These days, the British neo-prog institution IQ is releasing its twelfth studio work. "Resistance", a double album with several longtracks, combines all the strengths of the band and illustrates the high relevance it still has after almost 40 years of existence.
The threat of a No-Deal-Brexit in Great Britain and the threat of climate change was again underlined by the heat records of this summer - developments that also do not leave IQ guitarist Mike Holmes and singer Peter Nicholls untouched. In the eclipsed interview they talked about the need not to bow to adverse circumstances and the role of politics in their music.
eclipsed: "Resistance" is a double album. Unlike their predecessor "The Road Of Bones", whose second CD contains songs that didn't make it onto the regular album, this time it's a coherent work, isn't it?
ETERNAL LIFE
The Alice Cooper Interview
eclipsed author Michael Lorant has interviewed Alice Cooper nine times over the last three decades. These included telephone calls, but also conversations in which people sat opposite each other. In addition, there are several so-called Meet and Greet meetings on the fringes of concerts. The last time he met the veteran shock rocker was in Essen in April during the "Rock meets Classic" concert series.
IQ
The discovery of slowness
London, early May. IQ have just returned from some highly acclaimed concert visits to mainland Europe (see box). Shortly before the show for the release of "The Road Of Bones" at Islington Assembly Hall, eclipsed spoke with guitarist Mike Holmes about self-criticism, perfection and serial killers.
eclipsed: It took between four and five years for each of your last albums. Are patience and slowness the most important components of the IQ formula?
Mike Holmes: We certainly don't go about things headlong and in a hurry, that's for sure. However, the five years between "Frequency" and "The Road Of Bones" were by no means planned. First of all, there were a few important changes in the line-up during this time...
eclipsed: ...which we will talk about in more detail shortly...
A lot has happened in the five years since "Frequency": With Neil Durant a new keyboarder has joined the band, and bass player Tim Esau has returned. The newly formed band has passed the live fire test long ago, and with "The Road Of Bones" they now deliver one of the albums for which fans have been appreciating them since the early eighties: Progressive rock music with a dark impact, complexly arranged, wonderfully produced and with a Peter Nicholls, who grows beyond himself vocally time and time again.
STEVEN WILSON
The Ravenator
"The Raven That Refused To Sing (And Other Stories)" is Steven Wilson's latest prank. With his phenomenal third solo album, the Brit immerses himself in the past to redefine his own future. And Porcupine Tree will not belong to this group in the foreseeable future, as he clarifies in a conversation with eclipsed. In contrast to the ominous raven in the title of his record, Steven Wilson willingly provides information about himself, his music (and other stories).
BILL WYMAN
Away from the festivities
DEEP PURPLE IN ROCK
The Rebirth of a Band
An album carved in stone! 40 years ago the English band Deep Purple erected their own monument. Even considering the fact that the former hard rock heroes around Ritchie Blackmore and Jon Lord ruined their reputation in the middle of the eighties, the LP is still one of the top monuments in rock history. An album as massive and monumental as the Mount Rushmore to which the cover refers.
SUPERTRAMP
Crisis! Hard Crisis!
RICHARD WRIGHT
28.7.1943 - 15.9.2008
Richard Wright died surprisingly at the age of 65 - after a short fight against cancer. Many call him the soul of Pink Floyd, and his musicality and almost unearthly keyboard playing gave the group its unique sound. In the following we pay tribute once again to the musical merits of this exceptional artist.
YES
Game without Borders (Part III)
