Coheed & Cambria

Hey I'm new to progarchives and the whole prog scene in general.  I started getting into Floyd a year and a half ago and now I'm hardcore into Yes, so I'd consider myself a prog fan.  So.....hi.  whatsup. 

Anyhoo, I figured for my first post I'd get some opinions from the prog community on my favorite modern band, Coheed & Cambria.  I was really encouraged to see them listed on this site, b/c of a few things about the band....

1) Each album is part of a 5-chapter sci-fi epic....that's a first

2) They've definitely developed their own unique sound on Good Apollo

3) They're NOT emo (being beloved by the emo crowd does not make you emo, if that were true Queen would be considered emo)  Musically there's an influence there from bands like Thrice and Taking Back Sunday that could be linked to emo, but lyrically and conceptually they are about as far from emo as any band has ever been, and alternative prog punk would be a much better way to describe the musical style (before Good Apollo anyway...now I don't think any label could describe them)

4) They ROCK

....and they are one of the few bands that have caught on with the pop-punk/emo crowd that are actually trying to do something cool and unique, and despite criticisms for being pretenious, each album has been more over-the-top (and musically superior) than the last.  (gee, that sounds like a prog band to me)

Yes, I'll admit the more well-known songs don't sound to much like prog (musically anyway, every lyric ever written by these guys is about a progressive as you can get) .  A Favor House Atlantic and The Suffering are heavy pop-punk with prog lyrics, but pure pop-punk nonetheless.  However, anyone who doubts the progressiveness of Coheed, do yourself a favor and listen to The Willing Well suite at the end of Good Apollo, and then tell me they don't belong here. 

So what do you think about these guys?  Do they deserve to be listed on a site with the likes of Pink Floyd, Genesis, and Yes? 

the_binkster wrote: great band!!! there is so much ambition in their writing which is good to see underpinned by some great guitar riffs (Welcome Home). They seem to be very versatile as well, all good prog bands should be. They definitely have a unique sound and the singing sounds a lot like Geddy Lee (always a good thing!!!) although apparently the singer was never a Rush fan . New album out end of October. Can't wait

I have the deluxe edition on pre-order, can't wait

They're an emo band with some prog elements... They're as prog-related as some metal bands that should be here, but hell will freeze over the day a metal band gets added in prog-related....

Logan wrote: ^ What about Iron Maiden?

An ignorant me might have once thought that the reason for there being so few metal bands in Prog Related was because "related" bands were being granted full-Prog status.  What a n00b I was, and still am. 

As for C&C:  Before I was using this site as my primary Prog source, I was using a site that considered C&C Prog.  Being into classic Prog at the time, hearing them was a major disappointment (been recommended very highly).  It was not really what I considered Prog at the time (though I get it as Prog Related).  Subsequently I've come to think of so-called Prog as more of an attitude to making music than a style (or particular styles).....

I agree with Hirgwath. Everything dealing with the vocals are not good. Lyrics, style, yeah, bad. I love some of the guitar work, when it's not too punk. Stuff like in Welcome Home and The Willing Well is great, but certainly nothing particularly proggy. I think there an OK modern rock band, and it's a stretch to even consider them prog related.

From All Music Guide:

"Originally an arty outgrowth of hardcore punk, emo became an important force in underground rock by the late '90s, appealing to modern-day punks and indie-rockers alike. Some emo leans toward the progressive side, full of complex guitar work, unorthodox song structures, arty noise, and extreme dynamic shifts; some emo is much closer to punk-pop, though it's a bit more intricate. Emo lyrics are deeply personal, usually either free-associative poetry or intimate confessionals."

Methinks they could be emo.

Hirgwath wrote: From All Music Guide: "Originally an arty outgrowth of hardcore punk, emo became an important force in underground rock by the late '90s, appealing to modern-day punks and indie-rockers alike. Some emo leans toward the progressive side, full of complex guitar work, unorthodox song structures, arty noise, and extreme dynamic shifts; some emo is much closer to punk-pop, though it's a bit more intricate. Emo lyrics are deeply personal, usually either free-associative poetry or intimate confessionals." Methinks they could be emo.

Coheed's lyrics are RARELY deeply personal (I can think of only one song, and yes I know them all), they are not poetry but rather an epic story, and have NEVER been about intimate confessions.  Just because some emo leans prog, doesn't means all punk influenced music that does so is emo.  The emo label was tagged on them by the mainstream music community because of their association with the underground music scene and things like the Warped Tour.  It doesn't surprise me that a site like AMG would label them emo as well.  Coheed fans, emo fans, and the band themselves have never referred to them as emo, but have called them nu-prog or neo-prog on many occasions. 

C&C is great! are they prog? hard to say. but who cares; music is music ^^

SilverEclipse wrote: Coheed's lyrics are RARELY deeply personal (I can think of only one song, and yes I know them all), they are not poetry but rather an epic story, and have NEVER been about intimate confessions.  Just because some emo leans prog, doesn't means all punk influenced music that does so is emo.  The emo label was tagged on them by the mainstream music community because of their association with the underground music scene and things like the Warped Tour.  It doesn't surprise me that a site like AMG would label them emo as well.  Coheed fans, emo fans, and the band themselves have never referred to them as emo, but have called them nu-prog or neo-prog on many occasions.

Why is the mainstream music community wrong? Why is AMG wrong? Although they (C&C) are less than 100% cathartic, they certainly have a very dramatic, passionate, sentimental feel to them. Claudio usually sings from the first-person perspective, with an emotive voice at a high register. And not only are they on the Warped Tour, they are also on Equal Vision Records, and their drummer co-founded the Dillinger Escape Plan. I'm not saying they're not progressive. They are obviously prog-influenced, and thus prog-related. I'm saying that they also are an emo band, to some degree. Perhaps on the Emo Archives they have them filed under 'Emo-Related'.