2nd IQ thread: I have Freqequency and DarkMatter. What is next?

[Garden Dreamer]

Dark Matter doesn't do it for me either! Seventh House is the weakest since Nichols re-joined the band by a country mile. Not one strong track on it!

The title track is in my top five IQ songs. Emotionally powerful and I love the different sections that unfold. Gives me goose bumps everytime.

Tim35, face it... you're just going to have to acquire ALL of the IQ albums eventually. (although I admit to not owning the Menel-era albums nor the first 2 - I like the songs on Lush Attic and The Wake... when I hear them performed live. I don't care for the production on those early albums to want to own the studio versions)

[Sunhillow]

Subterranea is just as incoherent as The Lamb and a tad more repetitive. The big epic on the end feels tacked on and doesn't do a thing for me.

Gosh, I'm shocked. "The Narrow Margin" is IMO by far IQ's golden moment for me. Maybe it's because the epic is all the way at the end of a long and tiresome double-album that fatigue plays a major rule. So why don't you revisit it on its own merit. Or try the excellent cut of 'part 2' below:

Part two, plus a not-bad complete live-version is in the sidelinks.

My favorite part of this epic is in this part, with lyrics like this (and as you read while listening, play close attention to Cookie's drumwork on this):

Every one of us is herded and contained
Not a single one invited
Voices circulate around the musty hall
And the kerosene's ignited

Through the rising flames that lick against the flesh
Incandescent in the crossfire
Do my eyes betray the longest night of all
Do I see or dream of Maya?

But he's got us where he wanted us to be
Undivided, under control
As the narrow margin finds us face to face
As he laughs across the foxhole


Nicholls' lyrics doesn't come any better.

Which is followed by one of the best IQ-instrumental bits ever. Prog doesn't get any better than "The Narrow Margin".

[arise_shine]

"Ever" is, to me, IQ at their best. The perfect mix of melodic sensibilities, lush textures, driving rock songs, dramatic buildups, and emotional release. I love Nichols's darkly abstract lyrics, too.

Most of the rest of their output is, to me, pretty hit or miss. Especially Subterranea, which I find to be a sprawling, rather boring mess. I tried .. *really tried* .. to enjoy it, but ... I just couldn't. It just feels like a mish-mash of randomly spliced musical ideas that don't really relate to each other (other than the obligatorily manufactured Overture). That, along with the concept, feel very forced. "We're a Serious Prog Band, we must make a Serious Prog Concept Record."

[Jeremy Bender]

You should get the first two, but make sure you get the 30th Annivesary edition of Tales From the Lush Attic because the original issues sound terrible. My favorite IQ is The Wake, but of the later albums, Dark Matter rates highly for me too.

I wonder if fans of IQ in the US did a "Marillion tour fund" thing if they'd come and play a few shows in major cities?

[Neoman]

I wonder if fans of IQ in the US did a "Marillion tour fund" thing if they'd come and play a few shows in major cities?

I'm in!

[Neoman]

Prog doesn't get any better than "The Narrow Margin".

[Tim35]

I ordered only Subterranea for now. Thanks for the opinions.
I will probably pick up more in time.

[Dodie]

Ever and The Wake are easily the most essential two, imho.
The recently remixed and much-improved Tales From The Lush Attic puts it almost up there with The Wake now, which it had never seemed before.
Subterranea has its fantastic moments, but has about the same proportion of average merely ok stuff as Dark Matter, Frequency, and most of the others.

However, along with Ever and The Wake, I'd actually put forward 7 Stories from 98 (re-recorded version of their first "EP"), Are You Sitting Comfortably (yes, it is more commercial in a late 1980s way but it's still fantastic, as far as I'm concerned), and Forever Live. All those I've mentioned warmly I'd put above the rest.

[Neoman]

I ordered only Subterranea for now. Thanks for the opinions.
I will probably pick up more in time.

Good Man! You will enjoy this tremendously!

[Guitarplyrjvb]

Ever for me. I agree with those who think Subterranea is bloated, repetitive, and boring. Later, they grafted too much heavy metal onto their music and lost that great balance they achieved with Ever. The earlier albums, while good, are too derivative of Genesis for me.

[Neoman]

Ever for me. I agree with those who think Subterranea is bloated, repetitive, and boring. Later, they grafted too much heavy metal onto their music and lost that great balance they achieved with Ever. The earlier albums, while good, are too derivative of Genesis for me.

To each, his own . Other than Dark Matter, I don't hear any Heavy Metal?
I will say that so many neo-prog bands crossed the line into prog metal & that is unfortunate but not IQ.

Subterranea is filled with brilliance.
Frequency is a perfect album - in my opinion.
And from what I have heard - The Road Of Bones may be their best yet!

[Rufus]

I ordered only Subterranea for now. Thanks for the opinions.
I will probably pick up more in time.

Wise choice, get Ever next & you have both masterpieces!

[ThomasKDye]

I got so into IQ at one point that I made an effort to get into Ever three times. In the end, the only song I could really dig was "Out of Nowhere." Everything else just felt like a bunch of parts grafted onto each other without a unifying thrust or direction. The last three albums (before the new one) felt more like they had a cohesive vision for each song, and I just didn't get that from Ever at all.

[Ken Baird]

Gosh, I'm shocked. "The Narrow Margin" is IMO by far IQ's golden moment for me. Maybe it's because the epic is all the way at the end of a long and tiresome double-album that fatigue plays a major rule. So why don't you revisit it on its own merit. Or try the excellent cut of 'part 2' below:

Part two, plus a not-bad complete live-version is in the sidelinks.

My favorite part of this epic is in this part, with lyrics like this (and as you read while listening, play close attention to Cookie's drumwork on this):

Every one of us is herded and contained
Not a single one invited
Voices circulate around the musty hall
And the kerosene's ignited

Through the rising flames that lick against the flesh
Incandescent in the crossfire
Do my eyes betray the longest night of all
Do I see or dream of Maya?

But he's got us where he wanted us to be
Undivided, under control
As the narrow margin finds us face to face
As he laughs across the foxhole


Nicholls' lyrics doesn't come any better.

Which is followed by one of the best IQ-instrumental bits ever. Prog doesn't get any better than "The Narrow Margin".

I would fully agree with this now, but I wasn't an instant convert to Subterranea. When I found out that they were going to play the whole album at Rosfest in 2012, Subterranea was one of the few IQ albums I hadn't bought yet (the other was Nomzamo but I have that too now), so I bought it and listened to it non-stop a few weeks before the show. I got to love the album, but in particular "The Narrow Margin". I'd now agree is one of their best longer tracks and a "new" personal favourite of mine. How did I hold off this album for so long? Beautiful stuff! PS, the show was brilliant too!

[jlneudorf]

To each, his own . Other than Dark Matter, I don't hear any Heavy Metal?
I will say that so many neo-prog bands crossed the line into prog metal & that is unfortunate but not IQ.

Subterranea is filled with brilliance.
Frequency is a perfect album - in my opinion.
And from what I have heard - The Road Of Bones may be their best yet!

Agreed. IMO IQ is far removed from metal. Heavy prog, yes, but not metal.

Regards,
Jon

[progeezer's ghost]

They're one of my all-time favorite bands and Peter Nicholls is my favorite male vocalist. I like everything I've heard from them (which is virtually everything they've done). And while I'm (likely) as big a fan of concept albums as you'll ever meet (my top four all-time favorite albums are all conceptual), and I think Subterranea is a decent album (especially Overture, the title track, and The Narrow Margin), I'd say I reach for this one far less than anything else in their catalog with the exception of the two Paul Menel albums which are still good for what they are: pop-prog (or prog lite, if you will). If I had to choose a favorite(s) it'd/they'd be Ever and/or The Seventh House. Happy listening!

[Neoman]

The Road Of Bones will more than likely be in the top 3 releases of their career.