Incredible (five stars out of five)
It took much longer than usual to review this album. I spent many days with the above score in my mind, but I continued listening to the album in order to find some sort of major fault. I imagined that, over time, perhaps the music would reveal a reason for me to change my mind. But after dozens of listens, that just didn't happen. I finally submitted to the fact that this album is nothing short of fantastic, and nearly halfway through 2009, was fully deserving of the year's first "incredible" rating.
Frequency is the first album from this British band since 2004's Dark Matter. I will admit to enjoying Dark Matter but being fairly unimpressed. In essence, it was an album that I rarely set out to listen to. In many ways, Frequency sounds very little like the band's previous effort. In general, IQ's sound is similar to 70s progressive rock, but the sounds they explore tend to be more diverse than this label would suggest. The band's vocalist, Peter Nichols, has been compared to Peter Gabriel many times, though this album suggests that this comparison might not be entirely fair. In general, IQ is a band that could be compared to dozens of other bands, but at the end of the day, comparisons just don't suffice to capture what IQ sounds like. Even listening to one or two of the band's tracks won't give you a perfect picture of the band.
That's especially true with this new album, in which I can really only find one song that sounds much like what the band did on Dark Matter. That song, "Riker Skies," does indeed seem to capture what many would consider to be the IQ sound. It has a dark and almost theatrical style with tons of keyboards and a nearly ten-minute running time. Though the album does sound decidedly "IQ," this is the only song that I would suggest sounds significantly similar to previous songs written by the band.
In general, the rest of the album seems--to use a subjective and inexact description--much more beautiful than Dark Matter. This is aided by a stronger focus on the melodies within the songs, as each song has multiple melodies that are each quite good. While the album gets off to a heavy start with the opener "Frequency," the main verses of the song and considerably slower, containing an isolated keyboard melody and vocals. The vocal melodies are very strong and the instrumentation only bolsters the great sound present on this song. The next track, "Life Support" begins with a section even more beautiful than "Frequency." "One Fatal Mistake" is another slower song with a great set of melodies and a lovely use of harmonies. In all, the moments of sheer musical beauty are many on this album, and even after the initial shock has worn off, you'll still love every moment of it. There are also plenty of heavier moments, many of which coming on the album's longest track, "The Province." Though it gets off to a more gentle start, it gets very heavy at about the two-and-a-half-minute mark. There's a lot going on in the song, and the track sadly goes by very quickly despite the longer running time.
A special mention must go to the closing song "Closer," which easily became my all-time favorite IQ song. In the realm of typical IQ tunes, this one's actually fairly simplistic, starting with a very pretty acoustic guitar and keyboard pairing. The eight-minute track has a wonderful progression throughout, eventually adding acoustic guitar solos and drum grooves that fit the song perfectly. It seems to be an uncharacteristic song for the band, and it works wonderfully.
As I mentioned before, it's difficult to find faults with this album. Peter Nichols as a vocalist may turn off some listeners, as he does tend to get a nasal sound at times. However, I think he does a great job on the majority of this album, so if you've heard him in the past and enjoyed his vocals, you'll love them here. Lastly, it's becoming a very bad trend within the progressive rock community to use sampled sound clips within songs. It has now gotten to the point where bands are even using the exact same clips: "Frequency" uses a news clip about Hiroshima--the very same sound clip used by Sieges Even on 2007's "Paramount." Luckily, the sound clips are used only briefly here, and they don't affect the listening experience in any meaningful way.
Many people may end up disagreeing with this, but I find this to be the best album that IQ has ever released. The songs combine in a way that creates an extremely cohesive listening experience, while each track is also extremely listenable on its own. The focus on quieter moments helps the album feel very different from the band's past effort and may even give the album a wider appeal. This album was a wonderful surprise, and I'm thrilled to be able to give this my highest recommendation.
Andrew Kauz
www.progressivemelodies.com
Frequency is the first album from this British band since 2004's Dark Matter. I will admit to enjoying Dark Matter but being fairly unimpressed. In essence, it was an album that I rarely set out to listen to. In many ways, Frequency sounds very little like the band's previous effort. In general, IQ's sound is similar to 70s progressive rock, but the sounds they explore tend to be more diverse than this label would suggest. The band's vocalist, Peter Nichols, has been compared to Peter Gabriel many times, though this album suggests that this comparison might not be entirely fair. In general, IQ is a band that could be compared to dozens of other bands, but at the end of the day, comparisons just don't suffice to capture what IQ sounds like. Even listening to one or two of the band's tracks won't give you a perfect picture of the band.
That's especially true with this new album, in which I can really only find one song that sounds much like what the band did on Dark Matter. That song, "Riker Skies," does indeed seem to capture what many would consider to be the IQ sound. It has a dark and almost theatrical style with tons of keyboards and a nearly ten-minute running time. Though the album does sound decidedly "IQ," this is the only song that I would suggest sounds significantly similar to previous songs written by the band.
In general, the rest of the album seems--to use a subjective and inexact description--much more beautiful than Dark Matter. This is aided by a stronger focus on the melodies within the songs, as each song has multiple melodies that are each quite good. While the album gets off to a heavy start with the opener "Frequency," the main verses of the song and considerably slower, containing an isolated keyboard melody and vocals. The vocal melodies are very strong and the instrumentation only bolsters the great sound present on this song. The next track, "Life Support" begins with a section even more beautiful than "Frequency." "One Fatal Mistake" is another slower song with a great set of melodies and a lovely use of harmonies. In all, the moments of sheer musical beauty are many on this album, and even after the initial shock has worn off, you'll still love every moment of it. There are also plenty of heavier moments, many of which coming on the album's longest track, "The Province." Though it gets off to a more gentle start, it gets very heavy at about the two-and-a-half-minute mark. There's a lot going on in the song, and the track sadly goes by very quickly despite the longer running time.
A special mention must go to the closing song "Closer," which easily became my all-time favorite IQ song. In the realm of typical IQ tunes, this one's actually fairly simplistic, starting with a very pretty acoustic guitar and keyboard pairing. The eight-minute track has a wonderful progression throughout, eventually adding acoustic guitar solos and drum grooves that fit the song perfectly. It seems to be an uncharacteristic song for the band, and it works wonderfully.
As I mentioned before, it's difficult to find faults with this album. Peter Nichols as a vocalist may turn off some listeners, as he does tend to get a nasal sound at times. However, I think he does a great job on the majority of this album, so if you've heard him in the past and enjoyed his vocals, you'll love them here. Lastly, it's becoming a very bad trend within the progressive rock community to use sampled sound clips within songs. It has now gotten to the point where bands are even using the exact same clips: "Frequency" uses a news clip about Hiroshima--the very same sound clip used by Sieges Even on 2007's "Paramount." Luckily, the sound clips are used only briefly here, and they don't affect the listening experience in any meaningful way.
Many people may end up disagreeing with this, but I find this to be the best album that IQ has ever released. The songs combine in a way that creates an extremely cohesive listening experience, while each track is also extremely listenable on its own. The focus on quieter moments helps the album feel very different from the band's past effort and may even give the album a wider appeal. This album was a wonderful surprise, and I'm thrilled to be able to give this my highest recommendation.
Andrew Kauz
www.progressivemelodies.com
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3 comments:
amazing album indeed. great review!
Could not agree more....
This is just an amazing album.
This album is astonishing.
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