I remember being really into Color after being kind of burnt out on this band after the Afterman albums. I think I enjoyed the poppier, less “epic” direction the songwriting went in. Because of that, I’m not sure I’d be so into an Amory Wars V
Amory V is probs poppy seeing as the band is like really poppy on all their albums except second stage
I mean, it’s not that the other albums aren’t poppy. It’s that they’re all bogged down by this desire to serve the “epic” story in a way that Color & the Sun decidedly wasn’t. I think it just connected with me in a way that most of the others hadn’t, at least not since In Keeping Secrets. And In Keeping Secrets is arguably the most “epic” sounding, so I know I’m contradicting myself here. :P
Color Before The Sun is definitely their weakest album for me. I love pop Coheed, but part of what makes the pop stuff so special is what the song is in the context of everything else. CBTS stripped everything I love about the band to make an album full of songs that lacked those extra parts. I also just don't think they're great songs so there's that too. Agree with @Bryan Diem, none of it is bogged down by the story. The story only matters if you want it to, but standalone all the songs are about actual real life things. The story just helps Claudio lyrically.
Atlas is a top tier Coheed song. I really like TCBTS. It was a cool change of pace for them, and felt like an album that they needed to put out to get refreshed before diving back into the concept records. Kind of how The Dear Hunter needed Migrant before going back to the Acts. It's good to take a step back sometimes and just put out a damn good pop-rock album after putting out some classic pop sounding songs on each concept album.
So, finally, I'm through The Color Before the Sun. I think the reason why I had never given this thing a chance in the past is because it wasn't within the Amory Wars saga, plain and simple. That was definitely a mistake on my part. It's funny how much classic Coheed sound is all over this album, despite not being involved in the narrative at all. The amount of crazy-catchy hooks on this thing is staggering, and there really isn't a bad track on it whatsoever. There are still huge, epic-sounding choruses, and so many songs just feel like they were written to be played loud in every stadium around the world. And the quieter moments like Ghost, or the incredibly fun stomp of Peace to the Mountain, are standout tracks too. And Atlas is one of the best songs Claudio's ever written, so intensely emotional between the lyrics and his delivery, it's enough to get you all misty-eyed. One of the better "I love my child" anthems I've ever heard for sure. Never should have slept on this album for so long. For a final ranking, I think I have to go like this: IKS SSTB NWFT Descension The Color Before the Sun Ascension YOTBR Good Apollo
After I finish today's new releases I'm also going to go back and give My Brother's Blood Machine a re-listen, just for completeness' sake. Why not, right? Been probably around ten years since I listened to that thing.
I've said my piece on The Color Before The Sun, its an OK diversion but its their weakest effort lyrically and musically. It's not that its just lacking in comparison - there's little to no complex instrumentation (gimme a damn solo dudes) and some of the lyrics are elementary-school bad. It's a shell of the band I know and love. That said, they seemed to have fun on that record. When they nail the pop vibe I am through the roof (Blood Red Summer) but Island is the only track from that album that even comes close.
I should also stress that this is absolutely a "least favorite" situation, not a "worst" situation. I enjoy all their albums and wouldn't say any of them are bad, or even "not good." It's all just personal preference on that ranking, not a comment on the quality of the records at all. I know a lot of people like to get super personal on here and outright trash things that they just personally don't enjoy (which isn't to say that I don't enjoy GA because I do enjoy it, 100%, it's a great album like all of their stuff is), so I just feel like I always need to impress upon everyone else that I'm not that guy at all lol
Good Apollo is taking a lot of shit in here, so I gotta say that this song, from 4:00-6:45, is my favorite stretch of Coheed maybe ever
Maybe it's just me but I don't see anyone shitting on Good Apollo in here, personally. That is a great moment on a great song, though.
jfc I just had a vivid memory of running home from my bus stop after high school the day Coheed was going to be on TRL playing Welcome Home. Goddamn I'm old. Also how crazy was it that this band was ever on TRL?
IKS Descension SSTB Good Apollo Ascension YOTBR The Color Before the Sun NWFT I feel like I am voting for these based on how consistently I view the records.
IKS Good Apollo Afterman NWFT SSTB TCBTS YOTBR YOTBR is the only one that I don't love. It honestly hurt to put SSTB that low, but I really love the 4 before it more. I consider Afterman one album since they were recorded at the same time.