IQ Appreciation Thread

Well IQ is one of the biggest Prog bands in New Wave Prog scene. And my favourite album of 'em is The Wake. Ever and Tales from the Lush Attic are great too, but I still cannot get into Subterranea, I wonder why.

Roj M30 wrote: . progrules wrote: That was some initiative Roj to start this thread. I don't expect it to become as long as TFK's though but who knows these words will be punished. And don't be mad if I'm not hanging out here as often as on our "own" thread. I hope we haven't lost you on TFK now that you have your thread .   I'm not a big IQ fan even though I'm PA's biggest neo fan. Probably they are too intelligent for me . But I will give my list of their albums in order of my preference:   1. Seventh House   4,25* 2. Subterrenea (like your top two, but the rest is totally different)   4,1* 3. Ever  3,6* 4. J'ai Polette d'Arnu  3,5* 5. Tales from the Lush Attic  3,5* 6. Are you sitting comfortably ?  3,25* 7. Dark Matter  3,2* 8. Nomzamo 2,9* 9. The Wake 2   And I still have to explore Frequency (my supplier did the same thing here as yours did with The Flower King: they didn't have it at the right time so I will have to wait a while) But I guess it will be on 3rd or 4th place estimated from what I've heard and read.   Can you give your list of all these albums (right now I only know your top 5) Roj ?   Hi Henk and thanks for posting.  I've been a little quiet the last few days.  Here's my ratings of the IQ studio albums:- 7 Stories Into 8 - 3.25 stars.  Great promise on this classic oldie. Tales From The Lush Attic - 5 stars.  One of the very best early neo albums in terms of composition, if not production  The Wake - 4.5-4.75 stars.  Brilliant album, I've always loved this one. Nomzamo - 2.5 stars.  Proof that Peter Nicholls is essential to IQ. Are You..... - 2.5 stars.  As above. Ever - 3.5 stars.  This one underwhelmes me a little, but Leap Of Faith is truly amazing. Subterranea - 5 stars.  Wonderful concept album, very atmospheric.  Strangely the epic is for me a (relative) weak point. Seventh House.  Their best album.  Superb from start to finish, a masterpiece. Seven Stories Into 98 - 3.75 stars.  Excellent renewal of this oldie. Dark Matter - 3.5 stars.  Sacred Sound is as good as anything they've done.  Tracks 2-4 are good but whilst HOS has some great parts it leans on Suppers Ready too much for me. Frequency - 4.25 stars.  Excellent album but with a couple of weaker tracks.  The better tracks (1,2,3 and 5) are absolutely tremendous. So that's my verdict, and I'm sure many will disagree.  Don't worry Henk, I'll never stray too far from the TFK thread

Strange, because Dark Matter and Frequency have barely been away from my MP3 player for some time now. I rate Dark Matter as at least a 4 star album, and really am thinking seriously about editing my review to a five star album. Harvest of Souls is an incredible epic track. On the last two albums, Nicholls has demonstrated to me why he is one of the finest vocalists of any genre about.

natewait wrote: I like IQ too   I guess I'm more of a fan of their newer, more symphonic, direction because I absolutely adore Dark Matter and Frequency and have a harder time getting into their older stuff. To be honest, though, the only other IQ album I've really listened to is Subterranea and I've only listened to it once, so I think I need to give their older stuff more of a chance.

Their vinyl debut "Tales From The Lush Attic" is incredible stuff, you should check that out.

The opening epic is one of my favorite, and if you like Gabriel-era Genesis, you should love that album.

I watched the "Live Forever" DVD yesterday. I must say that they are great musicians, but I think they do lack orginality. Too much late 70's Genesis and Marillion. And the vocals is not my cup of tea. Stil a band that is good on what their are doing in my opinion.



Edited by Rottenhat - July 15 2009 at 22:06

This is great thread as I have been getting back into IQ recently having fallen in love with Frequency.  Motivated by their new album I have revisited some of their previous stuff and currently like them in this order.
1. Frequency  4.32
2. The Seventh House  4.24
3. Subterranea 4.20
4. Dark Matter  3.80
5. The Wake  3.50

That was some initiative Roj to start this thread. I don't expect it to become as long as TFK's though but who knows these words will be punished. And don't be mad if I'm not hanging out here as often as on our "own" thread. I hope we haven't lost you on TFK now that you have your thread .

I've got "Dark Matter" just because of the cover art and 24-min long closing track, and for that time I didn't know they're Neo-Prog pioneers along with my beloved (even then) MARILLION. I was completely blown away, it had become my fave album for few months, and it's still my fave IQ album. Then I got first two albums on CDs and "The Seventh House" as digital download, later was "Subterranea", the rest is history, as they say. My top would look like this:

1. 2004
2. 1985
3. 2000
4. 1997/2009
5. 1983/1993

Subterranea is still their  best albums [i  didnt hear Frequency,yet but im going to get it in the next couple of weeks  ] 

The Old Road wrote: I think with Dark Matter and Frequency, they've moved almost completely away from neo-prog into a more symphonic style. It suits them well, these are two strong albums.   I dug Nomzamo and Ever out the other day and was amazed at how dated they sounded (those 80's and early 90's production styles are not to my taste).

Nomzamo sounds much more dated than Ever. Nothing dates like terrible pop music from that era.

I think with Dark Matter and Frequency, they've moved almost completely away from neo-prog into a more symphonic style. It suits them well, these are two strong albums.