Coheed And Cambria
The Color Before the Sun
300 Entertainment
2015
There’s no reason hiding it: I’m a massive fan of the group. I truly believe they are the best newly emerging band of the last decade, with their own distinct sound. Needless to say that I anticipate their every new step. And this new step is significantly different than what we had from the band in the past.
Maybe it’s the fact that Claudio became a father, maybe it’s a more deliberate and intentional turn, but what we get is a more straightforward record, more “user-friendly”, more down to earth, stripped of the fictional world Claudio used to introduce us in the band’s previous records. Long songs are absent (something that was pre-manifested in the two previous albums of the band) and complex compositions and riffs are compromised.
Is this all bad? Not at all! Because Coheed do not sacrifice in terms of quality. Their high standards are here, only in a slightly different way. Simple song formulas are used to make a point of directness. Yet the melodies are catchy, the solos hit the ground directly and the choruses stick to your brain at once. Indeed the record contains many songs that you cannot stop singing. I can tell you I had for days the urgent will to listen all the time to “Peace to the Mountain”, the closing track of the album, which still haunts me.
I’ve heard many critics say that they were disappointed by the album, but I really cannot understand why. All the C&C trademarks are here, yet we should all understand the urge of a band to evolve, even if this entails the prevalence of their pop or AOR side at some point. It’s so bad for a record to sound more like “Feathers” than “Ten Speed (of God’s Blood & Burial)” and “Welcome Home”? Not to my ears at least. I’m still headbanging.
Solid songs like “Island”, “Atlas”, “You Got Spirit, Kid”, “The Audience” and “Peace to the Mountain” can easily become C&C classics. In sum the new album is not a “From Fear Through the Eyes of Madness” or “In Keeping…”, but it’s much better than their troughs “No World for Tomorrow” and “Year of the Black Rainbow”. There’s much more to come from this band I suspect.
Maybe it’s the fact that Claudio became a father, maybe it’s a more deliberate and intentional turn, but what we get is a more straightforward record, more “user-friendly”, more down to earth, stripped of the fictional world Claudio used to introduce us in the band’s previous records. Long songs are absent (something that was pre-manifested in the two previous albums of the band) and complex compositions and riffs are compromised.
Is this all bad? Not at all! Because Coheed do not sacrifice in terms of quality. Their high standards are here, only in a slightly different way. Simple song formulas are used to make a point of directness. Yet the melodies are catchy, the solos hit the ground directly and the choruses stick to your brain at once. Indeed the record contains many songs that you cannot stop singing. I can tell you I had for days the urgent will to listen all the time to “Peace to the Mountain”, the closing track of the album, which still haunts me.
I’ve heard many critics say that they were disappointed by the album, but I really cannot understand why. All the C&C trademarks are here, yet we should all understand the urge of a band to evolve, even if this entails the prevalence of their pop or AOR side at some point. It’s so bad for a record to sound more like “Feathers” than “Ten Speed (of God’s Blood & Burial)” and “Welcome Home”? Not to my ears at least. I’m still headbanging.
Solid songs like “Island”, “Atlas”, “You Got Spirit, Kid”, “The Audience” and “Peace to the Mountain” can easily become C&C classics. In sum the new album is not a “From Fear Through the Eyes of Madness” or “In Keeping…”, but it’s much better than their troughs “No World for Tomorrow” and “Year of the Black Rainbow”. There’s much more to come from this band I suspect.