FREQUENCY

I don't have all that much exposure to the music of IQ, although I do own a copy of "Are You Sitting Comfortably?", which I haven't listened to in years. But this album makes me want to revisit it.

The album isn't perfect, there seems to be something about Peter Nicholls' vocals that I can't quite place that puts me off, and the music during most of the verse sections of the songs can get a bit drab, but when the band goes off instrumentally, the songs soar. Luckily, the good parts far outweigh the bad, so I give this album thumbs up.

My copy also includes a live DVD of a full concert recorded in Holland in 2007, including two of the songs from the new album, one under a different title with different lyrics. The performance throughout is flawless, although the camerawork sometimes jostles, and be warned, the concert was not filmed in high def, so it looks somewhat grainy on larger televisions. But it's a worthwhile DVD nonetheless.