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Dave_G
07-10-2004, 05:06 AM
I finally got this title the other day. As most of you know I love this band and their style.

Dark Matter is every bit as good as Seventh House.

It's different but has the core IQ sound to it. It has only 5 songs on it and ends up with a 24 minute epic called "harvest of souls". The whole album is about 50 minutes, but those 50 minutes go by fast when I listen and read along with the lyrics.

This one has a little bit more organ on it and is killer. Orfords keyboard work is simply superb. Peters voice and lyrics are incredible too on this one.

All I can say really is that if you even just like IQ a little bit you need to get this one, it will have you shaking your head in amazement. It is that good. Trust me.

Dave

Demetrio
07-10-2004, 05:33 AM
I can't wait to get this new IQ cd. By the way, have you seen any of their DVD's yet? I'm curious to know any impressions about their video performances.

And that PALLAS dvd, have you seen it yet? Also curious to know about this.

A great prog DVD I got few weeks ago was STEVE HACKETT "The Tokyo Tapes" (featuring John Wetton, Chester Thompson and others).

Best prog regards,
Demetrio.

BarryL
07-10-2004, 04:04 PM
I can't wait to get this new IQ cd. By the way, have you seen any of their DVD's yet? I'm curious to know any impressions about their video performances.

And that PALLAS dvd, have you seen it yet? Also curious to know about this.

A great prog DVD I got few weeks ago was STEVE HACKETT "The Tokyo Tapes" (featuring John Wetton, Chester Thompson and others).

Best prog regards,
Demetrio.


Hey Big D. Good to hear from you.

I'll be keeping my glazies peeled for this one. Thanks for the heads up, Dave.

I've seen the Pallas DVD, but had it on in the background...didn't really watch it. I can't even remember what it was like. I don't recall that I didn't like it. I remember it being pretty good and pretty basic. They are a great band.

That Hackett DVD is killer. What a band! A Superband by any definition. I"m glad that they recorded that and made it available.

Dave_G
07-11-2004, 06:38 AM
Hi Demetrio and Barry,

Yes, you both will love Dark Matter. It is superb.

I have not seen any IQ dvd's but did get to watch one of their VHS tapes, it's okay, but I read that the Subterenea dvd is excellent.

The Pallas dvd is probably my favorite prog dvd. It captures the band in an excellent way. Barry, you need to dedicate a few hours and have a serious watch, it is excellent. The bass player really shines and sings lead on a song or two, he is great. I like Pallas darn near as much as IQ. Yes, they are that good. Cross and Crucible is a rare treat.

Regards,

Dave

Troy
07-11-2004, 08:42 AM
Can't wait to get my pudgy fingers on it. Thanks for the review.

That Hacket DVD is excellent.

3-LockBox
07-11-2004, 03:16 PM
I'm always looking for new kicks...they keep gettin harder to find.

BarryL
07-11-2004, 03:49 PM
I'm always looking for new kicks...they keep gettin harder to find.


THese are both what I would call serious prog bands.

The Pallas vocalist is excellent, and reminds me a lot of John Wetton, but with slightly better vocal abilities. Pallas has a basic prog sound without lots of pyrotechnics and rampant keyboard padding. They work within a limited range of sounds, but they do an excellent job at it, with many songs that you can sing along to, i.e., good hooks. I'm not drawing any immediate comparisons, but the Wetton-like vocals brings early King Crimson and Asia to mind, although they aren't really like either of these. Their earlier albums from the '80's are more neo-prog. I think their more recent albums are better.

IQ is more neo-prog because of the heavy use of keyboards. They like to do concept albums, so here I would compare them more to a band like Nektar, but the vocalist has a sort of nasally vocal quality. The music tends to be more on the dreamy spacey side, but it is clearly prog, with some great musicianship. More like Gabriel-era Genesis or Pink Floyd than a Tangerine Dream or Hawkwind.

If you're looking for a place to start: Pallas - The Cross & The Crucible; I.Q. The Seventh House or Subterranea.

richmon
07-12-2004, 04:31 AM
I finally got this title the other day. As most of you know I love this band and their style.

Dave
Just waking up after getting in from NF. A two hour drive and 2am bedtime putting a hurtin for certain on this ancient progger.

They announced one of the Nearfest 2005's headliner's and yepper it's IQ. Presumably this will include a tour of other cities, although some of the NF bands show up for that gig then take their instruments and go home. IQ likely will tour though.

Will peck up my weekend prog-a-palooza prose after a bit . ZZZZZZZZZZzzzzz.

progfan
07-13-2004, 05:17 AM
For those of you who have a region free player, the IQ DVD is KILLER!! I saw this tour in the UK and they are awesome live. The DVD has some nice extras as well, including a band commentary.

I'm sure I'm in the minority, but I haven't been as taken with either "The Seventh House" or "Dark Matter". I'm noticing an increasing trend of shorter instrumental sections and more and more lyrics. I don't mind Peter Nichols' voice, but I really want to hear more interplay between Holmes and Orford. The epic piece of "Dark Matter" is for me, the weakest link. Imo, it doesn't hold together that well as a long piece of music. It sounds like several short songs strung together by tiny bits of instrumental work to remind me that I'm listening to a prog band. And lyrics, lyrics lyrics. Somehow I can feel flames coming on!

MasterCylinder
07-13-2004, 06:04 AM
I will be searching the web today to order the new IQ.........I like SubT and 7th House very much.....hoping this one is as good.


Funny...........just last night, I watched the entire DVD of Tokyo Tapes.

MasterCylinder
07-23-2004, 05:27 AM
Hey Geezer.....................
Now that I've had the cahnce to go through this disc a few times, I can respond.

Yes -- it is very good -- I like all 5 songs........tracks 1 & 3 are poppy good.

I do hear quite a bit of cliche Yes & Pink Floyd (one could argue there are some direct rip-offs of Gates of Delirium and Welcome to the Machine), so some of the original composition is suspect.

Interesting criticism of the USA in the last track.

I give it 4 out of 5 stars -- very mid-70s prog sound.

BarryL
07-23-2004, 08:00 AM
Yes -- it is very good -- I like all 5 songs........tracks 1 & 3 are poppy good.
some direct rip-offs of Gates of Delirium and Welcome to the Machine
Interesting criticism of the USA in the last track.


Overall, the album has a nice sound that I like. I enjoy this kind of music, so I don't want to be too critical.

Well there is a rip-off of Welcome To The Machine machine sounds in track 3 or 4, I really liked it. Track 1 also is a great opener, with strong keyboards by Orford, who shines throughout the album.

The title does capture that this is darker than other IQ albums.

My one criticism about the album is the banality of the lyrics of the last epic track. Quite frankly, the lyrics are so obscure throughout the album in general, that they are, in general, meaningless. Anti-America? Probably, but not clearly so. You could easily read it the other way. Unfotunately, there is no context to the story or the lyrics about America. I can't tell what the protaganist of the story is or whether it is past, present or future. I even tried to read the lyrics as if the protagonist was a radical muslim terrorist. There's just no way to make sense of it. That's probably a good thing because it doesn't pit the band against their audience. Each can attribute any meaning they want to the lyrics. But, that being the case, I concur with whoever it was that said there were too many lyrics. Lyrics that tell a meaningful story are okay. Meaningless lyrics that go nowhere and hardly drive the melody is just bad art. So, I conclude that the song Harvest of Souls is the most pretentious piece of music IQ ever produced, and with the exception of this

My one observation after listening to 24 minutes of the melody-minimalism of the attempted epic track Harvest of Souls is that you can go back to the lyrics and substitute almost all of them into the same rhythm. Some diversity would have been nice.

Dave_G
07-23-2004, 11:41 AM
Probably live this title really kicks it I would guess.

I hope I can go to Nearfest next year to see them.

Dave

MasterCylinder
07-23-2004, 01:53 PM
Barry...............

I can't disagree with most of your post.
I found one review website that suggests the lyrics of "Harvest" (track #5) are purposefully vague as to not alienate anyone politically........in fact, this guy said the band members themselves all had differing views on the current role of America in the World today.

However, the sarcasm is clearly evident.

If this tune is supposed to be a 24-minute political epic piece that captures my imagination and sticks me with hook after hook..........then it has failed.

I don't dislike the tune -- I think the other 4 songs are as good or better.

BarryL
07-23-2004, 03:50 PM
Barry...............

I can't disagree with most of your post.
I found one review website that suggests the lyrics of "Harvest" (track #5) are purposefully vague as to not alienate anyone politically........in fact, this guy said the band members themselves all had differing views on the current role of America in the World today.

However, the sarcasm is clearly evident.

If this tune is supposed to be a 24-minute political epic piece that captures my imagination and sticks me with hook after hook..........then it has failed.

I don't dislike the tune -- I think the other 4 songs are as good or better.


I haven't read one word about the album, so I don't know. I just listened to it again today as I drove around, and I like the album. It's an easy album to like. It will attract lots of new fans to the band. It doesn't break any new ground for the band, but I like their sound. I just think that Track 5 suffers from not being anything in particular, and not really going any place. As a piece of music I don't mind listening to it, and it has its moments. But there's nothing about it that really justifies 24 minutes. I think that if you want to make a political statement, then you should make it. If the band members can't agree, then I think it would have been better to present a number of tracks with different perspectives. I don't want to take this too far. They're the band, not me.