IQ

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

IQ is a British neo-prog band, founded in 1981 by Mike Holmes and Martin Orford, after the break-up of their earlier band The Lens. From 1982 the line-up consisted of the singer Peter Nicholls, the guitarist Mike Holmes, the keyboard player Martin Orford, the drummer Paul Cook and the bassist Tim Esau. Nicholls also drew the sleeves of most of the albums on which he appears. In 1985 he left briefly to start another band and was replaced by Paul Menel, but in 1990 he returned.

Music and breakthrough

IQ belongs to a wave of British groups from the early 1980s, such as Marillion, Pendragon, Twelfth Night and Pallas, who continued the progressive rock that Genesis and Yes had left behind in the 1970s. The music press later called this neo-prog. Orford thought that term unjustified and pointed out that the band had many different influences. The group never had major commercial successes, but built up a loyal fan base and is still active. In 2021 and 2022 it celebrated its fortieth anniversary with concerts in the United Kingdom and Europe.

Influence

The music is characterised by long songs, a large share of keyboards and guitar, and almost theatrical vocals. Especially in the early years the group sounded like Genesis. For the history of pop, IQ matters above all as proof that progressive rock continued to exist after punk, among a loyal audience and outside the charts.

Listening

• 
  The Wake · IQ, 1985
  Apple Music ↗

Discography

Studio albums

• 1982Seven Stories Into Eight
• 1983Tales From the Lush Attic
• 1985Nine in a Pond Is Here
• 1985The Wake
• 1987Nomzamo
• 1989Are You Sitting Comfortably?
• 1991J’ai Pollette d’arnu
• 1993Ever
• 1997Subterranea
• 1998Seven Stories Into Ninety Eight
• 2000The Seventh House
• 2004Dark Matter
• 2009Frequency
• 2014The Road of Bones
• 2017Tales From a Dark Christmas
• 2019Resistance
• 2025Dominion

See also

• Tales From the Lush Attic
• Nomzamo
• Subterranea