GOOD APOLLO, I'M BURNING STAR IV, VOLUME ONE - FROM FEAR THROUGH THE EYES OF MADNESS

Coheed & Cambria. When somebody mentions this name out in the world, many avid music listeners immediately say "Hey, yeah, they were at Warped Tour!". Despite the name of said tour bringing chills to my spine, I used to dislike Coheed & Cambria, their music being a tad too upbeat, modern rock and punk-y for my tastes.

Oh, how wrong I was.

"Good Apollo, I'm Burning Star IV, Volume One: From Fear Through The Eyes of Madness" is this band going from leaning towards straight modern rock towards a more progressive sound. Which, coincidentally, is why they're now on the archives. On "Second Stage Turbine Blade" and "In Keeping Secrets of The Silent Earth: 3", the songs are fairly limited and, in some instances, almost pop-like. For example, A Favor House Atlantic and Time Consumer, 3-minute radio songs.

Wikipedia has a very detailed article on The Amory Wars, the sci-fi story the band uses as a basis for their lyrics. Pleease read this if you want to FULLY understand the descriptions throughout this review. Fairly short, don't hurt your attention spans.

Beginning with the beautiful melody of "Keeping the Blade", the album starts with the feeling of a waltz, a dance that could change paces and even dancing styles if said dancer felt the need to. Running right into the Claudio-solo track, "Always & Never", the album continues to follow the calm motions, and suddenly breaks into "Welcome Home". Aggresive compared what Coheed & Cambria usually does, but an impressive intro nonetheless. The guitar riffs crunching with delicious feedback and harmonics squealing with aggravation bring out Claudio's alto notes even more than usual. The sequence of alternating between harmonics for the chorus and heavy, grungy sounds for the melody really blends together.

Moving on to track four, "Ten Speed (Of God's Blood And Burial)", the Writer's bike is stolen, and in his delirium, he sees it as, essentially, the personal motorcycle of the Devil. It insists on telling him to kill off characters in the story that he based off of Erica to settle his own conciousness, and he eventually gives in to the apparition. The story is well played out in the sounds, as the slightly fast-paced, steady bass drum/hi-hat sets the backdrop for a heated argument between the Writer and his subconcious.

"Crossing The Frame" is nothing very special, a medium-paced catchy rock song with the small humorous quip, "You decide to answer when my fist rings hello", expressing the Character Claudio's meeting with his ex-girlfriend Newo after 10 years in hiding. (see Second Stage Turbine Blade. Yeah, the story has lots of returning elements from previous parts, it's confusing, I know)

At this point we arrive upon this album's first amazing song, "Apollo I: The Writing Writer". A vague account of the Writer interacting with his Character about killing off his female companion to settle his own conciousness. The offbeat drums and the double layering on Claudio's voice in the beginning or the song create an almost creepy atmosphere, which makes it that much more unpredictable due to the sort of "dual nature" this song posseses. I love this song that much more when it comes swinging back in it's section of The Willing Well.

The next few tracks are, to me, radio songs that discuss various, unrelated plot elements of the story, and draw more influence from the punk and mainstream elements of the band. "Once Upon Your Dead Body" has a funny take when comparing the lyrics to the feel of the notes, but "Wake Up" and "The Suffering"/"The Lying Lies and Dirty Secrets of Miss Erica Court" are radio songs. Three-minute tracks with lyrics to please the mainstream, acoustic touchy-feely and punk/modern rock, respectively. (Even if I do have a slight guilty pleasure for The Suffering) "Mother May I" is another song I like that isn't very progressive, but still has some prog elements, melody changes, tone changes, etc.

The "grand finale" of this already fantastic album is it's apex, the four-part masterpiece that is The Willing Well. We begin by delving into The Willing Well I: Fuel For The Feeding End, with drumming that reminds me of the intro to "Sugar Coated Sour" by Dillinger Escape Plan. This track weaves together about four styles of instrumentalism and vocals into seven minutes of greatness. Climbing up from the strange, offbeat, fast-paced in the beginning and ending in the high-flying solo and waltz-timed minute of inspiration near the end, it is, in my humble opinion, the best of this album.

"The Willing Well II: From Fear Through the Eyes of Madness" is a song similar to it's precedent, "FFTFE" for short, except almost a reverse. The beginning to the end is a build down that jumps back to old choruses but still continuing to progress through the song. A very interesting sequencing style, almost like the movie Memento (if you have not seen this landmark in filmmaking, make it a part of your day). What goes around, comes around in an epic sequel as part of a larger multi-part story, which is one part of a multi-part sci-fi epic......yeah, my head hurts too. "The Willing Well III: Apollo II: The Telling Truth" continues the legendariness that was Apollo I, and carries it through a new melody, keeping with the familiar chorus (Why ISN'T that bitch laughing now?) and maintaining the strange time signature.

The slow, dramatic ending that is "The Willing Well IV: The Final Cut", carries a lonely, sad mood that permeates the consistent bass and Claudio's voice which appears to almost be melting away from the music. The solo and the end is very Hendrix-esqe, and reverberates the slow, lonely feel of the song. In terms of musical composition and the story part it expresses, this end is a perfect fir for the Willing Well, the album, and this chapter of The Amory Wars.

This album, in my opinion, lends itself to being a stepping stone. Coheed & Cambria are a self-acknowledged progressive band who are, unwittingly or not, bridging some of the wide gaps between the minds of listeners of progressive music and those of the general Warped-Tour-going public. Those of you who frequent this website listen for skill in musicianship, depth in lyrics, the way an album blends together with the songs. The general radio-listening public listen for something catchy, something they can bob their heads to, with lyrics they can relate to immediately and generally not have to think about. Coheed & Cambria supplies both in this epic album, making it a concesus between the two groups. It contains songs like "Wake Up", a typically slow, acoustic song, preceding a catchy, fast-paced track like "The Suffering", and ending with the signature Coheed & Cambria four-piece album-ender, four songs completing a large section of the story. What I'm getting at here is that maybe, instead of judging an album by how progressive it is in terms of progressive music, judge it by how it affects the art music in general. If the point of progressive music to push the boundaries os music, why not push the boundaries that separate genres to create something new and exciting?

Peace out, Morbix.