Music Reviews - I

IQ - Tales From the Lush Attic

B-

Tales From the Lush Attic opens up with the 20-minute track The Last Human Gateway... and I don't care for it. It doesn't really try to grab you, and there's not enough interesting stuff happening in it to even remotely justify its length. And the production of the album also leaves a lot to be desired, even if you listen to the modern remix. Still, other than these two glaring issues, there's a lot of good stuff in the album too. Martin Orford wastes no time in showing off his keyboard skills, and Peter Nicholls' vocal performance is near-identical to Peter Gabriel's, resulting in a solid Genesis pastiche. There's also one straight-up classic in this album with The Enemy Smacks. It's definitely not a bad debut overall, but don't worry if you're disappointed by it, because they get a LOT better after this...

IQ - The Wake

A-

THE WAKE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

IQ's second album is miles better than their first, and I lend a lot of that to a strengthened sense of direction; while the production still is not the cleanest it could be, The Wake manages to create a strong atmosphere through its darker songwriting and powerful performances. The album takes a cold yet colorful look at death through virtually all its songs; my favorite are the Musical Box-like Widows Peak as well as the title track that transitions into The Magic Roundabout, which finishes off with an incredibly powerful guitar solo courtesy of the ever-present Mike Holmes. Perhaps in a similar manner to Tales From the Lush Attic, there is Corners, a track I'm really not a fan of, but this time it only takes up 6 minutes of the album rather than 20. So overall, much higher marks, and The Wake remains one of IQ's best works to date.

All album cover images are either from Wikipedia or Progarchives.