TALES FROM THE LUSH ATTIC

I.Q. are a band I never got into in my younger prog days but one I have grown to appreciate greatly in my later years exploring new areas of prog. They are easily the most consistently great progressive rock band probably ever, even if that consistency doesn't always mean masterpieces. I'm going to be reviewing each of their albums chronologically. Let's begin!

The Last Human Gateway: Starting off with a 20 minute epic is a ballsy move. This is a strong piece, if somewhat amateur sounding. Still, their energy and style is to be commended. The song alternates with slower melodic passages with more driving rock sections, keeping the pacing flowing smoothly with lots of great melodies and guitar and keyboard textures creating that symphonic feel so iconic to the best progressive rock. Still, it can't help but feel haphazardly put together. Great playing, and a sign of what was to come from them. The lyrics, pretty typical for Nicholls, are opaque and vague while also being very evocative imagery.

Through The Corridors: Always good to follow an epic with a short piece, even if it's a hard rocking one. Cool riff from Mike Holmes, and a very tight rhythm section keeping him anchored, while the keyboards add their own manic riffing. Nice little piece, good synth solo.

Awake and Nervous: Another prog staple, the mini epic, first of two. Clocking in at 7 and ½ minutes, this piece begins with a genesis esque keyboard melody and time signature, an overture of sorts. The rhythm section continues to be extremely tight and quick on the time changes and complex rhythmic structures. Good classic mellotron sound as well. Seriously, the drums are straining to break out even further from the already fast paced playing. This band is unpolished but you can tell they are HUNGRY.

My Baby Treats Me Right: Very short mostly piano piece, filler but fine.

The Enemy Smacks: Another mini epic, at 13 minutes. Another keyboard and guitar driven overture. These bits, coupled with the low production quality, give the impression of Genesis/Yes fans just playing their own style in their garage, but again the playing is very strong and compositions good enough to get invested and keep following this band. Lots of strong playing again, but doesn't quite stand out YET as truly brilliant prog.

Overall their sound and playing are strong, but the original accusations that "Neo-Prog" was just copying the old greats? sort of hold up. I.Q.'s sound will never truly lose the influence of Genesis, but they will become original enough to stand as a great in their own right as we will see.