First Impressions
So, we now jump to the latest release in Coheed's discography. Super recent in fact, only came out this year actually. And it seems these guys have stayed pretty fresh through all these years.
This album was fun. Although I do get the feeling it wanted to be a little more ambitious than it ended up being.
On a surface level, this has the exact same structure as Good Apollo, start with an overture-ish intro. Go right into the heavy hitting hit songs, continue most of the album with a balance of poppy songs, energetic songs and ballads, and end it all with a big epic that's split up into multiple tracks. It even ends with a lighthearted tune just like Good Apollo's secret ending song.
Let's start with the positives. First off, these guys have not lost the ability to write a pop rock hit in 25 years. Goodbye Sunshine is a perfect song to start the album. It's got a catchy chorus, melodies, grand and melancholic feeling. It's a classic Coheed track for which they have not lost their touch with. Same with One Last Miracle.
But then you have the most interesting tracks in the album, which are songs like Searching For Tomorrow and Someone Who Can. Which have a muuuuch more modern approach to things, taking from modern indie rock, having electronic elements. Blind Side Sonny is pure heavy alternative, and Play The Poet has like a little rap thing going. Honestly I really like the dabbling with more modern genres.
Searching For Tomorrow is the absolute standout of the album. It's just such a cool song. It has a bit of Linkin Park, a little Cash Cash. It sounds like something you'd hear in a modern Sonic The Hedgehog game, and that is a VERY good thing in my book.
You can tell Claudio and the gang just love music and love experimenting with it.
And then you have softer moments like Corner My Confidence and even the intro, Yesterday's Lost. These are beautiful and a quiet standout of the album. Corner My Confidence especially has such a sweet melody with a really cool chord progression, I loved it.
Finally, the epic tracks. I will say the album does fall a little short in making me feel the weight of these. You listen to The Willing Well and you know it's going down. With these, it feels like they could've been songs of their own and nothing much would've changed.
They're still pretty good, especially Tethered Together. That is the only song that sound properly epic in this album, and it's a great way to end on a super high and melancholic note, even if So It Goes undermines it just a little bit.
These songs are good, but I will say I am missing a lot of the punch the earlier albums had. It's just no comparison. It's clear the gang wanted to write more fun and poppy songs for this and honestly I respect that. It's definitely a taste thing. But I do think the album's sound is just a little muddled.
But, with so much experimentation in the right areas. And Claudio's voice somehow still being as amazing as it was 25 years ago. This was a pretty damn enjoyable album. 6.5/10
Ranking
Searching For Tomorrow
Goodbye Sunshine
Corner My Confidence
The Continuum III: Tethered Together
Someone Who Can
The Continuum I: Welcome To Forever, Mr. Nobody
The Father Of Make Believe
Yesterday's Lost
The Continuum II: The Flood
The Continuum IV: So It Goes
One Last Miracle
Meri Of Mercy
Play The Poet
Blind Side Sonny
Rating
6.5/10