Description
Check all samples: www.allmusic.com/album/the-wake-mw0000463415
RELEASE DATE 1985
DURATION 67:04
GENRE Pop/Rock
Blues STYLES: Neo-Prog, Prog-Rock
When considering the “strict” period of neo-prog (i.e., the 1980s), The Wake is definitely a classic. Together with Marillions first LPs, it helped define what neo-progressive was and generated dozens of sound-alike albums by as many bands in the U.K. and worldwide. This LP remains the bands true classic, a must-have for anyone remotely interested in progressive rock from the 1980s. The third album by the band, it took a more pop approach than Tales From the Lush Attic; there was no 20-minute epic track and songs were rather simple in terms of structure. “The Thousand Days,” the title track, and “Corners” had single potential, especially the first of these, a stirring rock number. With its electronic drum track and medium-tempo feel, “Corners” is the weakest track of the set. These shorter songs are balanced out by strong longer tracks like “The Magic Roundabout,” “Headlong,” and mostly “Widows Peak.” On the latter two, IQ gets very close to Peter Gabriel-era Genesis, mostly thanks to Peter Nicholls’ theatrical and emotional vocals. The rest of the band still feels “young” somehow.
IQ The Wake
Label: Sahara Records SAH 136
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album
Country:UK
Released : May 1985
Genre: Rock
Style: Prog Rock
Tracklist
A1 Outer Limits 8:29
A2 The Wake 3:50
A3 The Magic Roundabout 6:33
A4 Corners 6:22
B1 Widows Peak 9:10
B2 The Thousand Days 4:00
B3 Headlong 7:27
Bass, Bass [Bass Pedals] Tim Esau
Drums, Percussion Paul Cook
Guitar, Acoustic Guitar Mike Holmes*
Keyboards, Flute, Backing Vocals Martin Orford
Vocals, Tambourine Peter Nicholls
The Wake is the third studio album by the British neo-progressive rock band IQ and was released in 1985. It entered the UK album chart on 22 June 1985, one week before Marillion’s Misplaced Childhood album. Reviewed in Kerrang! magazine, both albums were equally praised. It is the only album by IQ to enter the UK album chart, spending one week at 72.
An associated single release, “Barbell is In”, was a “white reggae” song along the lines of Led Zeppelins “D’yer Mak’er”. The band were reportedly amused when the single reached no. 7 in the British heavy metal chart.
The cover art is by lead singer Peter Nicholls. Most of the characters in the image are original, but the central character is based on Rae Dawn Chong wearing clay face (and body) paint as Ika in the film Quest for Fire (1981). However, according to Nicholls, many of the bands fans misinterpreted this as a self-portrait, since he wore extensive stage makeup at the time.
In what is thought to be the earliest photograph ever taken of the band Radiohead, a poster of The Wake is clearly shown on the wall behind Thom Yorke. The photograph was taken at Abingdon School.
Well this is one of 2 IQ albums that deserve the 5 star rating.A dark almost overwhelming record that grabs you by the throat and just won’t let go.’The Magic Roundabout’ has absolutely nothing to do with Dougal and chums I can assure you ,while ‘Widows Peak’ has one of the most startling intros to any piece of music I’ve heard.Paul Cook is awesome on the skins here.The star of the show undoubtedly though is Pete Nicholls who lends an intensity to the songs that is very rare in music.This is a special record.
4.5 stars. A record about death but it’s not as dark and moody as one would think. This is without a doubt one of IQ’s best albums. It’s also the first IQ record I ever listened to. It’s pretty cool that the theme in the first song “Outer Limits” can be heard in the final song “Headlong”. Four of the seven songs have mellotron provided by Mr.Orford, who also supplies us with moog, synths, flute and keyboards. “Outer Limits” begins with an ominous bass line coupled with synths until we hear the amazing vocals of Peter Nicholls. A steady beat with lots of mellotron follows. I really like the synths 3 1/2 minutes in. Nice guitar after 6 1/2 minute too. “The Wake” has some terrific drums and keyboards, along with mellotron and some splendid guitar.The intro is so powerful. Check out the guitar after 2 minutes.This song blends into “The Magic Roundabout” which opens with a powerful atmosphere and lots of synths. It kicks in before 2 minutes. It settles 3 minutes in, it’s such a beautiful section as Peter comes in vocally. I also like when we get a calm 6 1/2 minutes in and the gorgeous guitar that follows. “Corners” opens with percussion and drums as synths then reserved vocals come into this laid back tune.
“Widow’s Peak” has lots of time changes, and I just love the sound of this song. It opens with some atmosphere before kicking in around 1 1/2 minutes with mellotron. When the vocals come in i’m smiling. God bless Peter Nicholls ! I really like when it settles 2 1/2 minutes in. Great section ! It kicks back in with guitar leading the way. Paul’s beating the hell out of his drumkit here. Another calm 4 1/2 minutes in before kicking back in around 6 minutes with vocals. Beautiful guitar solo 8 minutes in. What a song ! “Thousand Days” might be my favourite. It’s so moving for me, just an uplifting and emotional track really. It has a spacey ending. “Headlong” features fragile vocals and mellotron comes in before a minute. It starts to build after 2 minutes. Incredible ! It settles again 3 1/2 minutes in then a minute later we get that familiar and uplifting melody. This is one of my favourite IQ records and I highly recommend it.
IQ’s first masterpiece is The Wake, a concept album about a protagonist undergoing phantasmagoric experiences as he comes to terms with the fact that he’s died and learns to let go of his earthly connections as he passes to an uncertain fate. Distilling the Genesis- influenced approach of Tales From the Lush Attic into tighter, more carefully composed tracks and showing an adept ability to include a few crowd-pleasing mainstream rock elements into their sound without compromising the emotional and conceptual integrity of the piece (as on The Thousand Days), the album shows a far greater diversity of sound and mood than its predecessor, with songs ranging from the foreboding Outer Limits to the relaxing Corners (one of the few neo-prog tracks I’m aware of which includes an indo-prog influence thanks to the inclusion of sitar) to the uplifting, soaring Thousand Days and Headlong.
As far as the band’s performances go, the interplay of Mike Holmes’ guitar and Martin Orford’s synths has rarely been equalled, whilst Peter Nicholls’ dramatic, theatrical vocal delivery is excellent on this album. He left the band after this one to pursue his Niadem’s Ghost sabbatical, and I’d go so far as to say that even if he’d never returned he’d still have a strong claim to being IQ’s best vocallist based on his work here. Indeed, if IQ had vanished into obscurity or sold out utterly after this point they’d still have a warm reputation in neo-prog circles thanks to this classic; luckily for us, they had more classics up their sleeve.
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