THE SEVENTH HOUSE

"The Seventh House" is the seventh studio album of IQ that was released in 2000. Somehow, I must confess that I was taken by surprise that IQ came up with a successor to "Subterranea" so quickly. It's not so long ago when the live version of "Subterranea" was released. And we know that IQ isn't particularly one of the most prolific bands, really. But they did that. "The Seventh House" is probably more aggressive, less unwieldy yet just as melodic as "Subterranea" is.

The line up is the same of "Ever" and "Subterranea". So we have Peter Nicholls (lead and backing vocals), Mike Holmes (guitars, guitar synthesizer and keyboards), Martin Orford (backing vocals and keyboards), John Jowitt (backing vocals and bass) and Paul Cook (drums and percussion). The album had also the participation of Tony Wright (saxophone).

"The Seventh House" has six tracks. All songs were written by IQ and all lyrics were written by Peter Nicholls. The first track "The Wrong Side Of Weird" is a great intro to the album. It starts with some nice keyboard sounds, a gently guitar slowly enters, and then, the melody line kicks in, and suddenly, the vocals begin with the characteristic and unique voice of Peter Nicholls. This is a track with some lovely instrumental parts that combines and contrasts perfectly well with the heavier parts in a very nice way. The track is a typical IQ track and represents the second lengthiest track on the album. The final result is an excellent and very recognisable IQ track. The second track "Erosion" is the shortest track on the album. Lyrically it picks up where "The Wrong Side Of Weird" ended, with the question "Where do I start?". This is a very efficient and a very strong track. It opens with synthesizers and vocals, but soon a guitar and a bass riff comes in and suddenly the bombastic middle section of the song explodes with the vocals turning from despair to anger. The song features a very dramatic melody, sung in a brilliant way by Nicholls, in both parts of the song, in the bombastic and the calmer parts of the song. This is unquestionably one of the best tracks on the album that became as one of the favourite songs of their fans. The third track "The Seventh House" is the title track song and represents the lengthiest track on the album. It starts slowly in a very typical IQ manner with a gentle combination of guitar and vocal works. The middle part of the song is introduced by a great instrumental part, with great riffs and great breaks. This is, in my humble opinion, one of the most complex songs ever made by the band. For instance, the second half features a musical section where the rhythm section is playing in a completely different time signature than vocals and keyboards. This is, without any doubt, the greatest highlight on the album. The fourth track "Zero Hour" is a more straightforward song, but nevertheless it also appeals to me. The combination of the nice melody, Peter's gentle vocal work, the simple but warm bass line, Tony's saxophone solo and the acoustic and electric guitar solos offer enough elements to make of this a very nice and enjoyable track. However, I find this one of the two less interesting tracks on the album. The fifth track "Shooting Angels" is, for me, the other less interesting track on the album, despite being also a very nice track for me. It's a track that starts with a gentle guitar opening and where the lyrics have some good lines and the saxophone sounds very nice. However and unfortunately that isn't enough to save the track of being the weakest of all the tracks on the album. Sincerely, I think that it's a shame, but it hasn't quality enough for the usual IQ standards. The sixth and last track "Guiding Light" represents fortunately another IQ classic track. It finishes the album in a great way. A quiet piano vocal part opens the song with a very lovely melody before the heavy and middle section of the song explodes in a bombastic way with dark riffs and breaks that reminds me other more heavy bands like Rush and Dream Theater. After the return of a guitar theme from "The Seventh House" the song parts into a great final, including bass pedals and a nice guitar solo. This is, without any doubt, a great song that represents an excellent way to close this great album.

Conclusion: "The Seventh House" is a great album that remains as one of their best works that must be appreciated by all IQ fans. Still, it has its weaknesses, the two songs that I mentioned before, "Zero Hour" and especially "Shooting Angels". By the other hand, its sound seems to be as if it was chronological between "Ever" and "Subterranea", and no after the latter one, indeed. So, and despite all I said before, I really love the album and this is for me one of the best IQ albums. Still, it can't be considered by any meaning an innovative album in any sense, but a step back into their music, in a certain way. So, I wouldn't recommend "The Seventh House" as a starting point to anyone that isn't familiar with the music of this great progressive band. Sincerely I think that we are in presence of an album a bit unbalanced to be another classic album o IQ. IQ has made better studio albums and live albums. For instance "Ever" can be considered a better album because is more balanced. In my humble opinion, a beginner must start by some of their best studio albums, for instance, "Subterranea" or "Dark Matter", which are, for me, two of the best progressive albums ever made.

Prog is my Ferrari. Jem Godfrey (Frost*)

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