The Wake

by IQ

The Wake cover art
  • Type: Album
  • Released: June 1985
  • Label: Sahara
  • Country: United Kingdom
  • Length: 1:07:08
  • Community rating: 3.83/5 from 5 ratings

Artists on this release: Michael Holmes, Martin Orford, pedalboard, Tim Esau, Paul Cook, Peter Nicholls

Album Notes & Community Reviews

Standing alongside early Marillion works, this sophomore effort by IQ is a defining document of the 1980s British neo-progressive movement. 'The Wake' features dark, sweeping synthesizer passages, intricate melodic bass work, and Peter Nicholls' highly theatrical, emotionally wrought vocal delivery. Though heavily indebted to 1970s Genesis, the album infused the symphonic sound with a sharper, modern edge that earned them a fervent cult following.

Genres

Descriptors: fantasy, uncommon-time-signatures, melodic, progressive, atmospheric

Tracklist

  1. Outer Limits (8:14)
  2. The Wake (4:11)
  3. The Magic Roundabout (8:19)
  4. Corners (6:21)
  5. Widows Peak (9:13)
  6. The Thousand Days (5:12)
  7. Headlong (7:30)
  8. Dans Le Parc Du Chateau Noir (7:40)
  9. The Thousand Days - Demo Version (3:57)
  10. The Magic Roundabout - Demo Version (6:27)

Credits

  • IQ - primary artist
  • Paul Cook - drums, percussion, written-by
  • Martin Orford - synthesizer [emulator ii, dx7, oberheim expander, memory moog, cs 80, arp odyssey], organ [roland vk1], mellotron, synth [logan string synth], flute, backing vocals, written-by

More from IQ: full discography