Year of the Black Rainbow

The greatest band in the world IMO is Coheed and Cambria. But YOTBR is just mediocre at best. The album was written and recorded during a tumultuous period of transition for the band, having taken on a dealing with the well-documented problems with Mic Todd. They enlisted Chris Pennie on drums. Chris is amazing. He’s one of those drummers who seems like a machine. His playing is inhuman. But, like many other highly-technical drummers, he is all skill and no taste. He’s the percussive equivalent of Yngwie Malmsteen. Coheed has never been about technical prowess, even though they are amazing musicians. They always focused on the mission…great songs and a great story. Here, they seem to have lost sight of that mission. I feel that the songwriting on YOTBR took a backseat to the technical wizardry of Chris’ drumming. It’s almost as if Claudio wrote songs that would be tastelessly drum-intensive for the sake of keeping Chris Pennie satisfied with his role in the band. This is the only album with Chris Pennie. He left the band and went back to playing annoying math-rock with its time signature changes: music that is challenging for the sake of being challenging. It’s the low-point in Coheed’s career, and I think it’s because the drummer is the low-point in the band’s membership. Josh Eppard’s return re-energized the band, and they came back with an amazing double-album that both stand as the best work they have ever done.

the album feels rushed. this is not progressive, though if you can hear anything in guns of summer it's an attempt at progressive. what happened to In Keeping Secrets, Welcome Home, and The End Complete? these were big production, mixed elements, mixed tempo, and turned into instant fan favorites such that you couldn't wait to chant along with Claudio at the show. The only two songs on here worth repeat plays are Far, it has the least amount of noise and the best chorus, and The Black Rainbow. I don't even like Black Rainbow as much because it ends much like the sopranos. Hopefully Afterman will have something better to bring to the table.

At least half of the songs are skippable to me.

Those saying this is Coheed's best album make me want to throw up. I, like many of you writing reviews, have listened to this band evolve since SSTB. You can tell Claudio was trying to make a stylistic leap to a newer progressive rock sound. This is shown in "Guns of Summer", but this album leaves me... bored. The only tracks that really sound catchy/creative like their older stuff are "The Broken" "Here We Are Juggernaut" and "Made Out of Nothing". I feel as though the record company is trying to force coheed to reproduce their first Columbia record, Good Apollo I. I wish they would switch back to Equal Vision. In the end, this album is still better than anything you'll see on MTV, but i'm incredibly dissipointed.

This is such a great album and I am big fan of the band and the story that Claudio has made with these albums. Many people don't get that there is a story behind each album and they all tie in together. Each album sounds different from the last but the story evolves and honestly i don't want to hear the same sounding band over and over again. I want a band to experiment and figure what is good for them. This is a great achievement for the band and the story they are telling. Great Job Coheed.

I love this album. I have always loved coheed and cambria and this album I amazing. I didn't skip one song on this album. Here we are juggernaut and the broken are my two favorite songs but I love the whole album.

This album from Coheed and Cambria is pretty good. But there's just something missing about it; I can't quite put my finger on it. Perhaps it's the absence of a final ending song. The Black Rainbow is basically an instrumental with Claudio's voice kind of lingering in the background. It's not like The Final Cut or On the Brink and there aren't really any songs leading up to the finale. I think they reached their peak in No World For Tomorrow, but that's just my opinion.

great album.

epic drop

First, if you haven't seen the half hour documentary on the making of this album, I'd highly recommend it. It comes with the $13 version of this album. Okay… now about the music... The album opens with (1) "One," a haunting instrumental that segues seamlessly into… (2) "The Broken", a pounding, dark, balls-to-the-wall tune. Claudio's vocal intensity, combined with the wild drumming and crunching guitars -- seeming ever on the edge of feedback -- give "The Broken" a vibe that I can only describe as "becoming unhinged." Two thumbs way up. (3) "Guns of Summer" -- intense and chaotic -- resolves to an odd-time chorus and Claudio's signature vocal harmonies. The drumming on this tune is insane. The whole song sounds like a train careening down a mountainside and it could come off the rails at any moment. The chorus guitars contain retro hints of (I'm grasping at straws here) Hum. This is one wild and eerie ride. (4) "Here We Are Juggernaut" is a beautifully hookish song, with absolutely killer drums. It comes with a catchy chorus sandwiched between wild verses that keep pushing the intensity until about halfway through the song. At that point, the musical storm clears just long enough to reveal a peaceful but darkened sky. Then it jumps back into, and closes with, the wild chorus. (5) "Far" is a sparsely populated soundscape carried by a retro-fuzzy guitar and slick drum part. Its simplicity is what sets this song apart. Claudio's melodic, echoey vocals stand against the pretty/gritty/simple march of the other instruments. This song is an oasis with a great vibe. (6) "The Shattered Symphony" starts with distant guitars, then kicks into an unsettling verse with a macabre, palm-muted guitar on the right and a counter-melody guitar line on the left. The mood of this tune is like slipping down a dark slope, interspersed with moments of hope. The slide (verse) is broken by peaceful, pleasant outcroppings (chorus). It is multi-layered, dense, and ends with some feedback wizardry. (7) "World of Lines" starts as a forward-moving song with a nice chorus. I'd love to hear this one on the radio (if I listened to radio). The verses are somewhat pedestrian -- by Coheed standards, anyway -- while the choruses are driving and hookish. The bridge starts at the 2 minute mark, and it is dark, velvety, intense, gritty, and melodically beautiful (vox). (8) "Made Out of Nothing (All That I Am)" is heavy and forceful. Another great song to listen to while driving to work. The chorus is gorgeously melodic, and an instant classic. Nothing stands out as particularly brilliant about this one. It's just a solid, well-constructed song with subtle layers of background vocals and synths, and a cool ending. (9) "Pearl of the Stars" is deliciously different. The vibe, the pace, even Claudio's baritone vocal line. The drums, the guitar solo, the lush but subtle brass in the background, the spookiness, the melody. It resonates emotionally. A must hear. (10) "In the Flame of Error" opens with spooky, apocalyptic noises that give way to a wall of guitars, drums and bass that bulldoze straight through the chaos. I like the dynamic contrast of the verses against the choruses. This one didn't grab me at first, but it will probably be one of my favorites in time. The creepy bridge is a nice touch. (11) "When Skeletons Live," like a couple other tunes, starts with haunting, non-musical sounds, then dives into a hard rocking but sparsely populated verse that somehow creates a great deal of "space." The chorus make up the difference: huge wave of lush, crunchy guitars, synths, drums and bass roiling under Claudio's melodic and passionate vox. The pre-choruses are pretty cool, too, and setup the choruses nicely. (12) "The Black Rainbow" is the crowning jewel. I'll let you discover it. :) Bonus track on the $13 version: (13) "Chamberlain (Demo Version)." This doesn't sound like a demo. It weaves a heavy, darkish tapestry and moves inexorably forward with a great verse and chorus. I love the definitive ending. (14) "The Lost Shepherd (Demo Version)" This one sounds demoish because of how the drums are miked/mixed (mono with room ambiance), and perhaps the lead vox in a couple spots. The drummer plays the crap out of that kit, and it's a great performance. Wish they'd produced a finished version. (15) "Hush" is not a demo, but a finished studio recording. It opens with a deep-pocketed rhythm, and drives forward with classic Coheed intensity. It is a heavy and hard-driving song that has a "lighter" vibe because of Claudio's signature vocal melodies and harmonies. I wish Coheed had squeezed this onto the regular version of the album, because this is an instant classic.