My first reaction to Coheed And Cambria is "this is a piece of crap". The album features 6 songs over 5 minutes with drastic beat changes and a singer with an annoying beat. But the key was that that was my first reaction, I later found out that Coheed are one of the few bands that can keep a song interesting after 4 minutes, one of the few today that use a few beat changes throughout the song, and I found Claudio's voice to be more unique and less annoying the more you listen to the band and the more music that they make.
There are so many unjustified criticisms to this album. The first one is that the songs that are under 5 minutes and don't have the frantic atmosphere are trash. Another is that Claudio's voice sounds immature and doesn't match the vocals. Okay, let's address the first point "A Favor House Atlantic", is one of the best songs on the album, because of the fact it is just so damn catchy. It features a pop-punk simple beat [when the song is acoustic it becomes a little bit better], with Claudio hitting high notes and the best surrounding lines of the whole album. "Blood Red Summer", is the song that got me into this band because it is a song were Claudio's vocals don't play as a big of a deal as the instruments, while the song remains pop-punk. In one word it is a great choice of a single on the album because it remains catchy while featuring a little bit of a beat change in a song less than 4 minutes. The intro "The Ring In Return", deserves all of the crap that it gets because it short and is basically just a phone ringing with no vocals are instruments playing, it really is a horrible intro. The short and the songs that have more a pop-punk influences since they still have some of Coheed's progressive influences in a more listener friendly form. "He Sounds Just Like Rush!" "He never changes tone!" "Sounds Like Everything In The Mainstream!” These are things that you might hear about Claudio's voice on this album that are absolute fiction, he sounds kind of like Rush but the beat makes it sound a little bit dislike his voice, he changes tone drastically on all three camper parts were he is basically on the verge of screaming, and how is his voice so unbearable if he sounds like everything on the mainstream. Don't listen to people [like I used to] offer criticism on his voice because they haven't given it a chance to grow on them.
The album in itself is just unbelievable once you are mature enough to get past "A Favor House Atlantic and Blood Red Summer". "The Light And The Glass", is epic, it starts out with an acoustic beat and progresses into an absolute jam at the end of the song for about four minutes. The chorus is absolutely beautiful as are the first surrounding lines. The jam at the end is the sort of Straylight Run "Hands In The Sky" session that is just undescrible and completely original for a pop-punk band. Sure it's a bit repetitive but it doesn't get annoying enough were it gets to a point were you think you are going to skip the track You don't fast forward to a point in this song because it seems like every second of it is meaningful and is unlike anything we have heard from Coheed at this point. "The Camper Velorium 3", is probably one of the catchiest of the three songs [though they are all catchy], but in this one Claudio’s tone matches the beat and it isn't to extended and more of an enjoyable listen. All three of these songs seem to deal with relationships but this one is the most obvious and has the best instrumental work and production. "2113" is one of the best hidden track b sides that I have ever heard especially from a pop-punk/progressive band, it's the same type of track as "The Light And The Glass" as it is pure jamming but it is a little less beautiful and a little more darker. It would have provided a more haunting ending to the album that could have lead perfectly into the bands 2005 album. But I guess you really can't have two epic 9-minute conclusions to an album, but this would have been nice.
This album is so close to a classic for me but yet so far away. For one, it doesn't seem dark enough to succeed as a Coheed album [such as Good Apollo] and it seems like too much of a collection of a songs. Add to that the fact that the first to Camper's [while dark] turns Claudio's voice to a point were it seems that he is uncomfortable singing to the beat. The songs are still very catchy, but you have to wait to the third part to get to were they are classic. "2113", as a hidden track and not a closer is absolutely crazy since the song is so epic [as is "The Light And The Glass"], this would have probably made for one of the best two songs in a row from the band on any of there albums [especially to close it out]. I think this album just has some fundamentals elements of a Coheed album [production, atmosphere, instrumental work] to make it a classic
Coheed has the potential to be one of the best punk bands of this century. And I am not joking the band can create singles that are very catchy, and have 9 minute songs that are just as catchy but with some extra jamming thrown in. This is an unbelievable second album and features some of my favorites of there songs. This is my favorite Coheed album as really none of their other albums feature the consistency that this one has. A great album that with a few minor tweaks could be considered a classic.
Pros:
Instrumental work
Combining progressive with Punk
Claudio's voice seems better each and every time you listen to him
Catchiness
Cons:
Production
The first two campers
Download These:
The Crowing
Blood Red Summer
The Camper pt. 3
A Favor House Atlantic
The Light And The Glass
2113
