Coheed And Cambria – Good Apollo, I'm Burning Star IV, Vol. 1: From Fear Through The Eyes Of Madness Review
Posted by Michael Melchor on 11.22.2005
Or: The conversion of a C&C fan.
I’ll freely admit that I went into this with a little trepidation.
Up until recently, all I’d heard from Coheed And Cambria was “A Favor House Atlantic” from their last album, In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3. The song immediately struck me as poppy-emo bullshit – which, given the musical climate at the time, was the reaction the label probably wanted. Not to mention that lead singer Claudio Sanchez’s voice reached frighteningly feminine proportions, further maintaining the illusion of animal faggotry that I thought I had initially experienced. Since that sort of thing does nothing for me, I was immediately turned off and wrote off the band as another emo flavor-of-the-week.
But then I kept hearing how good the band was from people whose opinions I respected. I also found out that there’s a story running through every album in their catalogue – and Lord knows I’m a sucker for a good concept album, much less a series of them. This could turn out to be music nerd heaven after all – but I still waited as I was preoccupied with several dozen other things.
What finally put them over for me as far as giving this a shot was “The Suffering”, the first single from their latest album, Good Apollo, I'm Burning Star IV, Vol. 1: From Fear Through The Eyes Of Madness (which, for simplicity’s sake, will be referred to from here on as Good Apollo). The song captured a different feel – definitely some shades of Rush dragged, kicking and screaming into the new millennium. And besides, Geddy Lee had a high-ass voice, too.
Convinced that this band deserves another listen, I decided to take the plunge and see if I was about to look like a fool based on previous perceptions.
I should point out that I have little or no clue what’s going with the story herein. The fan site Cobalt And Calcium has an excellent synopsis of the story so far, but there’s so much up to Good Apollo that I couldn’t even begin to give even a simple overview. Hence, we focus on the music itself...
Good Apollo opens with “Keeping The Blade”, a gorgeous orchestral piece that sounds like an overture of sorts to the tale ahead. “Always & Never Clean” keeps a more subdued tone before “Welcome Home Clean” opens fire.
Instead of the usual bombast and wanking that may accompany such a thing, Coheed And Cambria, instead, show their chops rather well. Working off an acoustic opening line, the song opens the rock portion of the album proper with a tight backing and, near the end, even a downright chill-inducing choral outro that, even three songs in, whets the appetite for more.
It’s after that (on “Ten Speed (Of God’s Blood And Burial)” and “Crossing The Frame”) that C&C hit the sound they’re known for by the populace, but it’s not pop nor punk. It’s certainly not the dreaded “emo” tag, either. What’s herein is an excellent spate of rock and melody by four gentlemen that know how to handle it well. Coheed And Cambria certainly bring some of the more modern sounds with them, but they also unleash a sensibility of musicianship and care seen more by forefathers such as Yes and even Pink Floyd (as cited by drummer Joshua Eppard). It’s a fine line they walk between dense, progressive density and more open, melodic sensibility – and the band walks it well.
The album veers between progressive rock (including some passages that would make Dream Theater fans stand up and take notice) and the lighter sound, and that blend serves Coheed And Cambria well. Good Apollo is an excellent place to start to pick up the band’s sound. Now I just have to go back and catch up with the storyline...
The 411: Okay, I’m convinced. Coheed And Cambria, for those that did the same thing I did, deserve to be known as MUCH more than an emo-tagged band of sissies. Their music runs much deeper than that, and the craft and care they’ve shown their music since childhood shines through here as the band sounds like they’ve hit their stride. Good Apollo is a great album for fans of actual music and not just what’s popular in the marketplace.
