• There should be no progressive rock fan forum without an IQ - Thread. So here we go.


    Many years ago in the spring of 1989 I went to Mainz to see Mike and The Mechanics. A friend of mine lived there and we went to the venue in the afternoon. I had my Book Of Genesis by Hugh Fielder at hand, in case I should have the occasion to meet Mike and get an autograph. We were quite lucky, because while we were lurking around the venue, the band came over from the hotel and I got the chance to talk to Mike and ask him for the autograph, which he gave me. I was completely out of my head, because at that time Genesis were the incarnation of God for me.


    When the venue opened, I saw a lot of folks in the crowd, who were wearing an IQ - shirt. Some had Lush Attic - shirts, some had Wake - shirts. I didn't have a clue, who IQ were or why there were so many fans of them around. As a matter of fact, IQ opened for the Mechanics that night, and seeing them for the first time completely unexpected was a revelation. I thought, that they were extremely good and that Genesis probably would have sounded like that at that time, in case Gabriel and Hackett wouldn't have left. The only song from their set, I actually knew, was Promises, which had been quite a hit in Germany. But I had always thought, that it was by Duran Duran. I must confess, that most of the Mechanics show escaped me mentally, because I didn't get over this tremendous IQ show.


    In the following months, I tried to get albums from IQ, which was a major drag, because no record store, I went to, had any albums in their stock. It wasn't until 1990, that I happened to find a cd in a store. It was Are You Sitting Comfortably? That was my first IQ album, and I played it to death. Two years later, I met the woman, who is now my wife, and one day, we went into a record store in Bonn, where she lived, and there I found a copy of The Wake. This was my second IQ album. Quite different from AYSC but really great of course. These two albums were my only albums by the band for a couple of years. In the year 2000, things developed further, because I went online and signed to amazon. I learned a lot about IQ. It wasn't until then, that I realized, that Paul Menel was just an intermezzo and Peter Nichols was the "real" singer. I bought all their albums in 2000 and 2001 and joined their forum, which was sort of my internet-home for many years (meanwhile It died the Facebook-death). My first proper IQ gig was in 2002 in Aschaffenburg. I went there together with the same friend, who had gone to the Mechanics gig, years before. Another revelation. I got autographs from all band members on the sleeve of my copy of Subterranea. This concert was later released as the first one of the archive collections. I can be heard on the album. (but I won't tell you were :P) In the next ten years, I happened to see the band at least one time every year, which was always a thrill, because there was always a fan and band meeting, which is something not many bands do . This of course glued me very tightly to the band up to this day. Around four years ago, I even happened to see Paul Menel. He was supporting Arena on their Seventh Degree Tour.


    IQ are definitely one of the finest progressive rock acts around from the beginning up to this very day.

    First we learned to walk on water.

    Then we tried something harder.

    - Red Seven -

  • IQ, along with Camel, Pendragon and Twelfth Night are my all time favourite bands. Others include Renaissance, Stackridge, and Enid....


    My reasoning is that I love all the albums they've produced, including what some may call their poor ones. :)... Though I would like to include Genesis and ELP in my list, unfortunately they dropped off after Hackett left and ELP only produced 5 great album IMO .... That was their first 5 albums.


    IQ along with those other bands have almost guaranteed a good album, regardless if I've heard it or not. ;).. I'm hoping they don't make another darker album again and follow on the path of either Subterranea or Seventh House. :)


    I believe a new album is due out early part of next year which they've played a couple of new tracks from their so called new album in concerts. I have not seen any videos on YouTube to support my claim, probably because I have not looked!... ^^

    Edited 2 times, last by Noni ().

  • This is a band I have always struggled with, I've never been able to get into their stuff. But I enjoyed reading your story of getting into them via a meeting with Rutherford, the Mechanics gig and getting married!

    Abandon all reason

  • Loved your story. A band I have a lot of time for, made some great albums. My top 3 would be Subterranea, Dark Matter and The Road Of Bones

    “Without music, life would be a mistake”

  • What Pendragon album would you recommend? I confess I don't know them at all.

    The Window of Life, The World and Masquerade Overture ;).... All very good albums :)


    They had 3 phases in their music. For a brief period they started out quite poppy, them moved to those albums I mentioned earlier. They changed direction slightly after from these albums. I regard Nick Barrett as one of the best guitar players similar to Andy Latimer.. This is Nick Barrett baby, apart from the drummers, he's kept pretty much the same line up through out. Nick voice is quite unique and is something that has been mentioned quite often. It's often a love/hate relationship. ^^.. There are quite a few YouTube videos to pick. My favourite track is Breaking the Spell ;)

    Edited once, last by Noni ().

  • Back to IQ. Here is my ranking of their albums:


    01. Road Of Bones

    02. Subterranea

    03. The Seventh House

    04. The Wake

    05. Ever

    06. Are You Sitting Comfortably?

    O7. Tales From The Lush Attic

    08. Frequency

    09. Nomzamo

    10. Dark Matter

    11. Seven Stories into Eight / 98

    First we learned to walk on water.

    Then we tried something harder.

    - Red Seven -

  • Hello SD:)Lovely to see you've got an IQ thread going, the forum (dead as the proverbial dodo these days) was where we first "met";)

    I totally agree with your rankings. Although I'd have them in the opposite order. Or any order. Because all their albums are brilliant, there's not a bad track on any of them8)

    I would actually agree that TROB is the best though, even if it's not by much. What a great album it is...

    Nomzamo was my first, and boy it took some getting into to! I didn't even know what prog was then (1989). Went to see them at their farewell gig at The Marquee that year, when PM and TE left. And like you, I never realised that PM wasn't the only IQ vocalist, not until Subby came out and I saw an advert for it in the newspaper. "Who's this awful new vocalist?" I thought=O Took even longer to get into Subby, but once I did....


    Can't wait for a new album, and I REALLY must go see them again, it's been 4 years;(