IQ are a British

neo-prog Neo-progressive rock (commonly abbreviated neo-prog) is a subgenre of progressive rock that developed in the UK in the early 1980s. The genre's most popular band, Marillion, achieved mainstream success in the decade. Several bands from the ge ...

band founded by Mike Holmes and Martin Orford in 1981Official IQ site.
Band formed in 1981. following the dissolution of their original band The Lens. Although the band have never enjoyed major commercial success and had several lineup changes, IQ have built up a loyal following over the years and are still active as of 2025, currently with the original recording line-up (with the exception of Orford). In 2021/22, IQ performed a series of concerts in the UK and Europe celebrating their 40th anniversary.

Neo-progressive movement

IQ were one of a number of British bands formed during the early 1980s, including

Marillion Marillion are a British neo-prog band, formed in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, in 1979. They emerged from the post-punk music scene in Britain and existed as a bridge between the styles of punk rock and classic progressive rock, becoming the mo ...

, Pendragon,

Twelfth Night ''Twelfth Night, or What You Will'' is a romantic comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written around 1601–1602 as a Twelfth Night entertainment for the close of the Christmas season. The play centres on the twins Viola an ...

Pallas Pallas may refer to: Astronomy * 2 Pallas asteroid ** Pallas family, a group of asteroids that includes 2 Pallas * Pallas (crater), a crater on Earth's moon Mythology * Pallas (Giant), a son of Uranus and Gaia, killed and flayed by Athena * Pa ...

and

Solstice A solstice is the time when the Sun reaches its most northerly or southerly sun path, excursion relative to the celestial equator on the celestial sphere. Two solstices occur annually, around 20–22 June and 20–22 December. In many countries ...

, that continued with the progressive rock style forsaken by 1970s bands such as

Genesis Genesis may refer to: Religion * Book of Genesis, the first book of the biblical scriptures of both Judaism and Christianity, describing the creation of the Earth and of humankind * Genesis creation narrative, the first several chapters of the Bo ...

and

Yes Yes or YES may refer to: * An affirmative particle in the English language; see yes and no Education * YES Prep Public Schools, Houston, Texas, US * Young Eisner Scholars, in Los Angeles, New York City, Chicago, and Appalachia, US * Young Ep ...

. The music press have subsequently coined the phrase

neo-progressive Neo-progressive rock (commonly abbreviated neo-prog) is a subgenre of progressive rock that developed in the UK in the early 1980s. The genre's most popular band, Marillion, achieved mainstream success in the decade. Several bands from the genr ...

to describe these bands (although this term was never used contemporaneously with the movement as described in Martin Orford's essay referenced below), often accusing them of simply copying the styles of other bands. This accusation has been strenuously denied by Martin Orford, who is against the use of the term "neo progressive" and claims the band have wide-ranging and eclectic selection of musical influences. Paul Stump's ''History of Progressive Rock'', while affirming the band's categorization as neo-progressive, argued that IQ "did at least offer a more individual palette which, while just as derivative s Marillionin its way, gave the impression that the choice of arrangements was indivisible from the choice of notes played - that the similarities with older bands arose ''accidentally'' from their own personal approach to music." mphasis in original

Line-up

From 1982, the line-up consisted of Peter Nicholls (vocals), Mike Holmes (guitar), Martin Orford (keyboards), Paul Cook (not to be confused with the

Sex Pistols The Sex Pistols are an English punk rock band formed in London in 1975. Although their initial career lasted just two and a half years, they became culturally influential in popular music. The band initiated the punk movement in the United Ki ...

' drummer of the same name) (drums), and Tim Esau (bass). Nicholls left in July 1985 to form a new band, Niadem's Ghost, and was replaced by Paul (P. L.) Menel, but subsequently returned in 1990. Nicholls also created the cover art for most of the albums on which he appears. In early 2005, member Paul Cook left the band and was replaced on drums by Andy Edwards (ex

Robert Plant Robert Anthony Plant (born 20 August 1948) is an English singer and songwriter. He was the lead singer and lyricist of the rock band Led Zeppelin from its founding in 1968 until their breakup in 1980. Since then, he has had a successful solo ca ...

drummer). On 20 July 2007, Martin Orford announced that he was leaving IQ and he was replaced by Mark Westworth from prog-rock band Darwin's Radio. As of late 2009, Paul Cook has returned to replace Andy Edwards. On 7 October 2010, Mark Westworth announced on the band's official web site that he would be leaving the band and his final appearance with IQ was on 11 December 2010. On 1 January 2011, the band announced that Westworth's replacement on keyboards would be Neil Durant, from instrumental prog-fusion band Sphere³. On 7 January 2011, bassist of 19 years John Jowitt announced on the band's website that he had left the band, and that his last appearance with the band had also been the concert on 11 December 2010. He was replaced by original bassist Tim Esau in January 2011.

Musical style

The band's musical style, especially earlier in their career, was reminiscent of

Peter Gabriel Peter Brian Gabriel (born 13 February 1950) is an English singer, songwriter, musician, and human rights activist. He came to prominence as the original frontman of the rock band Genesis. He left the band in 1975 and launched a solo career wit ...

and

Steve Hackett Stephen Richard Hackett (born 12 February 1950) is an English guitarist who gained prominence as the lead guitarist of the progressive rock band Genesis (band), Genesis from 1971 to 1977. Hackett contributed to six Genesis studio albums, three l ...

era

because of singer Peter Nicholls' vocal and stage-presence similarities to Gabriel and keyboardist Martin Orford's grandiose keyboarding. However, guitarist Mike Holmes' role was far more assertive in the band, giving them a harder edge musically. After Nicholls' departure, the band's style became increasingly commercial and radio-friendly — albeit without much success — on '' Nomzamo'' (1987) and '' Are You Sitting Comfortably?'' (1989), although each album still featured some progressive rock-style tracks. Beginning with the return of Nicholls on 1993's ''

Ever Ever may refer to: Music * ''Ever'' (Love Spirals Downwards album) (1996) * ''Ever'' (IQ album) (1993) * "Ever" (song), a 2010 song by Gackt * "Ever", a song by Flipper from the album ''Album – Generic Flipper'' * "Ever", a song by Diaura f ...

'', the band returned to its prog rock roots, with longer tracks featuring intricate arrangements and complex musicianship.

Personnel

Members

;Current members * Mike Holmes –

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

s, keyboards (1981–present), backing vocals (2011–present) * Tim Esau –

bass guitar The bass guitar (), also known as the electric bass guitar, electric bass, or simply the bass, is the lowest-pitched member of the guitar family. It is similar in appearance and construction to an Electric guitar, electric but with a longer nec ...

, bass pedals (1981–1989, 2011–present), backing vocals (2011–present) * Peter Nicholls – lead and backing vocals (1982–1985, 1989–present) * Paul Cook – drums (1982–2005, 2009–present) * Neil Durant – keyboards (2011–present) ;Former members * Martin Orford – keyboards, backing and occasional lead vocals and flute (1981–2007) * Mark Ridout – drums (1981–1982; died 2018) * Paul Menel – vocals (1985–1989) * Les 'Ledge' Marshall – bass guitar (1989–1990; his death) * John Jowitt – bass guitar, backing vocals (1990–2010) * Andy Edwards – drums (2005–2009) * Mark Westworth – keyboards (2007–2010)

Lineups

N.B. bold = lineup change; * = returning band member

Timeline

Discography

Albums

* '' Tales from the Lush Attic'' (1983) * '' The Wake'' (1985) * '' Nomzamo'' (1987) * ''Are You Sitting Comfortably?'' (1989) * ''

'' (1993) * '' Subterranea'' (1997) * '' Seven Stories into '98'' (1998) * ''The Seventh House'' (2000) * ''Dark Matter'' (2004) * ''

Frequency Frequency is the number of occurrences of a repeating event per unit of time. Frequency is an important parameter used in science and engineering to specify the rate of oscillatory and vibratory phenomena, such as mechanical vibrations, audio ...

'' (2009) * '' The Road of Bones'' (2014) * ''Resistance'' (2019) * ''

Dominion A dominion was any of several largely self-governance, self-governing countries of the British Empire, once known collectively as the ''British Commonwealth of Nations''. Progressing from colonies, their degrees of self-governing colony, colon ...

'' (2025)

Compilations

* '' Seven Stories into Eight'' (1982 demo cassette) * ''Nine in a Pond is Here'' (1985) ("official bootleg" of demos etc., CD version is abridged) * ''The Lost Attic'' (1999) (rarities) * ''Limited edition Frequency Tour CD 1'' (2008) (rarities and live tracks) * ''Limited edition Frequency Tour CD 2'' (2008) (rarities and live tracks) * '' The Archive Collection: Tales from a Dark Christmas'' (2017) * ''The Archive Collection'' (2022) (all archive releases from 2003 to 2017 - plus)

Singles

* "Barbell Is In" (1984) * "Corners" (1985) * "Passing Strangers" (1987) * "Promises (As the Years Go By)" (1987) * "Sold on You" (1989)

Live albums

* '' Living Proof'' (1986) * ''J'ai Pollette d'Arnu'' (1991) (b-sides and live tracks) * ''Forever Live'' (1996) * ''Subterranea: The Concert'' (2000) * '' The Archive Collection: IQ20'' (2003) ("official bootleg" of live concert) * ''The Wake: Live at De Boerderij'' (2010) * ''The Archive Collection: IQ30'' (2012) ("official bootleg" of live concert) * ''The Archive Collection: Live on The Road of Bones'' (2016) * ''The Archive Collection: A Show of Resistance'' (2020) * ''The Archive Collection #11: IQ40 - Forty years of Prog Nonsense'' (2022) ("official bootleg" of live concert) * ''Subterranea: Live At Boerderij October 22, 2011'' (2023) ("official bootleg" of live concert) * ''The Archive Collection: The IQ Weekender 2024 Box Set'' (2024) (box set of two "official bootlegs" of live concerts)

Videos

* ''Forever Live'' (VHS/CD set 1996, DVD set 2007) * ''Subterranea: The Concert'' (DVD, 2000) * ''IQ20 - The Twentieth Anniversary Show'' (DVD 2004) * ''Live from London'' (DVD, recorded 13 May 1985 in London, 2005) * ''IQ Stage'' (DVD, 2006) * ''Forever Live'' (DVD, 2007) * ''The Wake in Concert'' (DVD, 2010) * ''Scrape Across the Sky'' (Blu-ray, 2017) * ''Live Like This'' (Blu-ray, 2021)

References

External links

Official IQ web siteCollection of IQ MIDI files (archived)
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Iq English progressive rock groups Musical groups established in 1981 Musical groups from Southampton Articles which contain graphical timelines Vertigo Records artists Mercury Records artists Inside Out Music artists Neo-progressive rock groups