Member:
tleby
Date:
4/28/2003
The Lost Attic is a fifteen song collection of unused songs from albums, rare singles, recordings for a BBC radio show, and other rarities, eight of which were previously unreleased. The time period of the recordings ranges from the early 80's right on through to 1999. Paul Menel appears on only two of the tracks, with Peter Nicholl's singing on the others. As with most compilations like this there's bound to be an extreme between high and low points, especially on a CD nearly 80 minutes long as is this one, but as a whole the material here is quite good.
Some highlights and comparisons. A re-recording of the middle section of "The Last Human Gateway" starts off with a tender and melodic vocal section before giving way to a more aggressive instrumental section featuring some good guitar soloing by Mike Holme's. The touching "Wintertell," an unused song from Tales From the Lush Attic, is an acoustic bittersweet ballad that sounds a bit like certain Simon and Garfunkel songs. An interesting thing in a collection like this is to compare the band's sound from different eras. Comparing "Wintertell" to the atmospheric "Eyes of the Blind," an unused song from Subterranea, the difference in Peter Nicholl's voice from the early 80's (deeper and rawer) to the late 90's (higher and clearer) stands out. Another comparison can be made on two versions of the slow tempo "Hollow Afternoon" that appear on the disc. The one recorded in 1999 is polished but somehow lacks the warmth of the much rawer and darker 1984 original. "N.T.O.C. (Resistance)," dating from the early 90's, is upbeat, punchy, and more of a mixture of hard rock and prog than most other IQ songs. A high energy level is maintained throughout the entire track, due mainly to the tight and forceful rhythm section and forceful vocals.
Some that should have remained in the attic. The single version of "Barbell Is In," a re-recording of a song that appeared on their first album Seven Stories into Eight, is a poor attempt at reggae which is only made worse by the use of drum machines. In other hands drum machines can be effective (IQ themselves used them effectively elsewhere), but here they seem really out of place, as does the whole song. Even worse is "My Legs," which is nothing more than the band members talking nonsense through a 12 foot long cardboard tube which was scavenged from the trash. Not quite as bad is the traditional tune, "The Bold Grenadier," a pastoral piece with Paul Menel on vocals. Menel's voice sounds good, but the song is boring by IQ's standards. Fortunately these three are bunched together in the middle of the disc making them easy to either put up with all at once or skip right over.
The best is saved for last: three excellently performed and well produced tracks recorded in 1984 for a BBC radio show, two of which, "Awake and Nervous" and "Widow's Peak," are different versions of songs which appeared on early albums and which are among IQ's very best. Particularly good is the version of "Widow's Peak," which here is in some ways better than the version that appeared the following year on the The Wake. What the version here lacks in sound quality it makes up for in raw emotion. With so much going on, this one of those that seem much longer than it actually is. The dark and powerful nine minute track is packed with ideas, dynamics, and mood and thematic changes. Martin Orford's lush keyboard playing throughout the track is especially responsible for making this about the closest IQ ever came to that classic symphonic prog sound.
The Lost Attic is by no means the place to start for those unfamiliar with IQ. For fans of the band there's enough quality on the CD to be recommended, even though it's not as strong as most of the bands regular albums. For IQ fanatics and completists it's a no-brainer considering over half of the tracks were previously unreleased. The CD comes with a very detailed booklet containing a background and band history summary, lots of photos, and band member comments on each of the tracks.
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