Review Summary: A Great mix of musicality, meaningful lyrics, and poppy sensibilities make this album a treat to the very end.
Coheed and Cambria
Second Stage Turbine Blade
Coheed and Cambria are an odd band. I discovered them through the cajoling of a friend after about 2 months. Needless to say, I was taken by surprise. Their unique blend of poppy vocals and melodies and riff oriented guitar work make this album thoroughly enjoyable. This album is their first, and I believe it is their most enjoyable. Throughout the entire album the overall feeling is “fun.”
Right from the beginning, with opening track
Time Consumer you can hear Claudio Sanchez’s (vocals/rhythm guitar) easily recognizable vocal style, which is characterized by high singing and an occasional high yell. This track feels, for lack of a better word excited, as if it can’t wait to show you the rest of the album. After this is Coheed’s probably second most recognizable song,
Devil in Jersey City. This song was my first experience with Coheed and Cambria, and includes several enjoyably catchy riffs and a clean interlude, which moves the energy from the nonstop style of the rest of it to a slow, calming resting point before bringing the energy right back up and holding it up until the end.
Everything Evil, the next song, begins with some nice drumming and a sample of a door slam before an extremely enjoyable, and somewhat complicated clean riff. I believe this may be the most emotional track on the album, and leads me to a point I haven’t commented on so far, lyrics. Almost every single Coheed song has great lyrics, whether or not you take them in the concept of the album’s story. This song also features a very convincing vocal delivery, which just takes this song to n even higher level. Another one of the standout tracks on this record is
Delirium Trigger. This song showcases a few awesome bass fills, and once again, extremely well crafted lyrics. While this may not be the most complicated song on the album; it has very catchy instrumentation and nearly endless replay value. A highlight of this song is the clean interlude and enormous build up after it. This is one of the greatest examples of a band creating tension in a song I have ever heard.
Next up is
33, a song with another catchy riffs and well worded lyrics. This song is sung in a lower register, so people who are turned off by Claudio’s high voice may find something to like here. After this is
Junesong Provision, a song that never really grabbed me. A slight dip in lyrical quality brings this song down a bit, but this song features a difficult message to get across effectively, so this is forgivable. One of the albums coolest sounding riffs can be found during the chorus here.
Following this is another song vying for my favorite song on the album,
Neverender. This track features an extremely catchy chorus and, I guess, “after chorus,” featuring the lyric, “Point your gun in another direction.” This song also features unique riffs that stand out from the rest on the album. Lastly is the song
Godsend Conspirator, a song with a cool intro riff and a very slightly distorted guitar tone throughout. The lyrics are good, but by no means the best on this album full of great vocal melodies. This is a somewhat long song, clocking in at over 10 minutes, but I wouldn’t end this album any other way. It ends on the perfect, if somewhat enigmatic note.
Pros
- Great Instrumentation throughout, especially guitar
- Powerful lyrics
- Catchy without getting old
Cons
- Singer may be intolerable for some
- Somewhat simplistic drumming
Overall
This is the first album I heard from
Coheed and Cambria and I still believe it is their finest effort. A sublime combination of fun riffs, well used pop sensibilities, and from the heart lyrics make this a great album for fans of finely crafted music. 5/5
Recommended Tracks
- Time Consumer
- Everything evil
- Delirium Trigger
- Neverender
