Author Topic: The IQ Thread (Read 62007 times)

jammindude · « **Reply #630 on:** December 20, 2021, 06:56:38 PM »

I was having so much fun with the "Top 100 Dream Theater Songs" thread along with the ranking engine found at https://rankingengine.pubmeeple.com/ that it inspired me to do the same with all the IQ songs.

I'm not familiar enough with "Seven Stories Into Eight", or its '98 rerecord/rerelease, so I left those songs off. I was surprised to learn that through 11 albums (with two bonus tracks "Just Changing Hands" and "Dans Le Parc Du Chateau Noir") they have only tallied 95 tracks. But I'm currently going though the process of pitting these songs against each other and refamiliarizing myself with a few in order to get some order to it all.

I can't even begin to communicate how much I've fallen in love with this band over the last few years. They have quickly become my #3 all time favorite band (passing Haken) and are even in danger of overturning Dream Theater as my #2.

Ben_Jamin · « **Reply #631 on:** December 20, 2021, 07:21:50 PM »

I'm obsessed with Harvest of Souls.

I consider Subterranea their best though, just for the concept. I also bought the movie on Amazon Prime and it's not that bad.

jammindude · « **Reply #632 on:** December 20, 2021, 07:47:23 PM »

Quote from: Ben_Jamin on December 20, 2021, 07:21:50 PM

I'm obsessed with Harvest of Souls.

I consider Subterranea their best though, just for the concept. I also bought the movie on Amazon Prime and it's not that bad.

I watched it and I thought it was kinda lame…but that’s how I discovered In This Wilderness which is a FANTASTIC song, although it’s technically not an IQ song but a Michael Holmes solo track with Peter Nichols on vocals, but that just feels like semantics.

jammindude · « **Reply #633 on:** December 20, 2021, 08:05:06 PM »

Re: Harvest of Souls. I had a tough time with it at first because I initially took part of it out of context.

Not just in the US, but in any nation at all, I find the whole "God is with our country" mentality to be extremely off putting and distasteful. But later realizing that much of the "The hand of God is on America" part was meant more ironically in the context of the song than I originally realized made it much more understandable and easier to relate to.

Remember that I only heard IQ for the first time when I picked up Frequency (gosh, I guess it was 8 years ago now, because I remember it was right after the Seahawks won the Super Bowl) and I didn't really do a "all in the deep end" dive until I picked up The Wake and Tales about 2-3 years ago. After that, I went on a tear and bought everything I could.

From that perspective, it's easy to miss that Dark Matter was the first post 9/11 album they had released and covers a wide range of emotions around not just those events, but the few years following it and how attitudes shifted once the "war on terror" got underway.

SwedishGoose · « **Reply #634 on:** December 20, 2021, 11:06:30 PM »

Quote from: Ben_Jamin on December 15, 2021, 02:47:44 PM

Quote from: jammindude on December 15, 2021, 02:29:30 PM
SHUT UP AND TAKE MY MONEY!!!!!!

https://shop.iq-hq.co.uk/products/the-archive-collection-2003-2017?_pos=1&_psq=archi&_ss=e&_v=1.0&fbclid=IwAR1_f78v1DLZZgFcD8PlEskJx8JZxrpRKCO7pRP2hyV-jmjbbFx8hd2uGcQ

Quote
The deluxe set of every IQ 'Archive Collection' release from 2003 to 2017 - 12 discs presented in a 12" x 12" format hardback art book with 52 full colour pages.

This collection represents an alternative history of IQ and includes 'a cornucopia of rare live material, new songs unavailable elsewhere, demos, radical remixes, work-in-progress performances, studio outtakes, three complete concerts and even a full length Christmas album'. Featuring the titles:

IQ20 (2 x CD)
Frequency Tour CD Disc 1
Frequency Tour CD Disc 2
Re:Mixed
IQ30 (2 x CD)
The Road of Bonus
Live on the Road of Bones (2 x CD)
Tales From a Dark Christmas
Plus an exclusive Blu-ray Disc featuring the 'Subterranea' and 'IQ30' shows in HD video, two previously unreleased complete concerts.

Strictly limited edition.

I'm sold...Mainly for more IQ live...

I'd love to get this release but since Ihave most of it already on other formats.....
Well maybe after christmas

jammindude · « **Reply #635 on:** December 21, 2021, 12:23:43 PM »

I was wondering why they didn't include an audio CD of the full Subterrenea show (BTW, has that ever been available on DVD? It was my understanding that VHS was the primary format when that first came out) but then it just now occurred to me that the 25th Anniversary is next year and they are probably holding it back as bonus material for a remaster and/or remix rerelease.

jammindude · « **Reply #636 on:** December 21, 2021, 12:33:12 PM »

Still working on my ranking engine, but just wanted to comment how hard this is. When you take all the IQ songs and pit them one on one against one another, just about everything in the top 30 becomes painful to put against each other.

The strength of their body of work is absolutely astounding.

jammindude · « **Reply #637 on:** December 21, 2021, 02:05:57 PM »

Well, I finally have the results from over 300 "one on one" contests. Some of these were almost impossible. Some things I want to tweak a bit, but I'm not sure how. Because while I think the top 7 feel pretty solid, almost everything between 8 and 32 feels like they could all be tied. Can I have a 25-way tie for 8th place???

And then....from that point down to somewhere in the upper 60s all feel like they could be tied for 9th. To rank these feels almost criminal. But it's just amplifying to me how many of these songs are so incredible.

There is definitely a lower tier of "also rans" from about 70 onward, but even most of those I wouldn't hit the skip button if they came on.

But here's my ranking of all IQ songs from 1-95. I did combine Nostalgia with Falling Apart at the Seams because they are so obviously meant as one being an intro to the other. I also left off the "Seven Stories into Eight" tracks because I barely know them.

Ranking Engine

Rank   Item
1   The Province
2   Without Walls
3   Further Away
4   The Darkest Hour
5   The Seventh House
6   The Last Human Gateway
7   Fallout
8   Ryker Skies
9   Ten Million Demons
10   Guiding Light
11   Nostalgia/Falling Apart at the Seams
12   The Road of Bones
13   Stronger Than Friction
14   The Great Spirit Way
15   Until the End
16   Widow's Peak
17   Frequency
18   Perfect Space
19   Sacred Sound
20   Ocean
21   No Love Lost
22   The Wrong Side of Weird
23   The Narrow Margin
24   For Another Lifetime
25   Subterrenea
26   Awake and Nervous
27   Constellations
28   Shooting Angels
29   Fading Senses
30   From the Outside In
31   Wurensh
32   Harvest of Souls
33   Drive On
34   Tunnel Vision
35   Headlong
36   Breathtaker
37   Erosion
38   Leap of Faith
39   Fire and Security
40   Human Nature
41   Stay Down
42   The Enemy Smacks
43   War Heroes
44   Sleepless Incidental
45   If Anything
46   One Fatal Mistake
47   Born Brilliant
48   Came Down
49   A Missile
50   Infernal Chorus
51   Closer
52   The Wake
53   Outer Limits
54   Zero Hour
55   Fall and Rise
56   Hardcore
57   Shallow Bay
58   You Never Will
59   The Magic Roundabout
60   Rise
61   Nomzamo
62   Common Ground
63   The Sense in Sanity
64   Unsolid Ground
65   Red Dust Shadow
66   Failsafe
67   Life Support
68   Sold on You
69   Somewhere in Time
70   Overture
71   Out of Nowhere
72   The Thousand Days
73   Knucklehead
74   Through My Fingers
75   Just Changing Hands
76   Through the Corridors
77   High Waters
78   Passing Strangers
79   Corners
80   King of Fools
81   1312 Overture
82   Promises (As the Years Go By)
83   Still Life
84   Capricorn
85   Speak My Name
86   Alampandria
87   Provider
88   Dans Le Parc Du Chateau Noir
89   My Baby Treats Me Right 'Cos I'm a Hard Lovin' Man All Night Long
90   Nothing at All
91   The Other Side
92   Colorflow
93   Screaming
94   State of Mine
95   Laid Low

jammindude · « **Reply #638 on:** January 24, 2022, 07:36:57 PM »

It took six weeks and sometimes I feared it was lost in the mail forever…but my boxed set arrived!!!

This set is AMAZING!!!

lonestar · « **Reply #639 on:** January 24, 2022, 08:08:32 PM »

Quote from: jammindude on January 24, 2022, 07:36:57 PM

It took six weeks and sometimes I feared it was lost in the mail forever…but my boxed set arrived!!!

This set is AMAZING!!!

Weird, must be the shipping glitches going on, usually GEP is fantastic with their service. I've never had a single issue with what I've ordered.

jammindude · « **Reply #640 on:** January 24, 2022, 08:58:54 PM »

Quote from: lonestar on January 24, 2022, 08:08:32 PM

Quote from: jammindude on January 24, 2022, 07:36:57 PM
It took six weeks and sometimes I feared it was lost in the mail forever…but my boxed set arrived!!!

This set is AMAZING!!!

Weird, must be the shipping glitches going on, usually GEP is fantastic with their service. I've never had a single issue with what I've ordered.

It is. And it’s totally not their fault and I knew that. That’s why I elected patience. I’ve never seen shipping problems across the board like this in my lifetime. It’s really bad.

To tell you the truth, I was half resigned to waiting until mid-February and then reluctantly asking for a refund if it didn’t arrive by then. So because I was halfway to giving up completely, it came as a happy shock when it suddenly arrived.

jammindude · « **Reply #641 on:** January 24, 2022, 10:16:17 PM »

Two thoughts

1) The full performance of Subterranea from the IQ30 weekend in HQ video is worth the sticker price all by itself. In part because…

2) Peter’s voice has really (drastically) improved over the years. As much as I love the early material, his technique was a bit nasal and slightly whiny. He wasn’t really singing “properly” and it even made him a bit pitchy at times. But at some point, he either improved on his own or took lessons, because his voice is just pure BUTTER now. His timbre on the Provider intro is much improved from the studio version (which I always thought sounded just slightly off) and sounds more along the lines of the beginning of Frequency (which I’ve always thought was gorgeous)

Ben_Jamin · « **Reply #642 on:** January 24, 2022, 11:21:48 PM »

That's good to know. I should be receiving mine soon then.

lonestar · « **Reply #643 on:** January 26, 2022, 07:02:00 AM »

Quote from: jammindude on January 24, 2022, 10:16:17 PM

Two thoughts

1) The full performance of Subterranea from the IQ30 weekend in HQ video is worth the sticker price all by itself. In part because…

2) Peter’s voice has really (drastically) improved over the years. As much as I love the early material, his technique was a bit nasal and slightly whiny. He wasn’t really singing “properly” and it even made him a bit pitchy at times. But at some point, he either improved on his own or took lessons, because his voice is just pure BUTTER now. His timbre on the Provider intro is much improved from the studio version (which I always thought sounded just slightly off) and sounds more along the lines of the beginning of Frequency (which I’ve always thought was gorgeous)

Totally agree with this. His biggest qualitative jump was between The Wake and Ever, but between ever and Frequency it just kept getting better. Times starting to do its thing and I've noticed some downslide in live performances, but that's expected of anyone in their 60s.

RoeDent · « **Reply #644 on:** January 26, 2022, 07:35:51 AM »

I think there's still a little bit of that whine there in Ever. But it's completely gone in Subterranea. That for me is the start of prime Peter.

Fritzinger · « **Reply #645 on:** January 26, 2022, 10:27:21 AM »

Quote from: RoeDent on January 26, 2022, 07:35:51 AM

I think there's still a little bit of that whine there in Ever. But it's completely gone in Subterranea. That for me is the start of prime IQ.

FTFY

jammindude · « **Reply #646 on:** January 26, 2022, 11:09:59 AM »

Subterranea took a very long time to digest, but I’m loving it more and more with each listen. And I still say the IQ30 full performance might even be better than the studio version. In fact, the only irritating thing about that boxed set is that they didn’t include a CD of that performance. That’s the only thing that’s exclusively video.

SwedishGoose · « **Reply #647 on:** January 27, 2022, 11:12:30 PM »

Got my Artbook yesterday..... what a beauty!

And as menntioned before, the Subterranea concert from the IQ30 weekend is pure magic. Give meea time machine and I'm there....

Only had Live on the Road of Bones and Tales from a Dark Christmas before so there is a lot to take in.

jammindude · « **Reply #648 on:** January 27, 2022, 11:29:17 PM »

All this, and STILL no official live release of The Province? A very small dark cloud appears as I have to remind myself to focus on what we DID get and not what we DIDN’T get.

Ben_Jamin · « **Reply #649 on:** January 27, 2022, 11:51:14 PM »

I don't think I'll see my copy until a month or so.

Fritzinger · « **Reply #650 on:** January 31, 2022, 09:13:29 AM »

Quote from: jammindude on January 27, 2022, 11:29:17 PM

All this, and STILL no official live release of The Province? A very small dark cloud appears as I have to remind myself to focus on what we DID get and not what we DIDN’T get.

I think they haven't played that song since the Frequency tour. It's IQ's best song of all in my opinion.

romdrums · « **Reply #651 on:** January 31, 2022, 01:57:11 PM »

Quote from: Fritzinger on January 31, 2022, 09:13:29 AM

Quote from: jammindude on January 27, 2022, 11:29:17 PM
All this, and STILL no official live release of The Province? A very small dark cloud appears as I have to remind myself to focus on what we DID get and not what we DIDN’T get.

I think they haven't played that song since the Frequency tour. It's IQ's best song of all in my opinion.

Didn't it win the IQ survivor that was run a few years back?

EDIT: It did! https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=55001.0

Ben_Jamin · « **Reply #652 on:** February 07, 2022, 10:27:43 PM »

I received mine and it is really beautiful. Lots to take in for me as I only had IQ30. Going to be fun taking the time to go through all of the discs. I like the addition of the interviews as well, and how it's divided into sections for each album.

jammindude · « **Reply #653 on:** February 13, 2022, 09:33:05 AM »

So the two night IQ40 shows finally took place Friday and Saturday. Here’s the setlists according to setlist.fm:

Friday Feb 11th

Outer Limits
Stay Down
Failsafe
Shallow Bay
The Magic Roundabout
Until the End
No Love Lost
Speak My Name
Guiding Light
The Road of Bones
A Missile
The Seventh House

Encore:
Ten Million Demons
The Last Human Gateway (middle section)

Saturday Feb 12th

The Darkest Hour
Frequency
Stay Down
High Waters
The Narrow Margin
The Thousand Days
Leap of Faith
For Another Lifetime
The Road of Bones
A Missile
Further Away

Encore:
Subterranea
Headlong

WOW!!!! All I can say is WOW!!! I’ve never been more jealous that I don’t live in the UK in my entire life!!! They better release this! And since IQ20 and IQ30 got a release I suppose there’s no reason to think that they won’t.

These two sets are just incredible. And yet, I guess I’m a bit puzzled by one observation. If you’re going to change the setlist THAT drastically, I don’t know why you bother with the three repeats. I would have traded out the two Resistance repeats for different songs from the album on one of the nights. Rise and Fire and Security would have been nice choices. (I’d love to hear them play The Great Spirit Way someday, but you can only squeeze in so many epics). I also would have traded the repeat performance of TROB for the often requested, but always overlooked The Province.

But it’s hard to complain with what is an otherwise amazing set.

lonestar · « **Reply #654 on:** February 13, 2022, 10:15:46 AM »

Yeah, saw that. Had to comment on the IQ fanpage that I hope everyone in the UK appreciated it. Closed the show with Headlong...fucking A man.

Just ridiculous sets. Very surprised they didn't bust out Enemy Smacks for either show, maybe they're finally retiring that one, which would be a shame since it's such a brilliant live performance by Peter.

The Letter M · « **Reply #655 on:** February 25, 2022, 06:51:22 AM »

https://www.loudersound.com/news/iq-repress-archive-collection-due-to-popular-demand

Aaaaand I bit the bullet and bought it now that I have the funds for it. The shipping was still ridiculously high to the US but the overall total would still be less than the price of the original pressing on the secondary market.

I'm by no means a die-hard IQ fan but I know I would kick myself if I wanted this set later on and passed up on this re-pressing. Maybe this set will help the band step up a few places into my favorite bands. At least IQ is one of the few dozen artists I keep on my phone.

Now to wait who knows how long for it to ship here...

-Marc.

SwedishGoose · « **Reply #656 on:** February 25, 2022, 10:30:56 AM »

Quote from: The Letter M on February 25, 2022, 06:51:22 AM

https://www.loudersound.com/news/iq-repress-archive-collection-due-to-popular-demand

Aaaaand I bit the bullet and bought it now that I have the funds for it. The shipping was still ridiculously high to the US but the overall total would still be less than the price of the original pressing on the secondary market..

I'm by no means a die-hard IQ fan but I know I would kick myself if I wanted this set later on and passed up on this re-pressing. Maybe this set will help the band step up a few places into my favorite bands. At least IQ is one of the few dozen artists I keep on my phone.

Now to wait who knows how long for it to ship here...

-Marc.

Congrats..... it's a great and beautiful set

425 · « **Reply #657 on:** February 25, 2022, 11:54:36 AM »

Quote from: The Letter M on February 25, 2022, 06:51:22 AM

https://www.loudersound.com/news/iq-repress-archive-collection-due-to-popular-demand

Aaaaand I bit the bullet and bought it now that I have the funds for it. The shipping was still ridiculously high to the US but the overall total would still be less than the price of the original pressing on the secondary market.

I'm by no means a die-hard IQ fan but I know I would kick myself if I wanted this set later on and passed up on this re-pressing. Maybe this set will help the band step up a few places into my favorite bands. At least IQ is one of the few dozen artists I keep on my phone.

Now to wait who knows how long for it to ship here...

-Marc.

Your post has convinced me to do the same thing. I'm in a similar position with my level of IQ fandom, but I have never regretted getting one of these career-spanning box sets and often regretted not getting one, so I decided to go ahead and do it. If I never end up rating the band higher and I need the money down the line, I can always sell it.

lonestar · « **Reply #658 on:** February 25, 2022, 12:31:39 PM »

Still not finding the desire to get it personally. I really don't listen to CDs at all these days, it'd mostly just gather dust. I'll save my IQ fandom money for the off chance they ever come back to the states and I need to travel across country again.

The Letter M · « **Reply #659 on:** February 25, 2022, 04:40:25 PM »

Quote from: 425 on February 25, 2022, 11:54:36 AM

Quote from: The Letter M on February 25, 2022, 06:51:22 AM
https://www.loudersound.com/news/iq-repress-archive-collection-due-to-popular-demand

Aaaaand I bit the bullet and bought it now that I have the funds for it. The shipping was still ridiculously high to the US but the overall total would still be less than the price of the original pressing on the secondary market.

I'm by no means a die-hard IQ fan but I know I would kick myself if I wanted this set later on and passed up on this re-pressing. Maybe this set will help the band step up a few places into my favorite bands. At least IQ is one of the few dozen artists I keep on my phone.

Now to wait who knows how long for it to ship here...

-Marc.

Your post has convinced me to do the same thing. I'm in a similar position with my level of IQ fandom, but I have never regretted getting one of these career-spanning box sets and often regretted not getting one, so I decided to go ahead and do it. If I never end up rating the band higher and I need the money down the line, I can always sell it.

It's also a set of fairly rare material that has been out of print for a long time, IIRC, so getting it on CD means that I can have a legally owned copy of the music, which also means if anything were to happen to my digital collection, I'd still have the hard copy to rip again later on. I'll admit I haven't also listened to/watched any live IQ, so the shows on this set will be my first exposure to live IQ material!

Quote from: SwedishGoose on February 25, 2022, 10:30:56 AM

Quote from: The Letter M on February 25, 2022, 06:51:22 AM
https://www.loudersound.com/news/iq-repress-archive-collection-due-to-popular-demand

Aaaaand I bit the bullet and bought it now that I have the funds for it. The shipping was still ridiculously high to the US but the overall total would still be less than the price of the original pressing on the secondary market..

I'm by no means a die-hard IQ fan but I know I would kick myself if I wanted this set later on and passed up on this re-pressing. Maybe this set will help the band step up a few places into my favorite bands. At least IQ is one of the few dozen artists I keep on my phone.

Now to wait who knows how long for it to ship here...

-Marc.

Congrats..... it's a great and beautiful set

Thanks. I'm glad I caught the PROG Magazine post about it because who knows how long this 2nd pressing will last in their store. How long did it take for some folks here to receive theirs? Being that I live on the East Coast of the US, I'm hoping it doesn't take too long to cross the Atlantic to get to me, and hopefully it arrives in one piece!

-Marc.

jammindude · « **Reply #660 on:** February 25, 2022, 05:38:05 PM »

Mine took over five weeks. Almost 6. But with Covid and all the shipping problems we’ve been having, I was kind of expecting that anyway.

The Letter M · « **Reply #661 on:** March 07, 2022, 12:28:38 PM »

Quote from: The Letter M on February 25, 2022, 06:51:22 AM

https://www.loudersound.com/news/iq-repress-archive-collection-due-to-popular-demand

Aaaaand I bit the bullet and bought it now that I have the funds for it. The shipping was still ridiculously high to the US but the overall total would still be less than the price of the original pressing on the secondary market.

I'm by no means a die-hard IQ fan but I know I would kick myself if I wanted this set later on and passed up on this re-pressing. Maybe this set will help the band step up a few places into my favorite bands. At least IQ is one of the few dozen artists I keep on my phone.

Now to wait who knows how long for it to ship here...

-Marc.

Aaaaaand now it's here! Apparently the USPS tried to deliver it to me on Friday and Saturday last weekend but I was at work all day. That took only a week after ordering it! I haven't opened it yet but it looks gorgeous.

-Marc.

goo-goo · « **Reply #662 on:** March 09, 2022, 12:28:20 PM »

LaserCD is taking pre-orders of the IQ Archive Book

https://www.lasercd.com/cd/archive-collection-2003-2017-12-disc-artbook-preorder

$104 with shipping. Just placed an order for it.

The Letter M · « **Reply #663 on:** March 09, 2022, 01:29:17 PM »

Quote from: goo-goo on March 09, 2022, 12:28:20 PM

LaserCD is taking pre-orders of the IQ Archive Book

https://www.lasercd.com/cd/archive-collection-2003-2017-12-disc-artbook-preorder

$104 with shipping. Just placed an order for it.

Dang... I paid $132.83 directly from IQ's store after shipping from the UK. That's a good deal, though I noticed they didn't say when their preorder will ship. They may not get their allotment until their preorders sell out so they can be sure they'll move every set they order.

If you missed out on this, definitely get it before you regret it. I opened my set the other night and it is gorgeous. I was trying to be super delicate with the pages but ended up getting some page-turn kinks in some of the pages (the paper feels different than I'm used to, it's kinda glossy).

-Marc.

Nel · « **Reply #664 on:** March 12, 2022, 10:28:24 AM »

I want to get it, but I'd like to know when it ships. I move in May.

News: BREAKING NEWS: Dream Theater reunites with drummer Mike Portnoy (10/25/23)

Author Topic: The IQ Thread (Read 62007 times)