Coheed and Cambria - Vaxis II: A Window of the Waking Mind (June 24, 2022) Album • Page 49

I won't lie, still to this day I haven't listened to YotBR or CBtS in their entirety

 

I truly enjoy reading people’s rankings of art.

I used to be so invested in rankings when I was younger and then it fell off / felt like work / became a game of second guessing myself so I haven’t done it for almost anything in about a decade but get the urge to every once awhile and may start with Coheed since I’ve been spinning the new album a lot and they have a great discography. I will likely have a bit of a different structure to mine and go with “tiers” than a simple A thru Z since picking a best/favorite for most things is challenging for me lol

 

You’re on the wrong site amigo.

 

Really enjoyed that, and aside from GA:1 I agree with most of your assessments. Your critique of that is fair though, so no arguments here. I also like Descension better than Ascension and I didn’t know until recently that was a hot take.

 

Usually, I agree and I did think about tiering their albums myself to make it easier. I feel like the albums from 6-9 or 7-9 could go in any order for me depending on which albums I’m vibing with at any given period of time so in the days leading up to my post I was like “It’s just gonna be tier 3 and I’m gonna call it a day” lol

Thanks! Even revisiting some GA1 songs after posting made me feel like I may have it too low, but I’m happy with where their albums sit for me at the moment. It’s fluid, obviously. As for Descension > Ascension, I don’t know how hot of a take that is, but I’ve always felt like I was in the minority opinion ever since those albums came out. The general consensus I had seen online was the at Ascension had higher highs, which is fair, but I think Descension has its fair share with the songs I singled out (not to mention Gravity’s Union) and, like I said, I value its consistent quality from start to finish.

 

i have the hottest take which is that they’re as good as each other, literally no one thinks that except me

one thing in descension’s favor is that it sure comes in hot with “sentry” (but then… does “domino” not also come in hot????)

 

Domino and Sentry are fucking bonkers. Two of my favorite songs from these guys.

Also, not a scorcher like those two, but Evagria is fantastic as well!

 

This is a great read, and I disagree very much. For reference, my ranking would be:

GA:1
In Keeping
SSTB
Vaxis - 1
Decension
Vaxis - 2
GA:2
Ascension
YOBR
CBtS

 

Pretty comfortable slotting in the new one at this point, so re-ranking is obvs mandatory. Top 4 just have too many gems, but fave tracks are included after those.

Elite
1. IKS
2. GA Vol. 1
3. SSTB
4. Vaxis I

Solid
5. Ascension (Domino, The Afterman, Evagria)
6. Descension (Sentry, Away We Go, 2MF1)
7. TCBTS (Island, Eraser, Ghost)
8. YOTBR (Guns of Summer, Juggernaut, Shattered Symphony)

meh
9. Vaxis II (Ladders, Rise)
10. GA Vol. 2 (NWFT)

Skimming through the records outside my main rotation is a harsh reminder of how much mastering held back the whole Afterman project. Constant clipping and crackling makes it a fucking exhausting listen, esp the heavier stuff. One of those deals where I'll always wonder if I'd hear the material in a fundamentally different light were the production competent.

GA:1 is the closest they've come to perfect production, but Afterman is the only stuff in the discog I feel gets badly hampered by it. The YOTBR mix could've been better for sure, but it's not a showstopper.

 

Certainly a take

 

Learned Hard Sell on guitar last night, what a ripper

 

1. GA:1
2. IKS
3. AWOTWM
4. NWFT
5. Descension
6. TUC
7. SSTB
8. Ascension
9. YOTBR
10. TCBTS

3-8 are pretty tight, and who knows what happens when the newness wears off of the new one, but I'm feeling bold enough to slot it in at number 3. I meant it the other day when I said it's a modern, more streamlined NWFT that sticks the landing better.

 

It's wild how different our rankings are and how much I agree with your comments. If I remember correctly, for Afterman each song was worked on individually. They didn't track drums all at once, guitars, etc., they worked a song start to finish before moving on. To me, it leads it to sounding very disjointed because the songs don't sound like they belong on the same album, even though I like the majority of the songs.

 

I will say, Juggernaut and The Broken are sick tracks, and I listen to them fairly frequently whenever I listen to Coheed.

 

Far is my favorite on YOTBR

 

Haven't listened to YOTBR in years, throwing it on now. I still love Guns of Summer.

 

The Broken is one of my most listened to songs ever according to last.fm because I started tracking right around the time that album came out and I wore the song out before the album came out. It does rule. That or World of Lines are probably my favorites.

 

Here We Are Juggernaut is easily my favorite from that album, with The Broken and Far just behind. I love The Black Rainbow and World of Lines as well though. I’d also give an honorable mention to Made Out of Nothing. I’ve always really enjoyed that song.

 

post a video

 

So happy for them. Odd the requirements Billboard were requiring of the boxset for it to count towards first sale numbers though.

 

Made Out of Nothing is so goddamn good.

 

All I have to say on the album rankings is that there is no way that the bottom three aren't some combination of YotBR, CBTS and Vaxis 2 (as much as I like all three)

 

i'll be at the houston show this friday with VERY LITTLE knowledge of their discography. anticipating my mind being quite blown away by the time it's over.

(saw them open for iron maiden in... 2012(?), but it's been a decade and my memory is a bit hazy)

 

Yeah seeing them headline is quite different from opening, especially for Iron Maiden. I'm guessing most of the people weren't enthusiastic about Coheed.

 

Favorite song off every album, you gotta do it I don’t make the rules

1. Everything Evil
2. IKS
3. Apollo I
4. Gravemakers
5. Made Out of Nothing
6. Evagria
7. Number City
8. Atlas
9. Toys
10. Ladders