IQ : SUBTERRANEA

IQ : SUBTERRANEA

Disc One (52:30)

Overture
Provider
Subterranea
Sleepless Incidental
Failsafe
Speak My Name
Tunnel Vision
Infernal Chorus
King of Fools
The Sense in Sanity
State of Mine

Disc Two (50:13)

Laid Low
Breathtaker
Capricorn
The Other Side
Unsolid Ground
Somewhere in Time
High Waters
The Narrow Margin

Label : Giant Electric Pea

Release Year : 1997

Review (AllMusic) : Released in September 1997, Subterranea was quickly hailed by most progressive rock critics as a masterpiece and became one of the very few "classic" albums this style brought forth in 1990s. The two-CD, 103-minute concept album is indeed IQ's strongest effort and would even eclipse The Wake, if it weren't for the historical significance of the 1985 LP. An obscure story of subterranean beings, life-and-death chase, and initiatory quest packed with metaphorical implications, Subterranea, as a concept, is typical Peter Nicholls; all lyrics remain vague, only suggesting emotions and bits of plot, but to phenomenal results. The easy comparison would be Genesis' The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway and, yes, there is something of that in here, but the meaning of this album is even more cryptic. The music is rooted in IQ's neo-prog past: rather simple songs, driven by Martin Orford's keyboards and Peter Nicholls' theatrical and emotion-packed vocals, dressed in progressive rock grandeur without the flashy chops, and - most of all - very strong melodies. This monster of an album takes some time to get used to. After the first listen, one is left puzzled and uncertain, but once some of the melodies have had a chance to implement themselves in one's brain, Subterranea quickly becomes a "desert island" disc. Highlights include the rocking title track and "Tunnel Vision," the pompous "Failsafe," the heartbreaking ballad "Capricorn" (embellished by the saxophone of guest Tony Wright), and the short "State of Mind" and "Laid Low." The first of these two ends the first disc, while the second opens disc two, thereby presenting the "positive" and "negative" sides of the same melody - a very clever way to link the two parts of the album as two "acts." The only weak track of the set is the 20-minute epic "The Narrow Margin." Coming at the end, it is simply too hard to digest, and it seems to lose its cohesion somewhere in the middle. Nevertheless, Subterranea is IQ's biggest musical accomplishment and will get under the skin of any prog fan. A live version of the album was released in 2000 under the title Subterranea: The Concert.

Review (Wikipedia) : Subterranea is a double album by British neo-progressive rock band IQ, which was released in 1997. Subterranea is about a man who's been the subject of an experiment. He's been held captive, almost like sensory deprivation, throughout his whole life and he doesn't have any contact with the outside world (Provider). At the end of Provider, a grating sound is heard, which represents where he escapes or is let loose. It's not clear if he really escapes or is let out on purpose, as part of the experiment. Band members have given various explanations. Martin Orford explained, "As part of the experiment after all the sensory deprivation, he's let loose in the outside world. So he goes of into the outside world, all the time being monitored by these people.". Either way, what happens is the central character doesn't know why he is imprisoned. He doesn't know why he's released and he is exposed to all this sensory overload, all these sights and sounds and smells that he's never experienced before. He has to digest all these things (cars, buildings, television, etc) in one overwhelming sensation (Subterranea). After some hard times among the homeless and hobos (Sleepless Incidental) he gets involved with a religious cult who try to take him in, because they see him as being easy prey. They try to give his life meaning because he doesn't know what is going on, but he refuses to be converted by them (Failsafe). He meets a girl - her name probably being 'Maya', who is mentioned several times at the end of the album - and falls in love with her. He has a deep friendship and romance with this person (Speak My Name) but in the end she is taken away from him (Tunnel Vision). According to some explanations, she is killed by the people who held him prisoner. There's a lot of anger at that point and then he realises that he's being followed. All the time he's being watched and he manages to get hold of the person watching him. The experimentee kills him out of anger, but not before forcing the stalker to reveal the name of the man who is responsible for his misery (Mockenrue) (Infernal Chorus). Not being able to handle his situation, the central character retreats into his own mind, which is basically what King of Fools explains. Then there's a period of quiet reflection, The Sense in Sanity, where he tries to work out what's happening, followed by a rush back to reality with State of Mine. On the second disc of the album he comes to realise that he's part of some form of experiment and that he's been kept away for some reason, so he needs to know why that happened. At a certain point he takes on a 'disguise' to be able to find out what's behind all of this (Capricorn). Along the way he also realises that life in the outside world is much harder than his earlier, controlled life (Unsolid Ground). As the story moves on, he realises that he's not the only victim of the experiment (Somewhere in Time); there are others who all carry the same mark, the strange symbol which is a recurring theme on the CD sleeve (the square IQ logo which is the tattoo on the arm of the man on the Sleepless Incidental page in the Subterranea notebook). Mockenrue's victims decide to band together and take revenge (High Waters), but their captors are too clever for them herd the experimentees all into an old building and set fire to it in an attempt to destroy the experiment's evidence (The Narrow Margin). In a dramatic confrontation, the main character meets the person responsible for locking him away. In the final scene, the central character is the only survivor and he, in a different sense, resigns himself to going back into the same isolation where he started, making the album's story go full circle. The album starts with him being on his own and not knowing why he's there or what's going on and ends with him at peace with himself because he's experienced, himself, so many terrible things and he wants to be alone again. So he returns to a place of isolation, which isn't specified.