Review Summary: One of the best concept albums in the same vein of The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway of Genesis.
“Subterranea” is the sixth studio album of IQ that was released in 1997. The line up on the album is Peter Nicholls, Mike Holmes, Martin Orford, John Jowitt and Paul Cook. The album had also the participation of Tony Wright.
“Subterranea” is a conceptual album with nineteen tracks. As a double album, it’s notoriously the difficult to pull off but the concept and the songs never reduce the work to mere ramblings. The music was written by IQ and the lyrics were written by Nicholls. As a concept album, the music is around the same theme, as is usual with many conceptual works.
In the end of 1994 the band started playing some new compositions to the audiences in their live shows. In November 1996 the band announced that the release of their new album would be in September 1997 and that the band had decided to make a double conceptual album with theatrical stage show with a full length performance of the album. So, the band worked hard at the different parts of the whole concept, the music, the lyrics, the sleeve and the stage. In June 1997 the recording sessions for the new album began. On August the finishing touches were put on the mixing process to be finally released. The album features photographic artwork and pictures that illustrate the concept of the album.
The concept of “Subterranea” is about a man who’s been the subject of an experiment. He’s been held captive throughout his whole life not having contact with the outside world, till he’s let loose in the outside world. He has to digest all these new things. He gets involved with a religious cult, but he refuses to be converted. One day, he meets a girl and fall in love with her. He has a romance with her but she is taken away from him. He became very anger. He realises that he’s being watched and he’s part of an experiment. He decided to know why. He realises that he’s not the only victim of the experiment. The victims decide to band together and take revenge. In a confrontation, he meets the responsible for the experiment. In the end, he resigns himself to going back into the same isolation where he started.
“Subterranea” is supposed to be the major work of IQ. And all means have been used to achieve that. IQ offers us more than an hour and a half of music on a double CD. To embarking on the writing of a conceptual album is a necessary passage for any self-respecting prog band but it’s a huge risk too. Anyway, they completely won the challenge. With such duration, the music of “Subterranea” is incredibly rich with a great atmosphere. As we know, IQ is a band that knows how to transcribe emotions very well. The music is rooted in IQ’s neo-prog past with rather simple songs, driven by Martin Orford’s keyboards and Peter Nicholls’ theatrical and emotion-packed vocals, dressed in the progressive rock grandeur and with very strong melodies. This intense use of keyboards immediately leads them to be labelled neo-progressive. Its use is pushed to the extreme with the many parts where it’s doubled, the synthetic chords mixing with the piano. However, unlike many bands that sound pompous, IQ plays the card of finesse, creating an impressive work.
“Overture” and above all the subsequent “Provider” are great introductions despite the initial orchestral tuning. The usual IQ clichés are mature and very well dosed and the keyboard carpets sound new. In terms of composition, it’s the smaller pieces that stand out. “King Of Fools” convinces with guitar synths, as does “The Other Side”, the already mentioned “Provider” and also “Laid Low” or “High Waters”. Here leitmotifs are usually brought out or presented, which are taken up in other pieces and chased through the instruments and voices. As a result, “Subterranea” gains a coherent structure that is appropriate for a concept work. Here and there there are also a few adventures that IQ hadn’t dared to do before. Cheeky disturbing gimmicks with major and minor in keyboard solos “Failsafe”, over-the-top vibrato effects, “Subterranea” and “Breathtaker”, and the pitch delay as a harmony instrument on “The Other Side”. Then there’s “The Narrow Margin”, the only lengthy track on the album. Here we have the individual parts bringing together a harmonious whole by many leitmotif connections, especially against the background of the entire album.
Conclusion: “Subterranea” is an amazing album. This conceptual album is so strong that practically eclipsed the previous studio albums of the group. It was also easily compared with “The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway” of Genesis. I think there is something of it here, despite the concept be more cryptic and obscure and the music be rooted in the neo-prog style. This is generally an underrated work of them. Despite the clearly differences, it reminds me “Tales From Topographic Oceans” of Yes. Both are two very misunderstood albums by many prog fans. I never hesitated in giving a high rating to that album and I have no problems in doing the same with this album too. For me, this is the best studio album of the band, so far, and one of the best albums ever. “Subterranea” is IQ’s biggest musical accomplishment and will get under the skin of any prog fan. Definitely, I think this is certainly one of the best progressive albums of the 90’s.
Music was my first love.
John Miles (Rebel)
