EVER

First ; the old IQ sound is fortunately back ! Second : Peter Nicholls is again on the command of the lead vocals. Not that I disliked Paul Menel (I have already expressed my opinion about this in the appropriate reviews). So, I was really thrilled to discover this "old" new IQ album (do you follow me ?).

We are immediately brought back in the mood of their early work with the opening number : "The Darkest Hour". It holds all the items IQ fans love (which are equal to the ones that their distractors hate). This great song is with no doubt reminiscent of Genesis, but IQ has never denied this filiation. When you see them played live, Nicholls's tone of voice will automatically remind you with the other Peter's one. But I guess that I must be a privileged one for having seen Peter with Genesis on stage (back in April 1975) and be able to compare.

IQ is a band that I appreciate a lot. Live or in the studio. They bring me lots of emotion. Just listen to "Fading Senses" to hear what I'm talking about. This rather simple song is just beautiful. Peter sounding a bit sad and lonely, though. But so is he. And so I love him.

If you ever would like to be sure about IQ's influence, I guess that the intro of "Out Of Nowhere" will give you the answer. "Watcher Of The Skies" man ! Since they are doing it with such respect for the band we all praised on PA, I can not even be worried with the similarity. Just a wink. There will even be an almost similar riff as in "Now I'm Here" from Queen (you know, the rock band) further on in this song. The finale though is again fully "Watcher" inspired.

The second long song " Further Away" won't hold the untold promises of its lenght. Just another good IQ song, but no real and splendid epic. One could have hoped something more grandiose from IQ. It will hold its portion of emotion and Mike will display a very nice guitar break just ahead the finale which is fully Genesis oriented again. But it is a bit too short for an almost fifteen minutes song.

One of my preferred song on this album is "Leap Of Faith". Very nice keys for this gentle song. Simple and effective. Mike will be great again during his finale solo. It will nicely flow into "Came Down" which will beautifully close the album. But the mood is a bit too much on the sad side and Genesis is too much present.

I fully adhere to the fact that this enormous band (from 1970 till 1978) has been a major source of inspiration for a lot of bands, but still I would expect some more personality, even from IQ which I like very much.

This album is of course much better than the two previous studio ones from the Menel days. Again, I' m not sure that this line-up would have generated better stuff in those difficult days (end of eighties) .

I'm just happy to listen to some good IQ music again but I can hardly go beyond three stars in my rating.

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