| | IQ Dark Matter CD IQ Discography of CDs
 (16 Customer Reviews)
Even IQ's most dedicated fans don't expect the group to top its third-period crowning achievement, Subterranea, but does Dark Matter ever get close! This album makes The Seventh House (IQ's previous album, released three years earlier) appear very, very average. The melodies are catchier and more moving, the writing stronger, the arrangements more varied. The album's strength mostly resides in the 24-minute closing epic, "Harvest of Souls," surely IQ's best epic song, arguably their best song, period. After the oblique meanders of the cluttered "The Narrow Margin" (from Subterranea, that album's weaker point), "Harvest of Souls" offers a much clearer structure, a generous number of memorable themes, and a dark political subtext referring to American politics post-9/11. In fact, in its melodic immediacy, theatricality, and choice of themes, the song sharply brings to mind Genesis' "Supper's Ready," especially its sections "How Dare I Be So Beautiful," "Apocalypse in 9/8," and "As Sure as Eggs Is Eggs" -- down to the anthemic finale and slow fadeout. Peter Nicholls reaches a new level of vocal confidence, John Jowitt throws in some mean wah-wah basslines -- the whole band simply sizzles throughout the piece, delicate and fast-paced passages alike. The song occupies exactly half of Dark Matter and presents no weak moment, a real tour de force. Four songs share the remaining 25 minutes. "Red Dust Shadow" is a potent neo-prog ballad. "Born Brilliant" has a good riff, but little to dress it up. "You Never Will," on the other hand, is a stunner -- drummer Paul Cook has never added complexities and flourishes to a rather basic pattern like this before. But if there is a highlight beside "Harvest of Souls," it is to be found in "Sacred Sound," a track that could be hailed as the typical IQ song: lush keyboard intro, medium tempo, yearning chorus, gripping vocals. It may be a little too predictable, but it features IQ in top songwriting shape, doing what they do best. All in all, Dark Matter is one of IQ's very best albums. ~ François Couture
Live Recording
Recording information: Aubitt Studios, Southampton, Hampshire, England (01/2004-04/2004); Worm Studios, Darwen (01/2004-04/2004).
Illustrator: Peter Nicholls.
Photographer: Tony Lythgoe.
IQ: Mike Holmes (guitar); Martin Orford, Paul Cook , Peter Nicholls, John Jowitt.
Personnel: Peter Nicholls (vocals, background vocals); Martin Orford (keyboards, background vocals); John Jowitt (bass guitar, background vocals); Paul Cook (drums, cymbals, percussion).
Record Collector (magazine) (p.106) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "The album draws upon politics as a central theme, while weaving strong melodic structures and an uplifting, anthemic framework..." IQ Dark Matter Songs | 1. | Sacred Sound |
| 2. | Red Dust Shadow |
| 3. | You Never Will |
| 4. | Born Brilliant |
| 5. | Harvest of Souls |
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Dark Matter Music Review Average Rating: (4.1 out of 5 stars)   List All Reviews El renacimiento del puro rock sinfónico
A quien le guste el buen rock sinfónico,y eche de menos esa memorable época de los setenta,que escuchen este cd,porque no se arrepentirán.Es algo nuevo,pero con las melodías del verdadero sinfónico procedente de Genesis o Camel.Lo que nme cuesta creer es cómo se conocen más otros grupos como Porcupine Tree o The flower kings,cuando IQ son tanto o mejores.
Sólo CON LAS PRIMERAS NOTAS DEL DISCO SE PONE EL BELLO DE PUNTA.Escuchadlo si queréis buena música.
Submitted by germanthrotull (Granada,España)
Was This Review Helpful? Yes No 1 of 1 found this helpful.
 Just discovered IQ
Heard "Leap of Faith" on satellite radio and decided to give that CD a try. Liked what I heard, so I bought other IQ CD's, including "Dark Matter". I like this one the best, although all are very good. Excellect musical arrangement and structure; soft, slow, building to crescendo, awesome. Give it a try, no disappoints here.
Submitted by ttakah (Burgettstown, PA, USA) 
Was This Review Helpful? Yes No
"Dark Matter" is well lit.
IQ's new record "Dark Matter" is great progressive rock. I so enjoy IQ's unique style of music. "The Seventh House" was a great record but this one is better. Brooding, dark but musically majestic. This is why I listen to IQ.
Submitted by kevin (Olympia, WA. USA)
Was This Review Helpful? Yes No Terrific Arrangement but grotesque Sleeve Design
I read this review in some Prog website, and learn of Mike Orford through Ayreon's Human Equation, so I gave it a try. This is the first time I listen to IQ and I must say I am very impressed with the mellow melodic prog rock. The keyboard of Mike Orford is brilliant and the vocal is unique. It can capture your imagination like what James Labrie, Neal Morse and Roger Waters can. But why would IQ put up such a grotesque album design? The music, lyrics and theme don't seem to go together with the sleeve design. I would have given this 5 star if not for the sleeve design. The sight of it is quite revolting. Does this has anything to do with their satirical lyrics against America? Even then they can come up with a better sleeve design. I really like the music in this album but the totality of it diminishes due to the album design ....
Submitted by Randy (Singapore)
Was This Review Helpful? Yes No Very Good, but not the best
This is a very good album but at the end I feel that it needed something more... something was missing. But anyway I enjoy it everytime I hear it. If you are an IQ fan you will not regret if you buy it.
Submitted by frailejon87 (Caracas, Venezuela)
Was This Review Helpful? Yes No List All Reviews | Have you heard this album? |  |
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Pricipally recorded live at The Roxy, Hollywood, California from December 10-12, 1973; the Auditorium Theater, Chicago, Illinois in 1974; Edinboro State College, Edinboro, Pennsylvania on May 8, 1974.
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Japanese edition features four bonus tracks: "Thunderstorm" (Demo), "Even From My Eyes" (Demo), "Yes" (Demo), and "Day in the Sun" (Demo).
Matthew Sweet quietly spent most of the '90s carrying the power-pop torch. On Sweet's seventh album, gifted eccentric Phil Spector became his inspiration. Although he avoided going for an orchestral sound a la Spector, the native Nebraskan emulates the production genius by layering as many as five players on drums, bass, keyboards, and guitars. Reuniting with producer/drummer Fred Maher (who co-produced Sweet's 1991 smash GIRLFRIEND), the power-pop maven went so far as to enlist the help of famed California studio vet Carol Kaye (who played on PET SOUNDS along with hundreds of '60s and '70s sessions) to play bass.
Overflowing with reverb and echo, IN REVERSE tackles the uncertainties of love and relationships. Unsavory paramours abound in Sweet's songs, whether it's the person whose true colors come out in the twangy "I Should Never Have Let You Know" or the apologetic cad trying to explain away the ...
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In addition to the original GATHERED IN SONG EP(1999), this release includes five previously unreleased demos.
Gathered in Song isn't a new Damien Jurado recording per se, but it might as well be. It places together his long out of print Gathered in Song EP from 1998 -- issued in a small print run on the Made in Mexico imprint -- and the demos for Rehearsals for Departure, an album that was acclaimed here by Jason Ankeny, but whose merits were argued about elsewhere. The brief liner notes claim that "These previously unreleased demos capture what Jurado considers to be his 'most challenging and frustrating time' as a musician." It's a compelling thing, then, to place what are considered his most successful recordings along with the demos from his most difficult period. The dichotomy is not lost, and there are a few reasons to compare the material. In fact, it would be best if they were looked at as unmatched bookends of his career at the end of the '90s. The contributions of Gathered in Song have been sung everywhere. These are small, simple, moving, and fully realized songs, played by Jurado and a couple of friends. The sheer blackness of "East Virginia" compels a mention of the similar unrelenting bleakscape that is Bob Dylan's "Ballad of Hollis Brown." While tracks like ...
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