“Your eyes tell the stories of a day you wish you could”
“Run quick, they’re behind us, didn’t think we’d ever make it, this close to safety in one piece.”
I wish to interrupt my Top 10 movie list with an important announcement: In seven days I will be seeing my favorite band Coheed and Cambria at the National in Richmond, VA. I do not think I have been this excited for a show before, save maybe Bruce Springsteen. In honor of my first Coheed concert in almost three years, I am going to write a little piece on Coheed every day, complete with my Top 7 songs, why they are my favorite, why Coheed is just so darn awesome, and little tidbits about Coheed.
First, let me tell you about Coheed and Cambria. They are a progressive rock band from New York, and they formed in 1995 under the name Shabutie. They dropped their first studio album under the name Coheed and Cambria entitle The Second Stage Turbine Blade in 2002. Four more albums followed, the most recent being Year of the Black Rainbow on April 10th, 2010.
Here’s why I love Coheed so much: every album, every song they write and perform, tells a story. Each album is a concept album, and all five comprise a single over-arching science fiction epic. Claudio Sanchez writes the story, and along with each album Coheed publishes a comic book, graphic novel, or novel telling the part of the story told on each album in more detail. Few recent bands have attempted this, Green Day, Thrice, and Mars Volta, but none with such ferocious attention to storytelling.
Folks, I love this concept to death. I love looking at how people tell stories, and the fact that Coheed can tell a story while making excellent rock music is an impressive and amazing feat. I love the music and I love the story. I can remember the first time I started listening to Coheed in high school and realizing that these songs had to have an over-arching meaning. There were too many repeated names, events, and places, but each song was not repeating details, but rather telling a narrative. After I realized what the guys in Coheed and Cambria was doing, I was hooked and there was no going back.
The first album I listened to was In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3, and among the myriad of amazing songs on that album was “A Favor House Atlantic”. In this song, The story’s protagonist, Claudio Kilgannon, and his crew are trying to escape House Atlantic, the stronghold of their foe, Wilhelm Ryan. A sleazy and psychopathic ship captain named Al the Killer turned them over, but at the last minute, helps them escape. The chronicles the conversation between Claudio, his crew, and Al before Al is apparently killed in the escape. This was the first song I really felt a connection to, story-wise and musically. It is one of Coheed’s more well-known songs, and many consider it to be a “fanboy song”, but I love it all the same. It’s quick, simple, and to the point, but I can never help turning it up when it comes on the radio or my iPod.
Listen to it below, and I’ll be back tomorrow with more Coheed tidbits, their story description, and more.
