I have all their albums, one of my favorite bands. The first two CDs ("Sliver if The Sun" & "I Move"), plus "The Darkening Room", are my favorites. One of my favorite songs period, is "The Wait Of It All" from Ampersand.
Not exactly sure why they are not more popular, but a lot of that has to do with marketing, and label support. I don't believe the band has ever done a proper tour even, mainly playing festivals in the states. I've never seen them live, only on DVD and youtube.
I really like the music, but struggle with the vocals. Their NF show was a lot of fun.
"Who would have thought a whale would be so heavy?" - Moe Sizlak
Wow! That's pretty great. Now I have to get Ampersand too? Damn it.Originally Posted by bigjohnwayne
The Prog Corner
Izz hasn't made a bad record - they're all great! So far, for my ears, the favourite is the one I bought most recently (that has been mostly in chrono order). Their music is melodic, adventurous, highly progified, restrained when the song needs it, and I'd say yet somewhat accessible. The two part title track "Crush of Night" from their most recent is, in my opinion, Izz at their best. Here's the 2nd part....
Last edited by Don Arnold; 10-14-2014 at 03:10 PM. Reason: typo....D'oh!
Wow! I haven't been around here in about a week. I come back, and there's an IZZ thread on the main page! Thanks for all of the kind words about the band. I'm glad to hear that some people are still discovering our music. It's easy to think that you've "made the rounds" already, considering the tight-knit society that is online progressive rock fandom. It's nice to know there are still potential fans out there.
To answer some questions about the limited promotion and touring that we do: our resources limit the extents to which we are able to self-promote. Certain opportunities, like U.S.-based festivals, are within our means from both a time and cash-flow perspective. It costs to travel, so any profit from touring needs to at least cover (or nearly cover) our expenses. So far, nobody outside of the U.S. or Canada has been able to cover the cost of our travel to make European touring viable. Believe me, we're dying to play outside of North America! Having a higher profile on a global stage would certainly boost awareness of the band.
Another obstacle to our touring is that none of us support ourselves through IZZ. We all have professional responsibilities which limit our ability to take large amounts of time off for touring. Day jobs pay the bills and make it possible for us to devote time to creating our music, but a proper, extended tour would require major lifestyle changes and an influx of money from a benefactor.
At this point in our lives, we're pretty happy to just be able to make music we love playing (and that many of you seem to enjoy hearing). That's not to say that we've stopped looking for new opportunities, but our expectations are in check. We're incredibly grateful for the enthusiastic support we get from the prog community! Thanks again.
Nice post Brian and helps put people's thoughts and expectations in order.
Always entertaining, and always professional.
There are a couple of handfuls of songs that I literally can not keep my eyes open to as I completely lose myself in the music and let them take over my body and mind. The Crush Of Night Suite is one of them. I've had it come on my MP3 player while driving and I've pulled the car over to safely listen to it.
They remind me of Phideaux in that they just keep getting better.
"The woods would be very silent if the only birds that sang were those who sang best..." - Henry David Thoreau
You are correct, Tony. I've seen IZZ three or four times over the years, and they just keep on getting better and better. Virtuoso musicians and virtuoso people.
Lou
Looking forward to my day in court.
... plus, God is their lead guitarist. Seriously, Brems simply can NOT play a bad solo. It was fascinating to hear Him step aside and let a very gifted human being like Gary Green of Gentle Giant solo on a couple songs on their last album, but there is only ONE Brems.
We've had the pleasure of opening for Izz Quad/Lite (John, Brems, Laura and Brian) and playing a night after them in full band form in May at Quebec's Terra Incognita Festival. Underrated doesn't even begin to cover it. nycsteve puts it well above that we are in an age where you can find great music that floats your boat more than anything but you have to FIND it! IZZ are a strange bird that really toggle all the boxes of what I look for in music and they keep up a high level of talent across all of their releases. I personally feel like they deserve the attention and success of an Inside Out or a K-Scope level artist but I'm not sure how much they've courted proper record labels in their 15+ years in the marketplace. Not that it's the "be all end all" but take ProgArchives for example where their latest album is #88 album of 2012. Whah? But as you see above from Brian, no one in the band complains that they're not "bigger"-that's OUR job!They've done about as well as a band can do in our tiny prog universe if you look at festival appearances -and I would assume-CD/download sales that allow them to continue writing and recording as they do.
Besides all of this musical talk above, I consider the band my friends and the IZZ members we've played on the same bill with in Connecticut, Baltimore, New York City and beyond have been immensely supportive and we feel the same way back. We cheer each others triumphs and value each other's recorded works and live shows.
Doesn't get better than that.
I have Greg Jones to thank, he turned me onto "My River Flows" a few years ago and I immediately felt the intensity and emotional quality to IZZ music and lyrics. Seeing them live at Terra Incognita in 2011 was one of "those" moments -- a fantastic performance with all the trademark cool-ass prog-rock moves but also an honesty and emotional depth that left me reeling. Still combing thru their catalog starting with "Crush of Night", a great record.
And, yeah, Brems -- fantastic! They all are.
My son got into them after they released IMove.
He tried to get me into them and although I enjoyed a few songs off of each of their first two albums, I really couldn't embrace them.
A few years later, I was given a copy of My River Flows. Wow, there wasn't a weak song on the album. It blew me away. I loved it. And the two newer albums also blew me away.
Now I have finally developed the appreciation of their whole catalog. I have a copy of everything other than Ampersand. I even have John Galgano's solo disk (admittedly very different) and I love that too.
I don't think you can go bad with any of their works.
Thank you, Brian. I just discovered your band and I wanted to "get the pulse" from all the experts on here about you guys. I thought I might have been hearing things because IZZ sounds a whole like a top-tier band to me!!! Keep it up. I love IZZ!!!
The Prog Corner
IZZ RULEZZ
I wish they would stop cutting off people's heads.
NEVER UNDERESTIMATE THE POWER OF STUPID PEOPLE IN LARGE GROUPS!
IZZ has never even slightly disappointed me, both recorded and live.
They are instantly recognizable because they are one of few bands that when asked "who do they sound like", the only correct answer is "no one but IZZ".
Brems is one of the true guitar greats in prog, period.
I have the entire catalog (incl. Ampersand) and still can throw any one of them on & be sonically sated.
"My choice early in life was either to be a piano player in a whorehouse or a politician, and to tell the truth, there's hardly any difference"
President Harry S. Truman
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