For the past several years, they have been one of prog rock's best-kept secrets. The band that just about every prog fan salivates over, the band that for over twenty years has created unbelievable musical magic with their amazing live performances and intriguing albums, and the band whose career has outlasted many bands, they are IQ.
After last year's release
Dark Matter hit the racks with a deal inked with Inside Out, the band came to light with an album that Keyboardist Martin Orford said was "their best to date;" no arguments there. But in their twenty-year career, the band has come a long way beyond their early days where members were known to wear "new wave" attire, not to mention that vocalist Peter Nicholl's was known to (well, he still is) to recreate the same imagery of Genesis-era Peter Gabriel (hell, their voices are very similar). They have grown, leading the prog rock genre through all of it's years of transitions, bringing their form of high art to higher levels with each release, nowadays becoming a larger and larger household name not only within the prog field, but within even the metal and melodic rock fields as well.
IQ's sound is easily comparable to Marillion's and Pallas', but with a little more edginess of mid-period Yes, (and Nichol's voice also sounds not only like Gabriel's, but like Fish's as well), they were able to write pop influenced tunes while copulating that with technical musicianship (creating the "neo-prog" sound) and elaborate stage shows that tended to disappear from the progressive rock scene as the 80's drew on.
At this point in time, decades after their formation, IQ has decided to put together a double set of their twentieth anniversary show filmed at The Mean Fiddler in London on December 15th, 2001 with all the goodies. This set includes many favorites from their extensive career and discography (although material from last years
Dark Matter is not present, but understandably so), included are prog opuses such as "
Subterranea" (as an encore presentation) and "
Awake and Nervous," complex material like "
State of Mine," and more ethereal material with "
The Seventh House" and "
Guiding Light" (which eventually turns into a technical jam session), where they cover all the bases of their diverse catalog. If that is not enough, original bassist Tim Esau takes the stage at one point (to play "
Headlong" for the first time ever, a bonus unto itself) and saxman Tony Wright also joins in for a few performances, to sum it up it's one phenomenal show.
Bonus features on the second disc include the
Access All Area, which is a documentary about the tour, showing everything from sound check rehearsals, candid taping of the band behind the scenes, to interviews with the crew, complete with humorous subtitles. The intros/outros feature shows video that was played before and at the end of each show on the large screen behind the band, while the "cookie cam," is a view from the camera that was placed at drummer Paul Cook's kit. Of course there is the photo gallery and a time elapsed video of the stage set up. As an added bonus there is an amateur video of their performance at "
Mamma Mia/Out of Nowhere," recorded in Holland in 2004, so they basically cover all the bases for the fans.
They even get together for a "one night only" performance of the IQ precursor, The Lens, performing with costumes that make them look as they did over twenty years ago, how amazing is that.
The only thing that would be better would be seeing these guys in person; the superb multi-angle camera work, the lighting, and the video that is often played behind them only make for one memorable occasion. If you ever get a chance to see these guys in person (along with related band, Jadis), it is highly recommended that you make the trek to whatever festival or show is.
Rating: 9/10Written by
Hashman Monday, February 21, 2005
