The Identity Matrix Domain
 

Welcome everyone to The Identity Matrix’ Music Journal. A place where I will be constantly giving out album reviews, track reviews, music based rants, non-music based rants, and other little surprise projects that I am working on. This is a place where I am able to get my writings out into the public so that I can get feedback and get people to listen (or not listen) to some albums that I review. There will be discussion topics thrown in here once in awhile so I can keep all of those under one thread for now. Anyway I hope you enjoy your stay in this domain, as well as find something new.







A few rules that only pertain to me…

1. I will be color coding the titles of each main post of this journal. Red means album reviews or track reviews, Blue means rant regarding music, Purple means rant not regarding music, Green means announcement of a project (i.e discography reviews, focus on certain time periods or genres), and finally Black means standard discussion topic.

2. I am very accepting of any positive or negative feedback to help improve the journal and my writing skills. So please critique away!

3. Finally, I am certainly not expecting this to take off considering I am fairly new to this forum. This was the major reason I wanted to join. To create a journal to allow me to write down my musical opinions, with a few non-musical, and share them with others. Thus I will be spending a lot of time and effort on here so I won’t be just quitting if I don’t get a single response on this thread in a week. I promise to keep at it no matter what.

4. I will be following a set guideline for the way I score albums. I will be running a 100 point system in the case of each Point being worth .1 of the final score for each album reviewed. Track reviews will be done without a score only a like, dislike, and why the case is.

A quick breakdown for scoring purposes
9.1-10 A fantastic record that I would recommend to anyone regardless of preference for genres
8.1-9.0 A great record that has few to quite a few nit picky details that turn me off but otherwise a rec to anyone into the genre or band
7.1-8.0 a good record that has something glaring at me and saying "I'm not perfect" it may be a specific song or two or an overarching issue that hurts all the songs just a little bit
6.1-7.0 an ok record that failed to hit a home run. Very few standout tracks but filled with passable to mediocre ones. A skip for most people but not a waste of time.
5.1-6.0 an average record that feels like it had some potential but wasted it on a few bad tracks. Maybe deserves a listen if you are curious but other than that I wouldn't recommend it.
4.1-5.0 a bad record that is a waste of time. It might have one or two good tracks to pick out but otherwise leave it where it lies.
3.1-4.0 a terrible record that may have one to two passable tracks but that's it. Not worth a full listen ever.
2.1-3.0 a horrible record that makes my ears bleed or causes me to throw up. Take your pick. It won't matter because this album is just bad.
1.1-2.0 just no. Don't even bother asking me why I didn't like it because I'll be too busy trying to forget about the whole thing.
0.0-1.0 I don't think I will ever reach rock bottom, but if I do, this is it. Lock it in a box and throw it into a volcano.

Looking forward to reading your journal. Good luck!

Welcome to music banter! Excited to see where this goes... didn't you say something about reviewing the Coheed and Cambria discography? You should do the complete discog then, like even singles, DVD releases, and EPs, as well as reading Armory Wars and giving a review per chapter. That'd be sweet.

I present my first project, the complete review of the band Coheed and Cambria. I talked about this yesterday in CoNtrivedNiHilism's review of the Color Before the Sun. When I say complete review I mean I will be looking at the band's studio albums, live albums, any singles and EPs that have come out thus far. I will also be discussing the Amory Wars story that is told through the studio records as well as the books, comics, and website. I will start with the studio albums and then branch off into the other items. I am excited to share this project with everyone. I will be giving brief overviews of how each album is incorporated into the story, and after all of the albums are finished I will give a full reviews on each part of the story. Hope everyone is willing to jump aboard this ambitious voyage of mine. First review should be up tomorrow.

A checklist of the items to review (Red denotes incomplete)

Studio Records: I will be posting Singles, and Music Video reviews after their respective albums' review has been finished.

-The Second Stage Turbine Blade (2002)
-In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3 (2003)
-Good Apollo, I'm Burning Star IV, Volume One: From Fear Through the Eyes of Madness (2005)
-Good Apollo, I'm Burning Star IV, Volume Two: No World for Tomorrow (2007)
-Year of the Black Rainbow (2010)
-The Afterman: Ascension (2012)
-The Afterman: Descension (2013)
-The Color Before the Sun (2015)

Live Albums

-Live at La Zona Rosa (2004)
-Live at the Avalon (2005)
-Live at the Starland Ballroom (2005)
-Kerrang!/XFM UK Acoustic Sessions (2006)
-The Afterman (Live Edition) (2013)

EPs (the first three were released under the bands prior name Shabutie)

-Plan to Take Over the World (1999)
-The Penelope EP (1999)
-Delirium Trigger (2000)
-Neverender 12% (2009)

Video Albums

-Live at the Starland Ballroom (2005)
-The Last Supper: Live at Hammerstein Ballroom (2006)
-Neverender: Children of The Fence Edition (2009)

I am super excited to get started with this, and I hope everyone else enjoys my first journal project. Oh and feel free to throw out your own opinions of the band and their music as well.

I think that's the biggest thing people need to keep in mind about journals. Even aside from all the work involved in keeping one up regularly and with quality entries, it can be kind of discouraging when you pour your heart and soul into a post, only to get zero responses. You'll be lucky to get one response for every five entries, and this applies to just about everyone's journals, no matter how established the member or how good the journal.

Just stick with it and assume that with quality of posts comes quantity of readers.

Appreciate the advice Batlord. I will keep at it, its just something thats been a part of my personality for awhile now.

Yes! Excited to see how your complete discog plays out and you definitely have a regular reader with me.

The Second Stage Turbine Blade - (2002)

Album by Coheed and Cambria

The studio debut of Nyack, New York Prog Rock outfit Coheed and Cambria. Previously known as Shabutie, Coheed and Cambria formed in 1995 under the Shabutie Moniker until changing their name to Coheed and Cambria. Named after main characters from lead singer/guitarist Claudio Sanchez's Amory Wars story line. A space fantasy epic similar in scope to Star Wars or Star Trek. The band is working with multiple genre influences to create a style that is unique to Coheed. Post-hardcore, progressive rock/metal, and pop influences are all seen throughout this record. Coheed and Cambria generally do a good job in not overstaying there welcome by avoiding any prog jams in the longer tracks and in fact every moment is well spent on these longer tracks. Time Consumer and Junesong Provision both provide substance without sacrificing the creative flexibility of having longer tracks. Coheed also successfully create some much more direct tracks in 33, Delirium Trigger, and Devil in Jersey City that involve more of the post-hardcore and pop rock elements that are catchy but also provide some weighty lyrical contents. In fact the biggest irony of the whole album is that the upbeat tempo and style that is used throughout the tracks are combined with very heavy lyrics about depression, suicide, death, and other negative ideas. It works. Which is what makes the album so enjoyable. It keeps you from spacing out while listening, it keeps you engaged. Something I love about the album.

Now its not all thumbs up for this record as there are a couple of major issues that stand out. First of these is the production quality. It can get to be very raw, especially when this band needs the production to really bolster their sound rather than take away from it. In their later albums (which are not being considered with the scoring of this record) they use production effects to their advantage to create walls of sound that bolster the sound of the band. Certain songs on the record just doesn't sound good when played at a lower quality. The production does not hurt all of the songs as Time Consumer, Delirium Trigger, and 33 all are not affected by the production quality at all and in fact sound great. The songs that are hampered by the production are Junesong Provision, Hearshot Kid Disaster, and Neverender. My other issue with the album is that I feel that the story is much better told in the front half of the album than the latter half. You are able to digest it a little easier in songs like Everything Evil where some of the big events in the story, the Monstar virus is introduced which is the virus I mentioned earlier, unfold in a way that allows the story to be told. But in the end God Send Conspirator does not really rap up the whole project. It instead leaves one hanging with more questions, and not the intriguing ones either.

The album is not perfect, but it is one of the better concept albums released in the 2000s, (soon to be beaten by its own sequel). The tracks themselves, for the most part, stand on their own. All of the tracks remain in rotation hear in the Domain, my main playlist, and are hardly skipped. But the production on the album is the overriding issue that keeps me from giving this album a top tier rating.

The Second Stage Turbine Blade gets a 7.6/10

Positives:
-Songs are engaging with lyrical content
-Tracks stand on their own
-Sets up the story well

Negatives:
-Rough production quality
-Latter half of the album isn't great in telling the story

Standout Tracks: Time Consumer, Everything Evil, 33, Devil in Jersey City

Weaker Tracks: Neverender, God Send Conspirator

Does this review make you want to listen to the record? If so how would you rate it?

Thanks for reading!

Good review, I've heard a few songs off this album but I'll probably listen to the rest soon. Out of curiousity, why do you think rawer production takes away from the music?

Quick Note: Before the review begins I want to let everyone know that I am not confining myself to the current project listed on the OP. I want to be able to review or talk about other things outside the current main project. Thus I will be doing other reviews when albums or tracks I wish to review come out.

Take a moment and thank your lucky stars that the men behind 2009's excellent Cosmic Egg are back after the misstep they took with 2014's New Crown. No longer do they feel held back by their influences like on New Crown. No longer do they feel outdated and boring like on New Crown. No longer do Wolfmother have to worry about cleaning out that bad taste left in my mouth from New Crown. I think you get the picture. I wasn't the biggest fan of New Crown. It was very disappointing to say the least. For now at least it seems the old Wolfmother is back. The lead single, off their upcoming album, transitions from a very 70s hard rock sound to a much more Black Sabbath styled heavy metal sound. Something that fits the band much more. The track opens up with an epic sounding Sabbathian riff that fuels the head banger within. Right as Andrew Stockdale's vocals crash into the song in full force, you realize this single knows how to rock. The continuation of the riff with a little variation when it comes to the soaring chorus does get a bit old after a few listens but can bounce back after the break/bridge. Lyrically the track isn't anything special but it definitely doesn't need to be considering the absolute sheer power the guitar riffing has. The lyrics simply ride the track out in epic fashion. Wolfmother has finally delivered a song after almost 7 years that will be sure to hit rotation in the Domain for a long long time.

This track earns a definite like.

All I can say is that my excitement for this record is through the roof right now and probably one of my most anticipated records of Q1 2016.

Expect a review for the new record Victorious, out February, 19th of next year.

Listen to it yourself and give me your opinions. Like it? Dislike it? Why?

Thanks for the comment.

That is not a general view of mine. I have heard all of the Coheed and Cambria records and the higher production quality allows them to experiment more and create a sound that has some atmospheric qualities to it. Those qualities make a lot of their later work sound the part that they are trying to play. Hopefully that makes sense. Also the production quality hurts the music because the mixing feels off to me. Sometimes Claudio's screamed vocals can get drowned with the guitars and vice versa. Probably should have mentioned those points in the review, but I didn't want to take the later albums into consideration when reviewing the album.

What tracks have you heard off the album? If you do end up listening to the whole album you should let me know what you think. I am definitely curious.

I was on board with Cosmic Egg and their eponymous record, but I agree that New Crown gets trapped in wanky nostalgia and some sort of lame songwriting. I look forward to hearing them back on the right track. I'll keep an ear to the ground.

^^^

Glad you enjoyed the track. I am really hoping we see something special from these guys next year. They released another song City Lights from their upcoming album. I won't be reviewing it here but I thought I would share it.

Oh. Look at me getting a shout out in a journal. So popular, I am! (Totally joking there, maybe...)

Personally. I got discouraged with my own journal. But I have been outlining a new one to get going. I think your format is good. But I think that maybe you shouldn't stray too far from your current project of reviewing Coheed and the bands discography. I think you have potential there to get too side tracked with random reviews here and there. Or maybe you are good with keeping up on things and my advice is moot here.

Any rate. Nice journal so far.

Thanks for the advice. I am working on a way to index all of my reviews between project based work and random out of the blue ones. I think I'll make a separate thread to categorize everything and put it in my sig. I can see this journal getting out of hand with too many random reviews here and there. Glad you are enjoying it so far.

I'd just use the OP as an index and edit it whenever I made a new entry.

This was the first and only official single from the album The Second Stage Turbine Blade. Probably the most straight forward track on the album, delivering a fast paced emo/post hardcore track with prog elements. The track's placement in the story is where Josephine, daughter of main characters Coheed (father) and Cambria (mother) Kilgannon. She has been targeted by a gang called the Jersey City Devils. The track rides an emotional roller coaster thanks to Claudio's singing. A catchy vocal melody allows the lyrical themes to contrast with the upbeat structure. The single has power and is one of the top Coheed songs out there.

The music video itself doesn't actually follow the same story as the song. Instead it is focusing on what is believed to be Coheed and Cambria Kilgannon contemplating the need to kill their children to stop a form of the Monstar virus. All of the story elements will be explained later, but one can see that the song is not a happy one to say the least. It switches between the band playing in a garage and the two main characters looking forlorn. It becomes very jarring after a while when the quick switches occur more rapidly. The music video overall is able to convey the mood of both the song, and the story while still providing plenty of energy.

Definitely check out the music video and the song if anyone hasn't already.

Devil in Jersey City gets a like from me.

Listen to it yourself and give me your opinions. Like it? Dislike it? Why?

I just stole your idea and made it in the OP. Thanks for sharing it though, now I can keep everything under one thread.

Not really digging C & C but im digging your presentation. you look like you came prepared. :thumb:

I'll keep an eye on this journal in case you decide to cover some alternative stuff.. will you?

So what you're saying is, i should bring my wildly unpopular music journal and give it another shot?

I can see that you are pixies fan if I am not mistaken. Trust me when I say alternative will get the spotlight later down the road. Like you already said I came prepared. ;)

However I would like to know what kind of alternative you are thinking about when asking that question.

Also I would love to see a journal from you. I would assume I missed it when going through the less active journals.

While not released as an official single off of its respective album, Delerium Trigger easily could have gone up against Devil in Jersey City as a single. Now Delirium Trigger is not the best song on the album but it had some single power behind it. I personally do not put this on the top list of Coheed songs but it for sure has merit and I appreciate it for what it has to offer. I find it generally to be much more similar to the work that they have on their next album, (review coming tomorrow or Thursday) In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3. It has a much better production quality compared to other songs on the record, and the performance is full of energy. The song feels like it provides some story elements that I cannot quite distinguish like I could from other tracks but it still stands on its own as a song. This allows the song to not become muddled in lyrical themes one doesn't understand. Thought the song is heavily tied in with the story it seems to border on the acceptance of death or the will to survive. One final note for the track is that there is a cool Alien, the movie directed by Ridley Scott, reference towards the beginning of the track.


As for the music video itself, It provides an interesting look at what was going through Claudio's head at the time. What we get here is multiple shots of the band performing the song on stage and in studio, with an overlay of what looks to be neon sign effects. Nothing that really adds to the overall presentation. Between the performance shots we get what looks to be a zoomed in shot with a small lens view, similar to that of a microscope. With different objects, like food, faces of the band mates, and other things that I cannot make out, glossing over the lens. It certainly grabs the attention of the viewer but eventually becomes kind of distracting to the point that the song ends up fading to the back end of your mind. Losing that ability to actively listen to a song within the music video is not a good thing. Claudio's creativity here fails to capture the story and fails to capture the mood or ideas of the song. Overall I can see why the video itself isn't on the top when you search youtube for Coheed and Cambria tracks.

The song gets a like/meh but the video is a dislike. Just not a fan of the presentation.

Listen to it yourself and give me your opinions. Like it? Dislike it? Why?

No. You're a piece of ****.

idk just bands in the alternative genre. whichever bands you like.
You'll see my journal pop up soon, Batlord's little speech motivated me to get it going again.

You're a piece of cake too.

*considers leaving this forum and joining Urban in Bumfuck Island*

In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3 - (2003)

Album by Coheed and Cambria

The immediate follow up to Coheed and Cambria's solid debut record is one of their most celebrated to date. In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3 is a record that sees the band move forward with their sound. Applying stronger production quality, improved story-telling, and an overall improved sound. This album has many strong qualities that put it near the top when it comes to 2000's prog. The album does contain similar influences to their last release, The Second Stage Turbine Blade, but progressive rock and emo win out the day in this release. The story itself on this album is more well known among casual fans of the Amory Wars. In this review I will provide a quick summary of this chapter from the Amory Wars comics, courtesy of the Evil Inks Comics Website.

"Ten years after "Second Stage Turbine Blade", son Claudio emerges from the depths of Shylos Ten, the Fence's "quiet" planet where the Red Army performs its brutal interrogations and imprisonments. In finding out that his entire family has been murdered, Claudio begins his quest for vendetta. His foes, Supreme Tri Mage Wilhelm Ryan and General Mayo Deftinwolf sense that he is still alive and holds special powers. They know they must stop him before he defeats them. Meanwhile, Inferno (Jesse Kilgannon) takes up arms against the Red Army (“Man your Battlestations”) in an effort to seek the same kind of vengeance on him. In Claudio’s re-emergence he teams up with Ambellina, the Prise who is selected by her peers to be his guide. The pair along with Sizer, a disassembled IRO-bot, seek out Inferno to find answers as to why his family were killed, but their plans take an unexpected turn in a ship called the Camper Velourium, and a freighter pilot named Al the Killer."

This is meant for anyone reading this review so that they can have a basic understanding of what is occurring in the plot. I will do a much more in depth review of the story itself later in the discography review.

Now back to the main review. Like I was saying earlier, the majority of tracks either stick to the formula of emo with prog elements or prog with emo elements. Due to Claudio's strong vocal range he pulls off both styles very nicely throughout the record. The rest of the band members, Travis Stever (Lead/Rhythm Guitar and Backing Vocals), Michael Todd (Bass/Backing Vocals) and Josh Eppard (Drums/Backing Vocals) all combine to form the backbone of the Coheed sound. All talented musicians, along with Claudio, they provide some of the most memorable instrumentation in the discography. The album opens up with intro The Ring in Return. A much more interesting intro compared to last album. It includes a small piece of music that is supposed to represent time passing. Thus setting up the story for the next song, the title track opens up as an epic prog rock track filled with powerful guitar work, and one of Claudio's best vocal performance to date. The album has a few other major prog influenced tracks, The Light and The Glass, and 2113 are both fantastic examples of the more modern progressive rock scene making a name for itself. The song that Coheed is arguably the most known for A Favor House Atlantic is on this record along with Blood Red Summer two of the most cut and dry emo tracks of Coheed's career. These all surround the first ever song series, The Camper Velourium series, that will later influence the creation of other song series. The album overall plays its cards right by allowing itself to be creative while also producing quality pop/emo rock singles ready for the radio. I personally find that this album is where Coheed and Cambria come into their own and, unlike last record, it is able to tell the story through the song and its lyrics. While the songs don't stand on their own as well as Second Stage Turbine Blade, due to the more common story based lyrics, the shorter songs tend to be a bit more listenable out of context.

While certain songs can be confusing on their own the whole album plays like a dream. Playing one event after another telling a cohesive story that draws you in and keeps one engaged. Tracks like The Crowing play around with differing styles from emo hooks to Black Sabbath riffs that chug away. It changes the pace enough to keep you guessing but still acts a cohesive work. Easily one of the top cuts on this record. The Camper Velourium series takes one on a journey almost entirely separate from the rest of the album mixing atmospheric, classic rock, and post-hardcore into the three song set. The album starts strong with the title track, Cuts Marked in the March of Men, and Three Evils (Embodied in Love and Shadow). They all feel so complete with the prog influences mixed in with some catchy hooks and instrumentation. This was Coheed's first album to be certified gold, and rightfully so. This is the definitive Coheed and Cambria record.

The album as a whole provides a cohesive journey through dark themes and even darker instrumentation on the longer tracks. It promises in the beginning with the title track, and delivers almost immediately. Just like last album this album remains a personal favorite here in the domain, and will be for a long time, with all tracks hitting rotation.

In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3 gets a 9.3/10

Positives:
-The vocal delivery and instrumentation are fantastic
-Better production quality
-Cohesive story throughout

Negatives:
-Certain songs can be confusing at times on their own

Standout Tracks: Every single track stands out to me.

Weaker Tracks: Seriously??

Does this review make you want to listen to the record? If so how would you rate it?

Thanks for reading!

Well, you certainly have dedication, these are pretty well written too. Loving the journal so far, keep at it.

As for those questions you asked me earlier: I've heard Devil In Jersey City, Delirium Trigger, and another song I forgot the name of off Second Stage. I really liked them, Delirium Trigger especially.

If you haven't heard other modern prog bands like Porcupine Tree, Animals as Leaders, Triplicity, or Mars Volta, you should review them for this.

I have all the studio records for Mars Volta. I have the majority of the entire discography for porcupine tree. I know of Animals as Leaders, I think somebody in one of my classes last year wore one of their shirts. Triplicate escapes me. I will check out the last two I mentioned. I think doing a porcupine tree discog review would be tons of fun, but time consuming. I will for sure think about it though.

Glad you are enjoying the journal so far, and thanks for all of the recs/suggestions.

A Favor House Atlantic - (2004)

Music Video/Single by Coheed and Cambria

A Favor House Atlantic was the first official single from the bands sophomore album, In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3. Released in 2004 the song became the bands breakout hit. Considered to be the most straight forward track in their whole career, there is a reason why this song got played on the radio. It's fun, catchy, and stands on its own as a song, you could say it is about lost love or something along those lines. The song is a track involving an interaction with characters from the Amory Wars series, Claudio Kilgannon, and Al the Killer. The track isn't necessarily the greatest Coheed song ever, not even close, but it has some great values that create a good song with catchy lyrics and instrumentation, and Claudio's voice fits the track pretty nicely. I have heard some listeners say that this song is a terrible representation of the band, and they are right to a certain extent. The straight forward pop-punk/emo sound isn't something Coheed is known for, except for this specific track, but songs off all their albums exhibit these qualities. It may take a little effort, something the listeners didn't do obviously, but you can find a ton of similar tracks that may have some prog elements, but generally contain the same sound as A Favor House Atlantic.

Now for the music Video. If you noticed, anyone reading obviously noticed, there are two videos above. Both are official and were released after the single. The first video is a more cliche take on what the music video can be used for. It follows the band hanging out in a bar trying to get girls. Ok, nothing special there. There are a lot of shenanigans that include drag queens, looking up girls skirts, and getting thrown out by a guard. It's very hit or miss to be honest. I did find myself chuckling at one or two scenes but other than that it felt pretty awkward. The scenes change between the bar and an alternate version of Coheed playing on the stage, presumably in the same bar as you see some band members talking trash about their alter egos on stage. The performance on the stage actually was pretty cool to watch. It had an 80's vibe to it with the wardrobe choices for the band. Headbands, tight clothes, hairstyles all make an appearance. The track fits in nicely with the video even though it has nothing to do with the story. Overall this video would probably be liked by a casual fan of the track, but a die hard child of the fence, the band's name for their fans including myself, would probably not appreciate the overall presentation of the video.

The second video is actually involved in the Amory Wars saga but is not about the official story for the track. Instead the animated music video is actually following the characters Coheed and Cambria Kilgannon as teenagers. An animated version of the band, a real beefy version of the band, is seen playing on some asteroid. It is kinda funny how such a jacked up Claudio sings in such a high octave. The story involves multiple encounters with major characters of the story. It sets up the events for The Second Stage Turbine Blade. We see the Monstar virus, represented by the dragon fly from the cover art of the debut album, being installed into Coheed himself. The story itself is tough to follow due to the random events that seem to occur out of order. It ends with Coheed turning into some weird looking version of the Silver Surfer and flying into space to create the Keywork symbol. The symbol being used by the band as their official symbol as well as to represent the universe in the Amory Wars. The video may make more sense after I do my full story review for the Amory Wars but I don't know due to the strange out of order presentation. Overall the song doesn't necessarily fit the video and even feels strange when seeing Claudio's muscular version singing with the emo style. Quick side note, the first video uses a radio edit of the song. This cuts out a strange intro/outro that is supposed to be sinister and creepy. The second video includes the intro and outro though as it is the album version of the song.

The track gets a like from me but both video's get a meh for presentation issues and not really fitting the track very well.

Watch/listen to it yourself and give me your opinions. Like it? Dislike it? Why?

RIP Scott Weiland

Scott Weiland was best known as the lead singer of bands Stone Temple Pilots and Velvet Revolver. He was a driving force in the alternative rock scene of the early 90's and on. One who has been successful musically, his bands combining to sell over 45 million records. He has also been awarded two Grammy awards. Scott had been battling drug and alcohol addiction for most of his life and had finally started making progress in winning that battle. According to multiple news outlets the 48 year old frontman passed away in his sleep while on tour in Hamel, MN. The cause of death is believed to be cardiac arrest.

It is always tough for someone to pass away especially when you know the person. But this year we have already lost so many wonderful people in our lives. We have all given them and their families the respect, prayers, and love they deserve. Let us make Scott's passing no different. As an avid fan of all his work and someone who felt like he grew up with one of his bands, Velvet Revolver, I am deeply saddened to have to wake up to this news. Rest in peace Scott Weiland. You will be missed by all.

Blood Red Summer - (2004)

While I just reviewed what was considered to be Coheed and Cambria's most straight forward emo track, I am about to review their most straight forward pop rock track. At least at this point in their discography. Blood Red Summer is a very fun and catchy track that uses the same ironic formula heavily used on their debut. Darker/negative lyrics with an upbeat attitude. It's not like the song is about suicide or anything but you can see the negative lyrics are still there. It works again on this track, and is becoming one of my favorite tracks off of the album. It might overtake The Crowing on my list. The track itself in relation to the story is that Claudio is talking to his uncle Jesse "The Prize Fighter" Inferno, about taking on the duties of saving his universe. Pretty big stuff but all will be revealed in my story review once it is up. (Ok that is the last time I am mentioning that.) The song is a pop song that fits the radio. There really isn't much else to be said about the track. The singing and instrumentation are par for the course and the lyrics are cool. It probably is a pretty bad representation of the band overall though as we do not see as many pop rock tracks this early on in their discography.

As for the video, once again the lyrics and the video do not match up. No story elements here. What we do get is a fun little side show with Claudio setting up traps to protect him and a wooden cabin out in the middle of the woods from something. As he finishes setting up wire traps and light fixtures he sits down to eat a meal of canned noodles. Then his former bandmates begin to show up with blood red eyes looking to eat him. Its very light on any gore though. The closest thing is an arrow going straight into someones chest and them spitting out what looks to be water. Then he pulls it out and continues running. There was obviously a point where all of the members lived in the cabin as Claudio is experiencing flashbacks of his bandmates hanging around. The bandmates were probably converted to these blood red eye zombies and are coming after Claudio and ripping through the cabin's defenses. It all ends with Claudio getting converted to the blood red eye zombies and he and the other three zombies walk towards a bright light. As for the presentation aspects, Claudio's lip-syncing is pretty bad and feels awkward at times. The song sounds fine with the video and doesn't really affect the video's or the song's quality. Overall the video is fun but I still would like to see a story based video that isn't animated.

The song gets a like and the video also gets a like. Not enough here to give it a meh or dislike in the form of cons.

Listen to it yourself and give me your opinions. Like it? Dislike it? Why?

Just wanted to let anyone know who is reading this journal regularly that I unfortunately have a lot of work on my plate today. Finals week, work, etc. I will still try to get the next review out tonight. However, I cannot guarantee it. If anyone has listened to any of the stuff I have reviewed, let me know what you thought.

I'll get around to listening to Second Stage like I said. I have to say though, what I heard off of New Crown I didn't really hate.

Sorry your gonna be so busy, looking forward to reading more. This is my most read journal right now.

Album by Coheed and Cambria

Here we go. My first Coheed and Cambria record. Weird that I had no idea that there was a story, or even a concept behind this record. Just thought it was long name that prog bands like to throw on records. I'm showing my younger self's ignorance here but I feel it is needed. Apollo IV, is what I will call it for short, is the third studio album by Coheed and Cambria, and the fourth installment of the Amory Wars saga. This record right here feels much more mature and confident. Zero production issues on this record. Something that the first two records suffered from in varying degrees. The majority of the record is filled with emo/pop rock songs with only half the record showing signs of true prog rock. A few new influences are added to the mix on this album, symphonic rock/metal, and prog metal show up on a few of the longer tracks. It definitly is not nearly as varied as their earlier albums but it feels way more professional if that make sense. The guitars are all streamlined, Claudio's vocals provide some of his best singing to date, and his most poppiest voice to date, and the overall progression of the album feels very natural. Where the album fails at most however is that after "Welcome Home", the first single off of the album, The songs begin to sound a little similar. Ten Speed, Crossing the Frame, Apollo I, all seem to have very similar structure to them making them all begin to fight to fill the void that Blood Red Summer, and A Favor House Atlantic filled on the last record. Not that any of the songs are bad on their own though, quite the contrary. It is just the pop/emo rock formula can get a little old when you are salivating for that next epic prog rock masterpiece. Welcome Home and the Willing Well series are what will have to due for this record. The fact that they are just shoved to the beginning and end of the album makes it even worse. I want something between all of the pop rock tracks to keep me engaged. This is an album that desperately tries to cater to a more mainstream audience, as shown by it's charting and sales.

Ok, that is way too much negativity to be giving to a Coheed record. I felt the need to criticize as much as possible before I go in to how much I love this record. Every single song, with the exception of the Willing Well series, stands on its own. Just because a band caters to the mainstream audience doesn't mean that the songs are bad. Far from it actually. The Suffering is probably the best pop/emo rock song off of this album with that energetic chorus and I am just a sucker for banging on that one piano key. Ten Speed and Crossing the Frame are great too with some aggressive choruses and interesting lyrical themes. Ten Speed is actually about the main character of this story, The Writer (yeah the writer of the whole story), and the devil manifesting himself in the form of ten speed bicycle and trying to convince the writer to kill off a character in the story. You don't hear that on top 40 radio now do you. The first bit of progressiveness of the album comes in the form of "Welcome Home" a 6 minute Prog Rock/Metal epic discussing a very dark relationship that has turned for the worse. The song that actually got me into Coheed and Cambria in the first place. (More on that story for the music video review.) The Willing Well Series also puts a couple of unique twists and turns throughout. Major references to their past albums in the Telling Truth, let me know if you can spot them without using the internet. I don't know why but despite everything I have said thus far, I will always love this album. One whole listen a month is a bare minimum for me.

The album itself is not perfect. Plays fluidly, but can get a bit boring in the middle. I see it as a step down in quality from In Keeping Secrets, but it has such a strong production to it that it is for sure better than the debut.

Good Apollo, I'm Burning Star IV, Volume I: From Fear through the Eyes of Madness gets an 8.1/10

Positives:
-Excellent production quality
-Polished sound throughout the record
-The Willing Well series is simply epic

Negatives:
-Variety is missing in the midsection of the album
-Not nearly as many progressive sounding songs

Standout Tracks: Welcome Home, The Suffering, The Willing Well III: Apollo II: The Telling Truth, Wake Up.

Weaker Tracks: Once Upon Your Dead Body, Mother May I

Does this review make you want to listen to the record? If so how would you rate it?

Thanks for reading!

I found a break in my work schedule to throw this together. Not my best by far but I couldn't think of much to say about this record anyway. Hope you enjoy it.

Sorry about not being able to post last night, six essays for finals week ranging from 2-8 pages in length can take its toll. I was able to quickly post stuff on here just to keep my brain from melting.

Anyways, Welcome Home is the first single off of Coheed and Cambria's third studio album, Good Apollo, I'm Burning Star IV, Volume One: From Fear through the Eyes of Madness. Yeah, "insert random long name joke here," I get it the name is super long and really has nothing to do with this review. The track itself opens up with a neat little acoustic riff that eventually explodes into one of, if not the, heaviest riffs for Coheed at this point in their discography. The progressive rock/metal influences shine here with quite a big shift towards the bridge of the song that leads into a small stringed section outro. The song is controlled, meaning it doesn't feel like it gets too out of hand or chaotic at any one point. Claudio's vocals also are pretty solid on this track. The song is following the story of the Writer, the creator of the Amory Wars storyline in the Amory Wars story, and a dream he is having about a girl he is in love with. It gets real dark and sinister in the verses and the outro can feel a bit haunting at the start. Lyrically the song stands on its own as a song about a bad relationship, a really dark and sinister relationship. Overall I enjoy the song immensely and have for quite a long time. In fact I'll share a quick story about the track.

This is the song that got me into Coheed and Cambria in the first place. I heard it on the video game Rock Band for the Xbox 360. It was the one song on that setlist that I always wanted to play, even though all of my friends hated it. I looked up the song on Itunes only to be left disappointed that the song was explicit. The version on Rock Band was censored. I had a parental restriction on Itunes at the time and thus couldn't get the song or the album it came off of. So I resorted to Youtube and the like. Finally I got the parental restriction removed from my account and I instantly bought the album. Well I was expecting a much heavier album I'll say that much. None of the songs on the album, at least in my opinion hit that same heaviness that was on Welcome Home. However, I learned to appreciate the album for being so different and I learned to appreciate Coheed simply because of my ignorance to what the album was really supposed to be.

As for the video, it is pretty epic. The band is in a dark barren place with a darkening sky performing the opening riff with reverence to the sound. Claudio is playing with a double necked guitar for this song and it looks very overwhelming at first. You have a need to look up to this man as both a vocalist and a guitar player. The video continues with portraits rising from the ground showing images and small clips of what is occurring in the story. Basically the Writer is having a nightmare about his wife/girlfriend being the reason for all of his suffering and he sees her in a house, and then by a graveyard. Supposedly this represents his wishes for her to die. The video conveys both the song and the story in a very well produced performance. Ultimately this is the benchmark for Coheed videos going forward as it blends the story of the album with the overall sound of the song.

The song receives and absolute like and the video gets a like as well.

Watch/listen to it yourself and give me your opinions. Like it? Dislike it? Why?

The Suffering - (2006)

Here we go, this song right here is absolutely the catchiest song off of Burning Star IV, Volume One. (I shortened the title with the assumption readers have read the respective album review). The Suffering was the second single/music video to be released off of the band's third studio record. The Suffering follows the story of an unhappy relationship between the Writer and Erica Court, the Writer's girlfriend. There is an obvious struggle between these two characters and this is represented not only in the lyrics of the track, but also within the song structure itself. The song switches between three differing sections. The verses tend to be a little more relaxed, in comparison to the rest of the song. It then grows intense as the song leads into a powerful and emotional chorus, with the banging of a piano chord as a subtle addition to the track, it is probably one of the most well structured choruses for a pop rock song I have heard. I won't take anything away from the song or the band for attempting to write such a radio friendly track. The song then blows up into a second chorus of sorts in which Claudio sings loudly "Listen well... Will you marry me" almost in a last ditch effort to resurrect the relationship between the Writer and Erica Court. The dynamic of the song moving faster over time with the rise in intensity of the vocal delivery and instrumentation make for an excellent track overall.

The video itself takes a bit away from the song though. Its about a centaur trying to get with a mermaid. It is supposed to be a reference to the Writer and Miss Erica Court having a relationship that couldn't work. The video switches between the band playing a red cavern. The actual performance in the video looks good enough to represent the emotion behind the track. But the poorly animated video, ok yes it was 2006, and weird storyline behind it are just in my opinion pointless. I mean the Centaur saves the mermaid from a giant Kraken by shooting two arrows into one of its tentacles. It fails to build emotion or connection within the parts not showing the band and thus loses my attention real fast. This is a huge step down in quality from the Welcome Home video, but still I guess it is passable for the casual fan.

The song is an absolute like. The video, not so much. It gets a dislike from me.

Watch/listen to it yourself and give me your opinions. Like it? Dislike it? Why?

I thought I would inject some variety into this journal by adding a secondary "project" of sorts. Well I have a few ideas, but I don't know which one to proceed with. I am feeling good about keeping up with the Coheed and Cambria discography review so no worries about me . There were a few albums that I wanted to review this past weekend but they drained me of any energy to review them plus final essays got in the way. Anyway I have two ideas.


1. Random Review Wednesday - I take a random album from my collection and I review it for you guys. Expect the unexpected.

2. Artist Spotlight Wednesday - I take a random artist that I find to be very enjoyable and share my thought on them. More recommendations then reviews but I will get a lot more of what I enjoy on this site in a shorter amount of time.

Please let me know which sparks your interest more. You all have until next Wednesday to either PM or comment on this journal to let me know what you guys want to see.

I am excited to introduce something else to this journal and I hope you guys are as well. :wave:

I'm kinda partial towards option 2, sounds interesting. Always up for a good reccomendation as well.

Randows reviews are something that most everyone does, so it wouldn't be anything "new", but I'd say you should sprinkle them in your journal anyway just for the sake of variety.

I'd be more interested in weekly artist spotlights. Nothing as intensive as you Coheed bit, obviously, as that would pretty much double your workload, but a quick overview of their discography, or reviewing two to three albums from an artist you're interested in checking out, or an article on your feelings towards them one way or another, would be cool.

Ten Speed (Of God's Blood and Burial) - 2006

The third single released off of Good Apollo IV, Ten Speed is a track that combines sinister song writing/lyricism with straight forward pop rock instrumentation. A winning formula thus far for Coheed and Cambria yet it seems to drag on this far in their discography. This is the first song on the main album to have this type of structure to it so it certainly adds variety to the first four tracks of the album. The song is actually about the Writing Writer, the creator of the Amory Wars storyline, being tricked by his satanic bicycle to kill off a specific character in the story. Once again you do not see these lyrical themes too often in a pop rock track but it makes the song a little more sinister. The song is one of the catchiest in their career, which is saying something considering the whole album is pretty catchy overall. I would like to commend the backing vocals on this track as they add quite a bit of substance to the track. This song isn't one in which Claudio absolutely shines on vocals and so the added backing vocals are a nice touch. The song ends with a rough vocalization of the title of the track in which Claudio aggressively yells "Ten Speed (Of God's Blood and Burial) multiple times. Overall I really enjoy the track on its own, but after multiple listens to the album I can say without remorse that this track is far from the best in Coheeds discography.

The Video itself is pretty standard fare for a Coheed and Cambria Video. The Band is playing in some underground warehouse to a crowd that surrounds them. The video cuts between this and the movement of a stencil for the Keywork symbol, the main symbol of Coheed and Cambria. The stencil is getting passed around and as the video continues on, one would notice that the Keywork symbol is tattooed on many of the characters necks. The "main character" of the video is surprised by this and begins running, from what I don't know. Now the video obviously does not follow the storyline of the track, but I think we have come to expect that at this point. It is a fun video with a solid performance of the track. It had action, a build up, and the ending comes first style that Mission Impossible 3 popularized. Overall I enjoyed the video and thought it complimented the track well.

The song receives an absolute like and the video gets a like as well.

Watch/listen to it yourself and give me your opinions. Like it? Dislike it? Why?