The Afterman albums are my favorite, but Vaxis I is a close second. I’m also in an extreme minority though (or entirely alone) where The Color Before the Sun would probably be number 3. I don’t return to anything pre-YOTBR often. Yes, I know I’m the worst.
I’m a normal Coheed stan in that IKS and GA are bonafide 10/10s and everything else ranges from 6.5-9.5s for me
sstb and iks are burned into my musical vernacular, everything else after those two are very good except (yotbr)
“A lot of times, with bands who’ve been around and built a strong fanbase like we have, I think there might be a tendency, intentionally or unintentionally, to try to give the fans what they want and not take too many risks,” Sanchez said. “After making music for so long and entering a pandemic, we didn’t want limitations to the creative process,” he added, teasing that the next album “is going to be what I hope people perceive this band to be in 2021/2022. “It’s a modern record. It’s a Coheed and Cambria record, but it’s looking forward, not backwards.” - Claudio Sanchez Coheed and Cambria return with brutal new track 'Shoulders'
I really struggle to rank Coheed albums, or at least the albums I still regularly listen to. I became a fan with SSTB but I rarely, if ever, listen to that record any more. I'd say that IKS, GA, NWFT, Afterman, and Vaxis pretty much get equal play, it just depends on my mood. I sometimes put on Colour when I am feeling frisky. I never listen to YOTBR.
My top 3 has stayed as IKS, GA and Vaxis for a while. YOTBR is always dead last. The rest of my ranking moves around a lot.
IKS GA:IV SSTB Vaxis I dropoff everything else I'd be pleasantly surprised if the new one brings more of the "meandering" Vaxis I energy that made it such a great comeback to me (Black Sunday, True Ugly, etc.).
IKS3 (everything else, since they’re the hardest band to rank, since they’re so consistently good) TotBR and CBtS
IKS GA1 Vaxis 1 SSTB Descension Ascension NWFT YOTBR CBtS Descension and SSTB are kind of even tbh but I'll leave it as is. And even their lower ranked albums I don't really dislike per se