EVER

IQ never sounded better before this album, maybe only on The wake that for sure. Released in 1993 and named Ever, this album must be seen as one ofthe best neo prog albums of the 90s. A return to form after unintresting and almost comercial Are You Sitting Comfortably? and Nomzamo from the late 80s. Ever is really a very good album full of intresting passages and warm vocal lines. Every musician shines here, Nichols is back behind the mic after some years spended outside IQ and he done one of the best vocal arrangements he ever done on an IQ album. Opening with elegant and yet complex mid paced piece The Darkest Hour, I guess one of the best pieces IQ ever recorded, with amazing musicianship nad top notch ideas, the drums , the guitar the keyboards are simply perfect - complex neo prog of the highest calibre. The rest of the pieces goes this way, all are winners here, the longest track Further Away is another top notch track. All in all a very worthy album of a band that in the late '80s seamns to lost his identity, but founded gain after 3-4 years with this album. After Ever IQ climb higher and higher with each album, and I don;t think they got weak album from this one on, all are top notch including the The wake from previous era of the band. Dark matter, Seventh house and their last album to date Frequency all are very demanding neo prog rleases that every neo prog fan must own it. From me Ever is excellent and desearves to treated this way - 4.5 stars easy among the finest albums of that decade for sure and probably my fav IQ album .