IQ - Nine In A Pond Is Here

This is not a reissue on the band’s own GEP label, but rather one that I have only just acquired. After Peter’s shock departure from IQ he was replaced by Paul Menel: there was a tour coming up with Magnum, so obviously, some serious rehearsal was needed. While in a studio in Kingston it was suggested that these sessions were recorded to try and generate some much-needed revenue before the next album. It was decided to release a double album ‘bootleg’ of the proceedings, and with the pressing initially only supposed to be 1500 this album quickly gained some notoriety among fans. The first three sides were totally live in the studio (no overdubs at all) while the fourth was general weird stuff from over the years, and it is the first three sides that was later released on CD by the French label MSI. Obviously, most of the material comes from the two albums, although “Fascination” stems from IQ’s debut cassette album ‘Seven Stories Into Eight’ as does “Intelligence Quotient” (here titled “IQ”). There is also a number that hasn’t been released elsewhere, and it is understandable as to why, although it must be said that the “Glenn Miller Medley” is great fun. All in all, this is an interesting album showing the band at the very beginning of the second phase of their career and is one to get only after you have all the others.