Artist: IQ
Label: Giant Electric Pea
Released: 1998
Rating: 4.4/5
Before IQ released their first official studio album, they recorded a demo tape called Seven Stories Into Eight. It’s a historic recording that shows a band in development, still looking for its true style. More than fifteen years later, the IQ guys decided to re-record the whole thing and fix the bits that felt too half-baked. This was the most active stretch of their entire career. From 1997 through 2001 they put out new stuff on a regular basis (Subterranea, Seven Stories Into 98, The Lost Attic, Subterranea – The Concert, The Seventh House), and it’s also when they were making their best music.
IQ decided to record the album in just a few days. That way they wanted to keep it authentic, since the original recordings were also made in a very short time. John Jowitt, who wasn’t a member yet in the eighties, was the one who complained the most. He said some parts on Seven Stories are among the hardest in their whole discography. He had to slog away, but in the end he pulled it off.
The album kicks off with an atypical fusion piece that keeps jumping from one theme to the next, one bar to the next. It’s Holmes’ tribute to Brand X, since he’s always been a jazz-rock fan. Jowitt had the most trouble with this track, as he had to learn an insanely demanding bass line in a short time. Everyone else was already in the band in the eighties and knew this instrumental pretty well, while he had to learn the track completely from scratch. Next comes another instrumental, which has a lot in common with the music of The Lens. It’s a classic duel between synth and guitar melodies. Toward the end of the track you can even catch a section that sounds like early Camel. So, once again, a bit of jazz, which is pretty atypical for this band. Then comes Intelligence Qutient with a long intro that builds that real IQ atmosphere, first with keyboards and then with guitar tapping. The track has multiple sections, so it’s quite typical in that sense, and it features some excellent guitar and keyboard solos. The lyrics for this one and for Capital Letters were written by Mike Holmes, since Peter Nicholls wasn’t in the band yet. The content is a bit more direct and humorous than what Nicholls writes. Next up is another instrumental, where IQ play a medley of folk tunes. Again, it’s a very melodic and subtly played piece. Barbel Is In, with its African rhythms, reminds me of Peter Gabriel’s Biko and is yet another atypical creation for IQ. The lyrics were written by Tim Essau. On Fascination you can already notice Nicholls’ presence in the lyrics – that classic enigmatic quality I’ve come to love so much. A few excellent vocal parts and instrumental interludes keep this layered track lively. Next is a song written by Nicholls himself. It’s a gentle, beautiful ballad with a typically dark theme. Alongside the vocals you only hear acoustic guitar, an electric guitar solo, and keyboards at the end. It All Stops Here is a song with a double theme, written by Orford. In the first part Orford vents his dissatisfaction with the various political actions of students (he was still a student himself at the time), and in the second part he opens up about unrequited love. Oh Martin, I had no idea you were such a tender soul. And to close, another great instrumental (Nicholls just recites), which wraps up an excellent album in a mystical way.
The second disc has the Seven Stories Into Eight demo recording. The difference between the new recordings and this demo is more than obvious. The sound on the demo is much worse and muffled, which is no surprise given that it’s a demo. You can also spot the band’s typical problems from that period. Orford’s keyboards are, like always in the eighties, pretty annoying, Holmes’ guitar playing is nowhere near as fluid as it became from Ever onward, Cookie is Cookie, quite limited in his abilities, so there’s hardly any progress to hear in him, and Jowitt’s bass is several shades better than Esau’s. The biggest leap forward was definitely made by Peter Nicholls, who sounds on the second CD like his voice hasn’t broken yet, while on the first he outdoes himself like never before and reminds me why he went from one of the worst singers I knew to one of the best in rock. You can really tell that Nicholls sang on the new recordings all the parts that Orford sang on the old ones. Some of the songs on the old recordings were made back when Nicholls wasn’t a member yet, so Orford sang the vocal parts himself with his somewhat grating voice. The improvement is also noticeable on Barbel Is In, which on the original is played as reggae, whereas in 1998 it was recorded as a world music version and slightly recalls Peter Gabriel’s Biko. The reissue also includes the bonus track Eloko Bella Neechi. It was released as a single in the eighties, and this reworking did it a world of good too.
I think IQ created their most ambitious work with this album. They weave in a huge range of influences, from reggae, world music, jazz-rock and folk to symphonic stuff. Compositionally, Ever, Subterranea and The Seventh House are better (maybe even Wake and Tales From The Lush Attic), but when it comes to innovation and the quality of the arrangements, this record sits way up near the top.
Besides the two discs, you also get an interesting booklet that uncovers the history of this fairly obscure band. As is tradition with IQ, there’s no shortage of juicy, witty anecdotes, though I can’t guarantee they’re all true. There are also quite a few archive photos going all the way back to 1978, when the band was still known as The Lens.
Seven Stories (at least the first CD) is an album every single fan of this band should hear. It’s honestly incredible how it doesn’t sound any different from Subterranea. The compositions are solid and high-quality, which just proves that IQ were exceptional songwriters from the very start; the problems were only in the execution and arrangements. But with age, wisdom has obviously caught up with them, and they fixed pretty much all the shortcomings, so this album ranks among their best, alongside The Seventh House, Subterranea and Ever. If Tales from The Lush Attic and The Wake got a similar makeover, the improvement would surely be huge.
Line-up
– Martin Orford: keyboards, vocals
– Mike Holmes: guitars
– Pete Nicholls: vocals
– Paul Cook: drums
– John Jowitt: bass (CD 1)
– Tim Esau: bass (CD 2)
Production
Mike Holmes
Track list
CD 1 (52:31):
1. Capital Letters (In Surgical Spirit Land) (3:49)
2. About Lake Five (5:27)
3. Intelligence Quotient (8:18)
4. For Christ’s Sake (5:17)
5. Barbell Is In (4:54)
6. Fascination (7:03)
7. For The Taking (4:34)
8. It All Stops Here (7:53)
9. Eloko Bella Neechi (5:16)
CD 2 (43:31):
1. Capital Letters (In Surgical Spirit Land) (3:46)
2. About Lake Five (5:02)
3. Intelligence Quotient (6:55)
4. For Christ’s Sake (5:05)
5. Barbell Is In (5:32)
6. Fascination (5:56)
7. For The Taking (4:17)
8. It All Stops Here (6:58)
Album length: 96:02
