Self-released
Release date: July 21, 2020
Production: IQ
Album length: 133.58 min
Genre: Progressive Rock
Rating: 10/10
»A Show of Resistance« is the latest live album from the cult English neo-prog heroes IQ, whose loyal fans have pretty much come to expect a new live record to go along with every new studio release. »A Show of Resistance« captures IQ’s show at the Colos-Saal in Aschaffenburg, Germany, on January 24, 2020.
The seasoned band is in outstanding form from start to finish, whether they’re tearing through long-standing staples or newer material, which won’t surprise a single longtime fan. Both of the band’s ‘pillars’, charismatic singer Peter Nicholls and guitar wizard Mike Holmes, get superb backing from the Esau/Cook rhythm section, while Neil Durant delivers the dramatic, majestic symphonic arrangements, and it’s hard to believe he’s already been in the band for ten years. Since original bassist Tim Esau came back in 2011, the IQ lineup hasn’t changed, and right now they’re a rock-solid unit both live and in the studio.
Over the two hours and fifteen minutes this double live document runs, IQ play a tidy selection of songs from different chapters of their career, with no unexpected stylistic detours, improvisations or drawn-out solo spots. This time the focus is on the current studio album »Resistance« (2019, RockLine review), from which they play the opener »Alampandira«, »Shallow Bay«, »A Missile«, »Stay Down« and »For Another Lifetime«. The previous album, »The Road of Bones« (2014), is solidly represented too, with »From the Outside In« and »Ten Millon Demons«, and they didn’t forget »Sacred Sound« from »The Dark Matter« (2004) or »Frequency« from the album of the same name.
From the older catalog, IQ pull out long-time standards like »The Last Human Gateway«, the only song of the night from the eighties, i.e. the early days of their career, »Ever« (1993), the classic »Further Away«, and the obligatory evergreen »Subterranea«, from the concept masterpiece of the same name, which also closes out this wonderful live document.
»A Show of Resitance« carries on the tradition of great IQ live albums and captures the live energy of the modern incarnation of this cult band brilliantly. Maybe IQ could have thrown in another song from the eighties, or something from the terrific »The Seventh House« (2000), which got completely overlooked this time, but those are tiny details that don’t spoil the joy of listening to this double live treat in the slightest.
Author: Peter “Dr. ProgRock” Podbrežnik
Track list:
CD1.:
1. Alampandri
2. Sacred Sound
3. Shallow Day
4. From The Outside In
5. Stay Down
6. The Last Human Gateway
7. Frequency
CD2.:
1. For Another Lifetime
2. The Road Of Bones
3. A Missile
4. Further Away
5. Ten Million Demons
6. Subterranea
Lineup:
Peter Nicholls – vocals
Mike Holmes – guitar
Neil Durant – keyboards
Tim Esau – bass
Paul Cook – drums
