Top 10 Coheed and Cambria Songs

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.

( Read more (about the accompanying comic series)... )

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.

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