RESISTANCE

IQ did it again !!!. Hands down the most consistent Prog rock band of all times, IQ has managed to keep producing excellent prog music through its almost 40 years of existence. In my humble opinion, IQ is the definition of what Prog Rock should be, music that evolves and never bores you, with excellent balance of melodic music and powerful vocals. For those that know IQ, this will sound familiar. For those new to the band, on top of this description, the best way to define IQ is what Genesis would have been have they continued their pure prog style, probably right after Selling England by the Pound...

Resistance is another good example of the above. Starting with A Missile, a heavy and unusually strong first song, the album slowly evolves into more symphonic and balanced pieces, including their vintage 15-20 mins long songs. Shallow Bay marks the beginning of their best section of the album with excellent keyboards and solid guitar by Mike Holmes. Followed by a mellower song, If Anything, slows the tempo and prepares the stage to what I consider the masterpiece of the album, For Another Lifetime. This song starts with unusual keyboards, resembling a playground fair and slowly keeps growing to beautiful passages and an epic finale with magnificent guitar solos and impeccable and emotional voice by Peter Nichols, who seems to get better with time. Drums by Paul Cook are also very creative and powerful.

CD2 continues the album's progression with two long and solid songs, The Great Spirit Away and Fallout, which reinforce their progressive, balanced and evolving style that has wondered us for so many years. In between, Fire and Security shows the most impressive guitar solo of the album and represents one of the highlights of the album.

On balance, this is another solid album by IQ, the only probable disappointment is that we will have to wait for another 5 years until we get another jewel from this magnificent band :(.