IQ (band)

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IQ
IQ Night of the Prog.jpg
General information
origin Southampton , England
Genre (s) Progressive Rock , Neo-Prog
founding 1981
Website www.iq-hq.co.uk
Founding members
Peter Nicholls
Mike Holmes
Paul Cook
Tim Esau
Martin Orford (until 2007)
Current occupation
singing
 Peter Nicholls
Guitar, keyboard
 Mike Holmes
Drums
 Paul Cook
bass
 Tim Esau
Keyboard
 Neil Durant (since 2011)
former members
singing
 Paul L. Menel (1986-1989)
Drums
 Andy Edwards (2005-2009)
Keyboard, backing vocals
 Mark Westworth (2007-2010)
Bass, backing vocals
 John Jowitt (1992-2011)
Chart positions
Explanation of the data
Albums
The wake
  UK 72 06/22/1985 (1 week)
The Road of Bones
  DE 36 05/23/2014 (1 week)
  CH 62 05/18/2014 (1 week)
Resistance
  DE 29 October 18, 2019 (1 week)

IQ is one of Southampton coming British rock band . Along with Marillion , Pendragon , Pallas and Twelfth Night, she is one of the typical representatives of Neo-Prog , the second generation of progressive rock that emerged in the 1980s . IQ initially leaned on models such as Genesis and Yes in particular , but quickly developed its own style.

Live performances by the band are characterized by special lighting effects and film and slide projections that are reminiscent of the early Pink Floyd , as well as by the appearance of the charismatic front man Peter Nicholls.

Band history

The first phase of IQ's band history spans the period from the formation of the band in the early 1980s to the retirement of the singer Peter Nicholls. During this time, the classic studio albums Tales from the Lush Attic and The Wake as well as the live album Living Proof were created . When a general prog rock revival loomed in the mid-eighties, IQ got a record deal with a major label, but lost the charismatic front man Peter Nicholls in return.

In the second phase of the band's history, the albums Nomzamo (which also contained the only single success IQs, Promises , were created with the new front man Paul L. Menel ) and Are You Sitting Comfortably? . After the record company that signed IQ was taken over by another company, IQ lost the major deal in 1989, which initially seemed to mean the end of the band. PL Menel and bassist Tim Esau left the group to realize a joint pop project. However, there were no recordings.

After IQ had been idle for some time, a reunion concert with Peter Nicholls initiated by a French club owner finally led to a renewed collaboration with the front man. The third phase in the band's history began when the CD Ever was released in 1993 . Musically, the album ties in with the style of the first phase. The band founded their own label GEP to market their sound carriers .

With Subterranea , IQ released a highly regarded concept album in 1997 . It tells the story of a man who, out of love for a woman, joins a revolution against a fictional surveillance state. Ultimately, however, both fail because of the adaptation and lethargy of the protagonist. The realization of this leads to the 20-minute, very emotional finale of the album. A feature film was made based on the story of this concept album. The feature film premiered on June 5, 2015 at the Reno Film Festival. A German dubbed version of the film is to be released in summer 2017.

Members

The line-up of the band remained relatively constant over the years. Singer Peter Nicholls resigned to form Niadem's Ghost, and during the albums Nomzamo and Are You Sitting Comfortably? replaced by Paul Menel and returned afterwards. As is often the case in the scene, there are personal overlaps with other bands. For example, John Jowitt and Martin Orford also belonged to the neoprog band Jadis .

Martin Orford left the band in the fall of 2007. He was replaced by Mark Westworth, also keyboardist for Darwin's Radio, who in turn was replaced in 2011 by Neil Durant. Two years earlier, founding member Paul Cook gave the sticks to Andy Edwards on drums, but ultimately returned long-term in 2009 after Edwards had taken a break. Another change in 2011 was Jowitt's departure and the return of Esau on bass, so that the band is back to the original line-up except for the keyboard player.

Discography

Studio albums

  • 1983: Tales from the Lush Attic
  • 1985: The Wake
  • 1987: Nomzamo
  • 1989: Are You Sitting Comfortably?
  • 1993: Ever
  • 1997: Subterranea
  • 2000: The Seventh House
  • 2004: Dark Matter
  • 2009: Frequency
  • 2014: The Road of Bones
  • 2019: Resistance

Live albums

  • 1985: Living Proof
  • 1991: J'ai Pollette D'arnu
  • 1996: Forever Live
  • 2000: Subterranea - The Concert
  • 2010: The Wake Live at Zoetermeer
  • 2011: Re-mixed
  • 2015: The Road of Bones (Live 2CD)

Compilations / Republications

  • 1986: Nine in a Pond is Here
  • 1998: Seven Stories Into '98
  • 1999: The Lost Attic
  • 2003: The Archive Collection - IQ20
  • 2010: The Wake 25th Anniversary Edition
  • 2013: Tales from the Lush Attic (2013 Remix)

Web links

Commons : IQ (band)  - collection of images, videos and audio files

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