Top 10 Coheed and Cambria Songs

[philosoraptor42]

Now that there are five Coheed and Cambria albums, I decided to make a best of album and I'm most happy with the initial songs I've chosen. These are the songs that have really stood out for me.

If you haven't come across Coheed and Cambria before, they are essentially a progressive metal band, but they are often mistaken for an emo or post-hardcore band. The mistake is mainly due to the tendency for lead singer Claudio to sing in a rather high pitched voice. Essentially whether you like Coheed or not will depend on whether you find the lead singer distinctive or offputting.

The songs are supposed to be based on a comic series that accompanies the band's work. However, initially all the was released was "The Bag On Line Adventures" which was very much unfinished, a little pretentious and confusing. The basic plot is that a married couple, Coheed and Cambria, are told that they are actually the result of a dangerous experiment and unless they kill their children it will cause the end of the universe. It finishes with one remaining child not captured (called Claudio, just like the lead singer) who is presumably the main protagonist for the rest of the story.


There was a fair bit of excitement amongst fans when a really well drawn comic came out along with the release of the third album. Unfortunately it wasn't at all clear how it linked with the earlier comic and with the comic writer written into the story, it was more self-involved than ever. The basic gist of this comic was that the comic writer kills off the love interest because he'd inevitably have a storyline where she cheated on him, just like had happened to comic writer in real life. The protagonist of his comic then argues with him about it.


Since then the "Amory Wars" comics have been released. They started off as pretty much the Bag On Line Adventures all over again, but finally it's actually telling the story. However, seeing as it's only part way into the second album so far, it all feels very late coming. Essentially fans have been enjoying the music for so long without the comic that the comic series feels unnecessary.

.


So without further ado, the songs.

1. Radio Bye Bye
Album: "No World For Tomorrow"
(Youtube link)
Notable lyric: "Why are you afraid of what you've done?"
Calling out someone's hidden guilty feelings. There's always been something I've liked about songs which are jolly, but suggest darkness beneath the surface in their lyrics. When I was younger I was a big fan of Suzanne Vega and was quite shocked when I discovered that the sweet cheerful song "Luka" is about a girl being abused and lying about it. Still, Radio Bye Bye has lyrics which are much easier to sing along to and it's a lot of fun.

2. Ten Speed (Of God's Blood and Burial)
Album: "Good Apollo, I'm Burning Star"
(Youtube link)
Notable lyric: "Ten speed of God's blood and burial, Ten speed of God's blood and burial...."
When I first heard this song I had no idea that a ten speed was a bicycle. It was quite odd to read the comic that accompanies this album and see the comic writer referring to a bike as his "ten speed". The meaning of this song is a lot clearer than others. The comic writer is arguing with the bike about whether he should kill off the love interest in his comic or not. As usual, I'm less interested in the meaning and more interested in the music and singing along "ten speed of god's blood and burial!" The absurdity of those words just adds to the fun. It's actually probably my favourite song of all Coheed and Cambria's albums.

Also "Apollo", from the album title, is the comic writer's dog. *facepalm*

3. A Favor House Atlantic
Album: "In Keeping Secrets Of Silent Earth"
(Youtube link)
Notable lyric: "Good eye sniper, I'll shoot you run"
This is widely recognised as one of Coheed and Cambria's best songs and it's probably their most popular one. The music video they made for it seems similar to the sort of thing you'd expect from Bowling For Soup aimed at the emo market. What the video doesn't make clear is that the song is linked to a science fiction comic about a couple who are being expected to kill their own children. At very least the song is about enlisting a sniper to kill someone, but that doesn't stop the music and lyrics from being very upbeat.

4. Devil In Jersey City
Album: "Second Stage Turbine Blade"
(Youtube link) TRIGGER WARNING
Notable lyric: "Don't let them scare you.... when you're down on the floor bleeding"
This is the first song that made me take notice of Coheed and Cambria. It's really energetic with post-hardcore style screaming vocals and it was right up my alley. As for the meaning of the lyrics, unfortunately it's about someone being raped by a gang called the "devils of jersey city". In the link for this one someone's used scenes from the comic to illustrate the song and reminds us that, being one of the children of Coheed and Cambria, "sweet Josephine" gets killed by her parents when she gets home afterwards. Nice.... But yeah, the music is really good.

5. Far
Album: "Year Of The Black Rainbow"
(Youtube link)
Notable lyric: "Whatever this is, this thing that now I've become. You hate it so much. You keep on running from."
From their latest album, it's notable that the ballardy songs seem to work much better than they used to now. I still wish we had some more exciting energetic songs like we had in previous albums. This new album feels rather less fun than previous offerings. As for the meaning, I don't know if the character is supposed to have been changed into some kind of monster or whether it's a change in their personality, but either way the song is very pretty and these lyrics are rather less bizarre than we normally expect from a Coheed song.

6. Three Evils (Embodied In Love and Shadow)
Album: "In Keeping Secrets Of Silent Earth"
(Youtube link)
Notable lyric: "When will this nightmare ever end? Pull the trigger and the nightmare stops."
Unsurprisingly the album notes warn people that they aren't encouraging suicide. I think it's possible that the actual story doesn't involve suicide either. It could well be that they are encouraging them to kill someone else (possibly their own child *gulp*). It could mean anything really. It's a classic weird Coheed song. Once again, very energetic and fun. Video above has Naruto clips which suit the song about as well as anything else would.

7. The Broken
Album: "Year Of The Black Rainbow"
(Youtube link)
Notable lyric: "The world looks better when you're falling."
The new album seems to feature some actually decent videos. This one is of a science fiction battle and it's really visually impressive. Also the lyrics aren't entirely weird either. Certainly the victims of the war who are referred to as "the broken" are probably the rather oddly named IRO-bots (like "I, Robot", get it?), but in essence it could apply to any people exploited to fight other people's battles. Once again, not as energetic as other songs further up the list, but a real rabble rouser of a song all the same.

8. Welcome Home
Album: "Year Of The Black Rainbow"
(Youtube link1 - Music Video)
(Youtube link 2 - "9" Trailer)
Notable lyric: "Please make up your mind girl before I hope you die."
Lyrics to this song are very dodgy and my choice above is really because those are the last few lines before an absolutely awesome guitar solo. Still, as bizarre as the lyrics are and as much as they seem to involve a possible murder fantasy against Claudio's ex-girlfriend, the music is absolutely brilliant. Many will remember it as the music which made them think "9" was going to be a really awesome movie. Energetic and cool, but it's probably best not dwelling on lines such as "like Jesus played martyr, I'll drill through your hands" *gulp!*

9. No World For Tomorrow
Album: "No World For Tomorrow"
(Youtube link)
Notable lyric: "So march to the drumming. Show them you're coming."
The video above uses clips from the movie "V For Vendetta" to highlight the meaning of the song and does a really great job of it. This song seems to act as a battle cry and using that to highlight standing up for your rights is a great idea. There's some references to odd little ideas from other songs. The idea of a chosen one called "the crowing" and some non-specific gods are referred to (who "aren't faking" apparently). Not particularly fast-paced but nice and rabble rousing, a little weird and an example of one of Coheed's more epic songs. (Well, epic in style anyway. It's only about 5 and a half minutes in length.)

10. In Keeping Secrets Of Silent Earth
Album: "In Keeping Secrets Of Silent Earth"
(Youtube link)
Notable lyric: "Man your battle stations!"
Okay, now this song is actually epic. I've decided to put up the live version of the song because I think this is the one that really gets the crowd going when they play it. It'll probably come off a bit weird without having heard the clear recorded version first, but heck there are plenty of videos where you can find that for yourself anyway. There are plenty of bits to call out when singing along, but the bit that always stands out for me is the bit where Claudio sings "man your battle stations". With this song going on so long and even stopping dead towards the end before starting right up again, I didn't feel it made since to put it early on in the album. However, it's a real classic Coheed song with a constant shift in mood. Some parts are rabble rousing and others are faster and more energetic, there's some post-hardcore-style screaming and crazy incomprehensible lyrics. What more could you possibly want? :P

Other songs on my "best of" album:
11. 33
Album: Second Stage Turbine Blade
12.  Pearl Of The Stars
Album: Year Of The Black Rainbow
13. Once Upon Your Dead Body
Album: Good Apollo, I'm Burning Star
14. The Hound (Of Blood and Rank)
Album: No World For Tomorrow
15. The Crowing
Album: In Keeping Secrets Of Silent Earth
16. This Shattered Symphony
Album: Year Of The Black Rainbow
17. Junesong Provision
Album: Second Stage Turbine Blade