IQ Subterranea

Even IQ's most dedicated fans don't expect the group to top its third-period crowning achievement, Subterranea, but does Dark Matter ever get close! This album makes The Seventh House (IQ's previous album, released three years earlier) appear very, very average. The melodies are catchier and more moving, the writing stronger, the arrangements more varied. The album's strength mostly resides in the 24-minute closing epic, "Harvest of Souls," surely IQ's best epic song, arguably their best song, period. After the oblique meanders of the cluttered "The Narrow Margin" (from Subterranea, that album's weaker point), "Harvest of Souls" offers a much clearer structure, a generous number of memorable themes, and a dark political subtext referring to American politics post-9/11.

Even IQ's most dedicated fans don't expect the group to top its third-period crowning achievement, Subterranea, but does Dark Matter ever get close! This album makes The Seventh House (IQ's previous album, released three years earlier) appear very, very average. The melodies are catchier and more moving, the writing stronger, the arrangements more varied. The album's strength mostly resides in the 24-minute closing epic, "Harvest of Souls," surely IQ's best epic song, arguably their best song, period. After the oblique meanders of the cluttered "The Narrow Margin" (from Subterranea, that album's weaker point), "Harvest of Souls" offers a much clearer structure, a generous number of memorable themes, and a dark political subtext referring to American politics post-9/11.

When considering the "strict" period of neo-prog (i.e., the 1980s), The Wake is definitely a classic. Together with Marillion's first LPs, it helped define what neo-progressive was and generated dozens of sound-alike albums by as many bands in the U.K. and worldwide. While IQ would top The Wake with the 1997 two-CD set Subterranea (stronger compositions, stronger musicianship), the former remains the band's true classic, a must-have for anyone remotely interested in progressive rock from the 1980s. The third album by the band, it took a more pop approach than Tales From the Lush Attic; there was no 20-minute epic track and songs were rather simple in terms of structure.

Released in the wake of Subterranea's success, The Lost Attic: A Collection of Rarities (1983-1999) is exactly what the title says. The reference to Tales From the Lush Attic, IQ's first album (its second if one counts the self-released cassette Seven Stories Into Eight), indicates most of the material included here focuses on the periods when Peter Nicholls was with the band (1983-1985 and 1991-1999), whereas the previous collection J'Ai Pollette D'Arnu was more centered on the Paul Menel years. The Lost Attic includes two unreleased songs from the Subterranea sessions, many fan club-only releases and compilation tracks, a couple of oddities, and three songs from a 1984 BBC session. "Wintertell," an unused song circa Tales from the Lush Attic, presents the band in a different light, very close to 1969 Genesis…

Even IQ's most dedicated fans don't expect the group to top its third-period crowning achievement, Subterranea, but does Dark Matter ever get close! This album makes The Seventh House (IQ's previous album, released three years earlier) appear very, very average. The melodies are catchier and more moving, the writing stronger, the arrangements more varied. The album's strength mostly resides in the 24-minute closing epic, "Harvest of Souls," surely IQ's best epic song, arguably their best song, period. After the oblique meanders of the cluttered "The Narrow Margin" (from Subterranea, that album's weaker point), "Harvest of Souls" offers a much clearer structure, a generous number of memorable themes, and a dark political subtext referring to American politics post-9/11.

When considering the "strict" period of neo-prog (i.e., the 1980s), The Wake is definitely a classic. Together with Marillion's first LPs, it helped define what neo-progressive was and generated dozens of sound-alike albums by as many bands in the U.K. and worldwide. While IQ would top The Wake with the 1997 two-CD set Subterranea (stronger compositions, stronger musicianship), the former remains the band's true classic, a must-have for anyone remotely interested in progressive rock from the 1980s…

When considering the "strict" period of neo-prog (i.e., the 1980s), The Wake is definitely a classic. Together with Marillion's first LPs, it helped define what neo-progressive was and generated dozens of sound-alike albums by as many bands in the U.K. and worldwide. While IQ would top The Wake with the 1997 two-CD set Subterranea (stronger compositions, stronger musicianship), the former remains the band's true classic, a must-have for anyone remotely interested in progressive rock from the 1980s. The third album by the band, it took a more pop approach than Tales From the Lush Attic; there was no 20-minute epic track and songs were rather simple in terms of structure.

When considering the "strict" period of neo-prog (i.e., the 1980s), The Wake is definitely a classic. Together with Marillion's first LPs, it helped define what neo-progressive was and generated dozens of sound-alike albums by as many bands in the U.K. and worldwide. While IQ would top The Wake with the 1997 two-CD set Subterranea (stronger compositions, stronger musicianship), the former remains the band's true classic, a must-have for anyone remotely interested in progressive rock from the 1980s. The third album by the band, it took a more pop approach than Tales From the Lush Attic; there was no 20-minute epic track and songs were rather simple in terms of structure.

When considering the "strict" period of neo-prog (i.e., the 1980s), The Wake is definitely a classic. Together with Marillion's first LPs, it helped define what neo-progressive was and generated dozens of sound-alike albums by as many bands in the U.K. and worldwide. While IQ would top The Wake with the 1997 two-CD set Subterranea (stronger compositions, stronger musicianship), the former remains the band's true classic, a must-have for anyone remotely interested in progressive rock from the 1980s. The third album by the band, it took a more pop approach than Tales From the Lush Attic; there was no 20-minute epic track and songs were rather simple in terms of structure. "The Thousand Days," the title track, and "Corners" had single potential, especially the first of these, a stirring rock number…

2 CD set recorded live at the Colos-Saal, Aschaffenburg, Germany on January 24th, 2020. After the incredible reaction to the recent live stream of our ’Show of Resistance’ concert we’ve decided to make it available in a limited edition double CD format as part of the Archive Collection series. The double CD includes all 2 hours and 15 minutes of music from the video and comes in a 6 panel digi file (not digipak - no plastic used!) with a 4 page booklet and introduction text by Peter Nicholls.