Frequency Tour CD #2
Frequency Tour CD #1
Frequency Tour CD #2
Frequency Tour CD #1
I too have zero problems with IQ's output during Nicholls sabbatical, Bear. I'm a fan of Wurensh too. I've always believed Manel gets too much shit. He's not Peter N, but he didn't imo "drop the ball" all that far on Nomzamo & "Sitting".
Marillion lost me during the Somewhere Else/Happiness Is The Road/Less Is More period (still listened/listen to everything from Script thru Marbles (except Radiation), but Sounds That Can't Be Made (particularly Gaza) brought me back (for now).
"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
I find it very very difficult to rate IQ albums old or new as I like them all about equally. The only one that I think is not that great would be “Are You Sitting Comfortably” and even that one has some good songs on it. I guess I will go:
1. Subterranea
2. Dark Matter
3. Ever
4. Road Of Bones
5. The Wake
The issue for me is Peter Nicholls. Although I like all of the albums on which he appeared, to, me, his singing greatly improved starting with Subterranea. Whether it's The Wake, or Ever, although great musically, I find Nicholls vocals on those earlier albums tough to take.
Surprised to read about all the love for Ever. Is it really that good? Leap of Faith, Came Down and Out of Nowhere are definitely not top-notch IQ tracks.
The genius of the Wake lies in the songwriting, the perfectly balanced track list (remove Corners and the album will lose a lot as a whole), the raw, punk-ish sound quality. Also, Nicholl's shrieking, mourning voice is a positive thing. The Wake is raw, brutal, pitch dark, in your face.
Actually, I think 'Leap of Faith' and 'Came down' are that good! But I agree that 'Out of nowhere' is the weaker song in the collection - but it's nice to have a more straightforward concise rock song in the midst of everything else. Moreover, I don't think they often matched 'Darkest hour' for the perfect album opening (though there are a few other close contenders).
As others have intimated, I personally reckon the band has been a bit artistically stagnant since Dark Matter. I liked Frequency and Road of Bones perfectly well because, hey, I like IQ - but the last album I really enjoyed was The Seventh House (which I realise puts me firmly in the minority).
Yeah I love Ever, not a dud on it! It was where I got on board the IQ train. Have seen the band a few times and always put on a great show. The only album I like after SUBTERRANEA is the one with Harvest of Soul on it. Love that track although it has obvious influences on it!
You are not the only one, Ever was a very big dissapointment. All that edge they had, as you said the rawness, was gone.
All was left was rather boring polished stuff that sounded like everyone else.
This was about the time that everything that was good about Neo Prog, the adventure, the wildness, the charming imperfection
died... Why almost everyone preferes the empty shell it has become is way beyond me...
IQ is one of my favorite bands, and it's tough for me to list my top five, but I will try. For sure, the 2 albums with Menel are at the bottom - I like Human Nature, Wurensch and a few others a lot, but most of the other songs I can't stand.
1. Road of Bones (including disc 2 - I don't consider it a bonus disc as there are great songs there.)
2. Ever
3. Frequency
4. Dark Matter
5. Subterranea
5a. Seventh House
1.) Ever
2.) The Seventh House
3.) Subterranea
4.) The Wake
5.) Tales from the Lush Attic
For the record, Peter Nicholls is currently my favorite male vocalist (not to be confused with best male vocalist). I've always been a fan of what could be a turnoff for some: how his delivery/enunciation is very pronounced, so to speak.
'The smell of strange colours are heard everywhere'- Threshold
Hmm, I'm the first to rate Frequency as #1. I prefer IQ from Ever onward and while I admit they have a "formula", it never gets old for me.
1- Frequency
2- Dark Matter
3- Seventh House
4- Road of Bones
5- Subterranea
You say Mega Ultra Deluxe Special Limited Edition Extended Autographed 5-LP, 3-CD, 4-DVD, 2-BlueRay, 4-Cassette, five 8-Track, MP4 Download plus Demos, Outtakes, Booklet, T-Shirt and Guitar Pick Gold-Leafed Box Set Version like it's a bad thing...
firmly ignoring all live-, fanclub- and anniversary-editions:
1 lush attic
2 7th house
3 nomzamo
4 the wake
5 ever
yep, no subta. while a fine album per se it sounds as if they were trying too hard for their own good. the often maligned 7th house sounds natural and compact and therefore sits at #2 on my list.
The Wake
Lush Attic
Subterranea
Dark Matter
Ever
I'd have to say he's near the top for me, too, even though I don't listen to IQ all that much. Their albums do get a bit samey (though good), and while its not that important to me the vocals come off as sort of meaningless. I now they're not but they seem a little uninspired to me, even though Nicholls sings them with conviction.
1. Ever
2. Subterranea
3. Dark Matter
4. Are you Sitting Comfortably
5. The Seventh House
Tales from the lush attic
are you sitting comfortably
nomzamo
frequency
the wake
Last edited by Trane; 01-05-2016 at 10:17 AM.
my music collection increased tenfolds when I switched from drug-addicts to complete nutcases.
Definitely agreed with this on first listen but now that I've heard it a dozen times I admit, the songwriting is really strong. I still miss the excitement of those first two albums - prog is so much better when they're not playing to a click track - but I find myself going for the later stuff more often now.
Critter Jams "album of the week" blog: http://critterjams.wordpress.com
1. Ever
2. The Wake
3. More Than Meets the Eye
4. (everything else)
5. Subterranea
Yes, Subt. is my least favorite IQ album. Way too long, not nearly enjoyable music. And dare I say it .. pretentious. It wants to be the big epic doubple-album, but it's just ... long. And boring. So in that sense, if they were trying to make their own version of Lamb or Topographical, they succeeded in creating another long, boring, bloated, pretentious doubple-album. Good job!
IMO, of course. If you happen to like it, cool. I'm glad you have something you enjoy. Not my cuppa, is all.
flute juice
^^ Agreed, Subterranea is way too long and a huge letdown after Ever. Don't know why so many love it!
I'm sort of in the same boat. At the time it came out I remember thinking "This bit was lifted from that song on Ever" and "This bit is a rehash of that song on The Wake". Very little of it sounded fresh or innovative in the way Ever or the earlier albums did. Add in the incomprehensible narrative and it's one of IQ's albums I reach for the least. I'm hoping the movie helps shed light on what the heck it's all about.
But I think for folks who discovered IQ in the early 90s it was probably a big ol' bucket of meaty neo-prog that then invited them to explore the back catalog. And it helped propel the band through the next decade or so, which is great.
But yeah... not my cuppa either.
I'm holding out for the Wilson-mixed 5.1 super-duper walletbuster special anniversary extra adjectives edition.
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