TALES FROM THE LUSH ATTIC

I absolutely loved Marillion's "Script for a Jesters Tear" when it was released as I still do today. I absolutely loved all of Genesis Gabriel era. Why then did I not discover this album and IQ back then when this was released? No clue relating to the answer to that question however I know today that I really, really like this. I discovered IQ around a year ago and cannot imagine how I missed this band in my hunt for good music back when I was a younger man. Better late than never I guess. The musicianship on this album is at least as good as that found on Marillion's first album and Peter Nicholls, although not as dramatic a vocalist as Fish is, is damn good here - I find him pretty close to Peter Gabriel on this album (and that is not a bad thing). A standout musician here is Martin Orford (who struts his stuff with a piano solo on the "My Baby Treats Me Right.........." track) on keyboards however there is absolutely nothing wrong with the ability of any of the other musicians. That these guys can play is clearly apparent throughout the whole album - not least on the instrumental side of "The Enemy Smacks". A solid four stars from me - it is not as powerful as "Script for a Jester's Tear" from Marillion (released in the same year as this was and used by me therefore as a measuring stick) but there's nothing weak about it at all.