The Seventh House by IQ released in 2000.
The origins of IQ go back to a previous band, The Lens, after whose breakup Holmes and Orford formed IQ.
The original lineup included Peter Nicholls on vocals, Paul Cook on drums, and Tim Esau on bass, with a sound inspired by the symphonic rock of the early '70s. Their first albums Tales from the Lush Attic (1983) and The Wake (1985) are now classics, seminal albums of the neo-prog genre.
Peter Nicholls left the band in 1985 and Paul Menel took his place. The Menel era began with Nomzamo (1987) and Are You Sitting Comfortably? (1989), with a more pop and commercial sound.
Nicholls returned in 1993 for the album Ever and with him progressive rock also returned, which from that moment continued to release highly successful albums, including the double concept album Subterranea (1997) and Dark Matter (2004). They recently released Dominion, in March 2025
The album was released three years after Subterranea from 1997. The compositions are elaborate and in a symphonic and melodic style with exceptional execution, an excellent rhythm section with drummer Paul Cook and bassist John Jowitt, the great lead guitar of Mike Holmes, the excellent keyboards of Martin Orford, and an extraordinary vocal performance by Peter Nicholls.
- The Wrong Side of Weird opens the album and is already a TOP track, atmospheric keyboards, and exceptional instrumental parts.
- Erosion is one of the weakest tracks on the album, but considering the high compositional and performance level this band is capable of, it is still generally an excellent piece.
- Next is the splendid title track, The Seventh House, an epic 14-minute Neo-Prog masterpiece, the best track on the album, which synthesizes the band's sound with beautiful acoustic guitar and symphonic keyboards with great progression.
- Zero Hour is a ballad with a great saxophone part and beautiful strings.
- Shooting Angels stands out for its fine keyboard work.
- Guiding Light is a great album closer, majestic, starting as a ballad with piano and vocals and then turning to rock in a powerful instrumental section.
More aggressive sounds compared to previous works, Peter Nicholl's voice is beautiful and at times resembles Gabriel's.
One of the best neo-prog bands of all time in my opinion, remaining faithful to progressive with great continuity and quality. Beautiful album.
Note: All links to the musicians' works are in the TAGS under the article title or on the "Artists" page
Tracklist
1. The Wrong Side of Weird (12:24)
2. Erosion (5:43)
3. The Seventh House (14:23)
4. Zero Hour (6:57)
5. Shooting Angels (7:24)
6. Guiding Light (9:58)
Duration 56:49
LineUp
- Peter Nicholls - lead vocals and backing vocals
- Mike Holmes - guitars, guitar synthesizer, keyboards, producer
- Martin Orford - keyboards, flute, backing vocals, pre-production
- John Jowitt - bass, bass pedals, backing vocals
- Paul Cook - drums and percussion
With:
- Tony Wright - saxophone (4,5)
