Random Playlist #3 The End Complete?

This Random Playlist will give my thoughts on Coheed and Cambria’s latest album – No World For Tomorrow (the full title being Good Apollo Vol. 2 etc etc). This post has been kicking about in a draft form for literally weeks, I’ve had to stop myself from going off on tangents exploring how the band almost split, and of course the story behind all the albums. Let’s look past those for a moment, and keep this a very tight cohesive review – this should hopefully answer the question, hey! is this album for me?..

Now, the title “The End Complete” has been lifted from the 4-song epic at the end of the album – something which Coheed and Cambria have become renowned for doing in most of their albums, and in this case should mark the end of the story

Something that is immediately apparent on listening is the amount of solos now crammed into a Coheed album. Again it’s a natural evolution of their sound, solos being something that’s not really featured in their initial stuff, but became much more noticeable around Good Apollo vol.1, and now there is a solo for (pretty much) every song in vol.2. It does seem that more care has been take with the song construction as a whole too – Vol.1 had many songs with rhythm doing simple power chord progressions and then lead putting licks over the top, where in vol.2 the guitarwork is insane, both guitarists have equally exciting parts. That couples well with the increased pacing of Claudio’s vocals making the album literally jump out at you.

I will hold my hands up and say this is their best album to date, I still have a sweet spot for the Second Stage Turbine Blade but the production values for this are literally through the roof. Claudio’s vocals, whilst there are always a talking point for newcomers to the Coheed sound, sound better than ever, particularly in one of my fave songs off the album – Mother Superior – which has a kinda Stairway to Heaven feel about it, or maybe I’m greatly exaggerating. One thing that can be said is that Coheed and Cambria are the masters of creating a deeply layered sound – “The Hound (Of Blood and Rank)” is a great example of this. People often remark they are very much a headphones band, and sometimes you need that complete immersion to discover all the effects and extra little constructions which add to the whole experience. I even discovered thanks to my broken headphones that Mother Superior features two vocal tracks, one restrained and much lower in the background, and the other where he lets loose,particularly towards the end of the song.

Again, not to dwell too much on the story, but this is supposed to be the last chapter, with the next album being the prequel to Second Stage Turbine Blade and the first installment in the story. The title for the post “The End Complete” is the name of the 4 song epic which has now become the traditional method for finishing off their albums. It does suggest that To be honest I was left a little flat, I can’t say for certain how exactly the story ended without visiting fan forums. Only snippets of the story are revealed in the songs themselves, and often it is quite cryptic. One thing for sure is that Claudio (yes, he wrote himself into the story :s) is still trying to get home. Now I can’t make my mind up whether it’s genius recalling past moments in the story, or simply lazy songwriting. I’m siding towards the later, almost to the point of rolling my eyes – “you’re on your way home are you? Oh, tell us all something we don’t know”.
Like in earlier albums where Time Consumer was repeated as part of dream sequence, the haunting glockenspiel rendition of the opening riff from the Final Cut was pure genius, I really did get goosebumps.

That being said there are two minor allowable criticisms which can be made against the album. Since In Keeping Secrets… the first track has been the signature theme for the Co&Ca story. It’s first appearance was actually at the end of the one of the songs in Second Stage… but got a revamp for the second album. It also appeared reworked with a more dark and sinister tone for Good Apollo Vol.1 but unfortunately it is missing from vol.2. It is a proper song in itself, but especially when listening to an album as a whole it does get you pumped – kinda like a “previously on Lost”, something we expect to see at the start of every installment. The other disappointment is the song “The fall of House Atlantic”. Upon seeing this in the track listings, I was hoping for a reprise of “A Favor House Atlantic” but instead it is a short instrumental track. It is the only track that could easily be dropped from the listing and not make a shed of difference – I usually skip it if it comes up in a randomplaylist.

Overall, as mentioned above, I believe this to be the best, the most “complete” (sorry for the poor pun) album to date. For those new to Coheed and Cambria, the level of quality of the songs, with personal preference rating some songs higher than others. It’s probably a good idea to check out the singles that will come from this album for starters – “Running Free” and “Mother Superior”. I still probably rate The Second Stage Turbine Blade a little higher than No World For Tomorrow only because it was the album that got into this band. Looking back Claudio’s vocals were slightly echoey way back when – for the much increased production and musicmanship, this is technically their best album to date and a welcome return after a mini-slump with Good Apollo vol.1 with some songs being under par.
So go check them out, and also go check out the Prizefighter Inferno, Claudio’s electro side-project, still supposedly set in the Coheed and Cambria Universe, but a very different sound – very cool.

EDIT: I just checked out the Feathers video, really good and it is also points out how distinctive Claudio’s appearance is with his big hair, when it is not tied back, you’re definitely not going to miss him walking down the street.

Random Playlist #2 A Thank you to my friends

Music is incredibly powerful. That may sound a very snobbish opinion, but it really is true. Music can make us feel any number of emotions.
Hearing the right song can turn round your day; put a bounce into your step. On the other hand the right lyric or progression can make us feel emotional, on the brink of tears sometimes. There are other cases, music can get us pumped up, riled – harnessing the power of people to unite in protest. There’s music that makes us want to dance, makes us moreamorous, makes us want to sing our hearts out. It does it all.

Myself, I find music incredibly important, and thus I take every opportunity to surround myself in it. The outside world without my trusty mp3 player in my pocket is a scary and frankly horrible sounding place.

This is just a short mention to some of those people who have truly changed my life. I want to thank Rob and Koel for introducing me to the sounds of Matthew Good Band and Matthew Good, the former being the band Matt Good was in before that fell apart and he went solo.
Another shout out goes to my good friend Andy over in America. Now Andy really did try his best to force a fair number of artists on to me. I admit I was resistant at first but something stuck down there in what I call a brain. A handful of artists made it through the cracks, and I am now much more open to new music than I was before. As a result I now listen to bands like Interpol and TheDecemberists; I still am impressed by the apparent freshness of Hey Mercedes’ sound when they come up on the random playlist.
And last but certainly not least, I have to give an extra special mention to my good buddy Adam. Now listing all the bands which he has introduced here could take quite some time, and also not look that pretty. It was Adam that introduced me to alternative music, that being the alternative to music seen in the charts. I went to my first gigs with Adam, those really were the days, swigging cider before the gig as we were too young to buy drinks inside. Put simply, Adam is responsible for, if not the majority of my music tastes, then at least a considerable chunk. The motivation of the post is how lucky/privileged I feel having had listened to some of my fave albums and artists, and that simply would not have happened with out these people opening my eyes, to put an artsy slant on it.

The few above have had the most effect of my musical tastes and I am truly thankful to them for helping in making me the person I am today. There are of course others which have had an influence on this journey that we like to call life, but I felt that these people deserved a very special mention.

Thank you.

Random Playlist #1Women Who Love Men Who Love Oceansize

This is the first of music-themed posts, adding to the family of other themed posts I have thrown out there. Now, originally the first Random Playlist was going to be a very, very overdue review-of-sorts of Coheed and Cambria’s last offering, but that has undergone quite a few restarts, that it is still in the pipeline. Instead, let’s replace that with something a little more recent. Last Thursday I had the pleasure of seeing Oceansize live @ the Casbah (formerly the “Colly”) in Coventry.

I’ll be clear when I say that I am a big fan of Oceansize. They could easily be labeled as a progressive outfit, but where they excel over other progressive bands I’ve listened to is that they really keep the focus. Often it seems the trademark of a progressive band is to throw in extended interludes and include solos like their arms are going to fall off and they may never get another chance. This does produce many a quality song – technical expertise of an instrument is something to be marveled at and something I hold in high regard. Oceansize take a different path, and produce, in my opinion, a much more cohesive sound. There is a clear and more obvious vision in their songwriting. They set themselves a simple target for each song, whether that is a 4 minute heavy, riff-laden rollercoaster, or a softer melodic affair, and they simply nail it. There’s very few Oceansize songs I am not a fan of, and that’s down to all the time, effort and care put it to producing each sone.

Looking back on the gig itself, and overall I was very impressed on the night. They did play quite a few off their most recent album, Frames, but I guess that is to be expected. That’s also not a bad thing when I am indeed a huge fan of their latest, although my all-time fave album is “Everyone Into Position”. Along with their recent songs, they ticked off the list some of the standout tracks from their earlier work. There was a slight problem with the second mic, the sound guy obviously felt the need to drop the levels to avoid feedback off the primary mic, but he was often slow to invert the levels which did spoil the experience a little. Especially when lead man Mike is screaming his heart out.

I went to the gig with Wilson and some other Warwick people and we were chatting about the band in the taxi home. I made the claim that Oceansize will forever be a small-time band and that unfortunately will never change, which is a crying shame considering their superb songcraft, which is not a crucial factor in a band’s success. Everyone else argued that I was mistaken and that they have supported many very large bands, Smashing Pumpkins being one example. The problem comes about when they are the headliners themselves, where they are the main reason why people buy the ticket, and it’s was saddening to see that the side room (not even the main room ><) was only half full. So depressing that Mike felt the need to comment (paraphrased):

“We played here 5 years ago and it was shit, maybe in 5 years time we’ll be able to fill this room.”

Other than that depressing outburst, I was very impressed with their performance. It reminded me how long it has been since I last saw a live band, and how great the experience can be.
One thing I ask for those who’ve not heard Oceansize, I feel it’s my duty to spread the word, they are a great British band, go check them out. I can’t say that they are for everyone, but if you’re looking for something outside of the norm and/or are open to new music, then give them a listen, that would be rather cool.