By: Abilio Abreu

Abilio Abreu — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 20:45:54 +0000

I agree very much with your review of this album. I had listened to previous IQ records and, although it was evident that they were excellent musicians, their compositions always seemed to lack originality and refinement, different to their counter-parts Marillion. But “Frequency” made me change my mind a lot about this band. For me, the melodies and arrangements on this album are superb, much more subtle and as pop as it can get without spoiling the progressive part of it. I say pop in a sense that the melodies stick to your brain like glue… SO you want to keep listening to it all day long! I’ve watched the live DVD that accompanies the cd and, man, they are just as perfect in concert. The singer is just amazing, although he has some akward stage presence, but it all fits perfectly for the genre. And the band is top notch, very experienced musicians who know what they do. Of course I’m now backtracking IQ’s past discography and beginning to like it all very much. I think IQ will keep growing and refining, just like a good bottle of wine…

By: Mike Bowstead

Mike Bowstead — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 20:17:47 +0000

One of the things I like about the album (and it’s something IQ have always done, since ‘The Wake’ if not earlier) is that, though it’s apparently not a ‘concept’ album as such, there are musical cross-references between different tracks. For example, a bit of ‘Life Support’ appears in the middle of ‘The Province’, and there’s a pre-echo of ‘Closer’ in ‘Stronger Than Friction’. To my mind this sort of thing helps to give an album a sense of unity and overall structure rather than just being a collection of songs.

And actually I think the lyrics on ‘Frequency’ are somewhat more penetrable than earlier IQ albums. (Which is not necessarily a good thing!)

Overall I still think ‘Dark Matter’ has the edge over it though.

Comments on: IQ – Frequency

By: Abilio Abreu

By: Mike Bowstead