Couldn't find the old one, so I'm gonna start over.
Coheed and Cambria - Year Of The Black Rainbow
The wait is finally over, the end is truly complete and the saga has finally come to an end. Perhaps the most promising progressive rock band since Rush have finally put forth their long awaiting prequel album to the Amory Wars Saga, "The Year of the Black Rainbow". Coheed and Cambria is a band that truly defines the genre of progressive rock, as every album they've offered has managed to be something completely bold and new, using the previous album as a springboard and natural evolution of its predecessor. Not only has C&C managed to evolve their musical sound, it ties in beautifully with the evolution of the story that Claudio is telling. It's far too detailed to explain, so if you're interested check it out, it's more than worth it.
So is "Year of The Black Rainbow" a progression in Coheed's music? No, not at all. It's a step back. Four steps back, and beyond that to be exact. This may not sound like a good thing for a progressive rock band to be taking steps back, but it makes perfect sense. Upon my first listen of the album I thought what I'm sure many others did. What happened to the shredding blues leads? Where are the intricate blazing guitars? Where's epic 10 minute tracks? Did Coheed really give up? Then it occurred to me, this is the prequel album. Coheed actually took a step back to "Second Stage Turbine Blade" and figured out what the logical sound leading up to that album would have been. It's honestly brilliant once you let it all sink in. Never before has a band knowingly took a step back through their career and created an album they would have written BEFORE another.
So with that out of the way, when popping in "Black Rainbow" don't expect to hear the kind of blues driven epics that we became familiar with on "Good Apollo" and "No World"... but instead the fast paced, no nonsense sound that Coheed burst onto the scenes with. I must say, Chris Pennie's Dillinger raised drumming techniques lend themselves beautifully to this album. The album is really reach and textured with far more synth really interesting guitar tones than we've seen from Coheed yet. One thing Coheed has always been known for is the continuations of melodies and riffs between albums, yet "Second Stage Turbine Blade" had always been left off of that chain, until now. Some songs begin to form the rudimentary melodies and hooks of some "Second Stage" songs.
For those who became a fan of C&C off of the later albums I wouldn't recommend diving straight into "Black Rainbow". It's something that die hard Coheed fans will appreciate and understand, but more casual fans will probably be completely baffled by the extreme change in sound and style.
Just imagine this. Your favorite movie or movie series of all time is given a prequel. And the in the extremely rare occurrence it's done flawlessly, that is the only way to describe "Black Rainbow".
Stand out tracks for me are: This Shattered Symphony, Made Out of Nothing, Pearl of The Stars
Coheed and Cambria - Year Of The Black Rainbow
The wait is finally over, the end is truly complete and the saga has finally come to an end. Perhaps the most promising progressive rock band since Rush have finally put forth their long awaiting prequel album to the Amory Wars Saga, "The Year of the Black Rainbow". Coheed and Cambria is a band that truly defines the genre of progressive rock, as every album they've offered has managed to be something completely bold and new, using the previous album as a springboard and natural evolution of its predecessor. Not only has C&C managed to evolve their musical sound, it ties in beautifully with the evolution of the story that Claudio is telling. It's far too detailed to explain, so if you're interested check it out, it's more than worth it.
So is "Year of The Black Rainbow" a progression in Coheed's music? No, not at all. It's a step back. Four steps back, and beyond that to be exact. This may not sound like a good thing for a progressive rock band to be taking steps back, but it makes perfect sense. Upon my first listen of the album I thought what I'm sure many others did. What happened to the shredding blues leads? Where are the intricate blazing guitars? Where's epic 10 minute tracks? Did Coheed really give up? Then it occurred to me, this is the prequel album. Coheed actually took a step back to "Second Stage Turbine Blade" and figured out what the logical sound leading up to that album would have been. It's honestly brilliant once you let it all sink in. Never before has a band knowingly took a step back through their career and created an album they would have written BEFORE another.
So with that out of the way, when popping in "Black Rainbow" don't expect to hear the kind of blues driven epics that we became familiar with on "Good Apollo" and "No World"... but instead the fast paced, no nonsense sound that Coheed burst onto the scenes with. I must say, Chris Pennie's Dillinger raised drumming techniques lend themselves beautifully to this album. The album is really reach and textured with far more synth really interesting guitar tones than we've seen from Coheed yet. One thing Coheed has always been known for is the continuations of melodies and riffs between albums, yet "Second Stage Turbine Blade" had always been left off of that chain, until now. Some songs begin to form the rudimentary melodies and hooks of some "Second Stage" songs.
For those who became a fan of C&C off of the later albums I wouldn't recommend diving straight into "Black Rainbow". It's something that die hard Coheed fans will appreciate and understand, but more casual fans will probably be completely baffled by the extreme change in sound and style.
Just imagine this. Your favorite movie or movie series of all time is given a prequel. And the in the extremely rare occurrence it's done flawlessly, that is the only way to describe "Black Rainbow".
Stand out tracks for me are: This Shattered Symphony, Made Out of Nothing, Pearl of The Stars