TALES FROM THE LUSH ATTIC

Review Nº 820

By the early of the 80's, the prog rock was practically dead, showing signs of exhaustion. The big bands were in crisis, some coming to an end, others changing their style. In 1981, two friends who were part of the recently extinct band The Lens decided to move forward in music, and leave for another project, Mike Holmes and Martin Orford. They recruited Mark Ridout and Tim Esau and formed IQ. Over time, a certain Genesis influence took over the band. In the beginning, the themes were basically instrumentals. The vocals, when there were, were in charge of Martin. But everyone thought the band needed a singer with a stronger voice. They ended up finding in an old acquaintance the singer they were looking for, Peter Nicholls a friend of Martin and Mike that was part of Lens for a while. Just over a month after Peter joined, Mark left the group, being replaced by Paul Cook. With a stable line up, the band made their first work "Seven Stories Into Eight". In 1983, they released their real debut album "Tales From The Lush Attic", which was well received.

So, "Tales From The Lush Attic" is the debut studio album of IQ and that was released in 1983. The line up on the album is Peter Nicholls (vocals), Mike Holmes (acoustic, electric and twelve-string guitars), Martin Orford (keyboards, synthesizer and Mellotron), Tim Esau (bass guitar) and Paul Cook (drums and percussion).

For those who love Marillion in Fish's era, this is a must have album in your collection. If you haven't heard IQ, then know that, though IQ is unique in many ways, the impression is that "Tales From The Lush Attic" has a sprinkling of Genesis' "Selling England By The Pound" with a modern edge like Marillion produced at the time. The big difference between the two was that Marillion often didn't demonstrate their technical skills in the first place. The songs, the lyrics, and the overall compositions came first. But the IQ's approach has always been a bit more to the other side. Holmes is technically a brilliant guitarist and his solos and fills are unique and very aggressive. Orford contributed with major keyboard solos and runs while also attending to Mellotrons and "lush" key orchestrations. Esau's bass pulses with energy in counter point with drummer Cook playing with speed and energy more in the style of Keith Moon. Leading is Nicholls who wrote all the lyrics and has, like in Marillion's Fish, a whimsical vocal style of Peter Gabriel in Genesis.

"Tales From The Lush Attic" has five tracks. All tracks were written by IQ. The first track "The Last Human Gateway" is over 20 minutes and was the entire side one of the original vinyl release. In the best tradition of Marillion, this title proposes three main sections, with multiple themes linked to each other. It's a great suite of varying moods with an absolutely haunting melody, with neat arrangements and where the balance between the different instruments and the vocal parts accentuates the pleasure distilled by the catchy melodies. For me, it's one of the defining songs of the genre and by itself it worth the price of this set alone. The second track "Through The Corridors" is a small and fast speed rocker with guitar and keyboards constantly exchanging runs on fast forward. This is a pleasant little tune. The third track "Awake And Nervous" carries on with the pace with Orford demonstrating once again why he is still one of the best keyboardists in prog nowadays. The track features the usual IQ trademark with the rhythm section playing a time signature that defies your expectations while the main melody carries on clever and catching. This is another great track. The fourth track "My Baby Treats Me Right 'Cos I'm A Hard Lovin' Man All Night Long" is very short, a beautiful fast paced classical piano piece that pulls you away from the previous tracks. It serves as a refreshing respite. The fifth track "The Enemy Smacks" remains one of the band's major standards today. It brings you back to something in the area of Genesis. But, despite the track often evokes Genesis, these are only reminiscences and not plagiarism. It's a combination of a very aggressive hard rock with symphonic progressive which happens to contains some of their most complex moments on the album. This is another fan favourite that still finds its way into the IQ live set even in our days.

Conclusion: IQ is often overlooked but is a band that historically deserves co-credit along with better known Marillion for stubbornly keeping the progressive rock door opened during the early 80's. Both bands would release their debut albums in 1983. However, unlike the more commercially successful of "Script For A Jester's Tear" of Marillion, IQ's own offering "Tales From The Lush Attic". Maybe not as good as Marillion's work, IQ presents another great proposal, an earthier and grittier side to progressive rock. "Tales From The Lush Attic" is an album that offers a balanced portion of hurried guitar and enveloping keyboards. Specks of prog era Genesis glisten with every note sung by lead singer Peter Nicholls, who sounds like Gabriel. Even the structure of some of the songs resembles bits of "The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway". But, there's a real air on this album that gathers our attention, especially on the synth and Mellotron ridden passages. So, "Tales From the Lush Attic" is a great debut album of one of the best and most consistent prog bands.

Prog is my Ferrari. Jem Godfrey (Frost*)

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