IQ: First in the Queue

Started with ‘Ever,’ it immediately clicked (in large part due to the digital synths). Really great, concise album. Moved onto ‘Subterranea.’ I think I’ve listened to it now about 10 times already! Then I tried ‘Road of Bones,’ which didn’t leave as much of an impression, but I can sense that it might be more of a grower than a shower. And finally I’ve checked out ‘Dark Matter’ which is awesome, I’ll definitely be revisiting.

All of IQ’s music is strong and rewarding to repeat listens. Their compositional style is immediately appealing, but you start to appreciate their use of theme only after repeat listens.

And I’m also struck by how successful they are at the long-form album. Many bands get tiresome after 30 min, but I can listen an entire 40+ min IQ album, then immediately put on one of their 100 min albums.

I saw Marillion at Nottingham's Rock City in the mid-1980's, although I only went because a friend gave me free tickets. I would have been better off going to see IQ instead - the only problem being that I'd never heard of IQ before joining Prog Archives in 2019. 

 2010: The Wake: Live at Boerderij, Zoetermeer - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL_TaS3ukydpKWG7sR4Qb24vjPuUZlnzl9

The Wake / The Magic Roundabout

You're absolutely right! After giving The Road of Bones album a second listen this morning, I've now upgraded it from a 4-star to a well-deserved 5-star rating. 

A Missile

Now they are my 2nd fav band (only behind Yes), and I love both their early stuff and their newer releases.

I have however found it very hard to actually buy some of their CD's - but thankfully, as someone else mentioned, they have their own on-line shop. This is where I bought almost all of their CD's from, including Frequency, which i finally picked up last month.

I doubt very much that you'll find any IQ CDs in HMV

As others have said, there are some still available on their own website, reasonably-priced.

You might get lucky, I've come across some prog albums in HMV - Pendragon, Porcupine Tree, Steven Wilson - but they normally file them under Heavy Metal!

I had a hard time acclimatising to Peter Nicholls vocals too, but in The Wake of listening to all of IQ's albums twice over, he finally broke down my Resistance.