FREQUENCY

Neo prog is the first modern progressive rock genre and, despite having a considerable amount of bands, I rarely am interested by the genre. It is not that i deslike it or anything, it is just that most bands seem to go through that same old same old places: that same floydian keyboards and organ, same godawful Peter Gabriel impersonation, moody guitars, generic Genesis influences, etc, not bringing anything really new to the table. That predictability obviously does not thrill me, so I usually steer far from it.

From time to time, however, the planets align and the cosmic starlight hits me, making me check some neo band or release, usually some known band or well received album to avoid excpected dissappointments. This album, therefore, should be a safe one to pick, since it is by one of the main bands of neo prog and was generally well received. With that idea on my mind I got my copy of Frequency and had some real long and thoughtful listen on my 20 hour bus trip to Rio to see Dream Theater, on late 2009.

The veredic is clear: far from having the characteristic predictability of neo prog, Frequency is an interesting, amusing and exciting output by IQ that hooked me for good.Obviously, just as the apple can't fall far from the tree, IQ still has the characteristic genre sound. Frequency, however, has some of the heaviest riffs I have ever seen on any neo band so far, riffs that can be even called as heavy metal riffs. The heaviness, though not being necessarily a good thing, sure is a breath of fresh air.

Music wise, all instruments are quite good: the moody atmosphere, the moogs and synthesizers, the exiteing guitars and basses, everything fits just right. The vocals are also very interesting, since Peter's vocals are very competent, fit exactly in the band's sound and are also quite different from what I expected.

In spite of all that, this album is far from being perfect. First, it is just too long. Some of the songs could easily be out of the album without doing any damage, being the biggest example of that the song One Fatal Mistake. Other songs could also be considerably shortened.

Another key problem of Frequency is that sometimes the band simply cannot keep up with the song's quality. The change they make around the mid of the first song, for example, is just terrible! It begins so good and it develops to such an adorable and captivating atmosphere and then it is COMPLETELY RUINED! This also happens in other parts of the album, but they aren't as bad as in the first song.

Grade and Final Thoughts

Frequency had the potential to be a masterpiece. The album has so many great ideas and is presented so well! However, a series of small mistakes are eventually summed up and weight quite negatively. It is, nevertheless, a great album and surely is something that most progheads can (and should) enjoy, thus 4 stars seem like the appropriate rating.

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