Enemy Smacks. Amusing to see 'I Quo' and good to see Tim Esau again (but cheer up a bit please Tim, it may never happen). There is also a good commentary with plenty of interesting info about that period of IQ (Nicholls and Holmes do the commentary). I love the story about them trying to break into the Marquee to see the Garden Wall gig (the rehearsal for the 6 man Genesis reunion at Milton Keynes) and they ended up on the roof ! As they admit this helped bond them together.

In summary this is a really nice package. CAUTION If you don't like the original album then don't buy this package because it won't change your mind and that is not its purpose.