Album Review: Coheed and Cambria - Year of the Black Rainbow

Today's review is of Coheed and Cambria's "Year of the Black Rainbow"

I like Coheed and Cambria. "Welcome Home", "The Suffering", "In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3", "A Favor House Atlantic", and "Always and Never" are my favorite songs by this band. I really like the falsetto voice, especially when it is overdubbed. Their guitar work is always complex and precise. I do admit that I pay no attention to the storyline that flows through their albums. I tend to listen to the music when it comes to this band, meaning I don't ingest the purpose/story/meaning behind the lyrics.

• One - 2 Stars - While I understand why bands (especially this one on this album) create tracks like this, I have to admit that I don't like them. When looking at this album on iTunes, this track costs the same as the others. In my opinion, that's a bit ridiculous. It is a precursor of weird sounds and some piano, getting ready to tell the comic-book story that is the rest of the album.
• The Broken - 4 Stars - A pretty decent song. Heaviness is pretty normal for C&C. I like it. This song is very layered. Would've liked to hear a little more of the vocal layers that C&C (specifically Claudio Sanchez) have done on their other albums.
• Guns of Summer - 2 Stars - The vocals are off in the first part of the song. He is way off pitch. I just can't get behind this one. The syncopation is weird. It does have some of the vocal layers that I wish existed in 'The Broken'. Not a fan of the guitar solo.
• Here We Are Juggernaut - 4 Stars - This song starts off very strong. The first minute is amazing. The rest of the song is good, and it had decent dynamics, but I just really appreciated the inro. It's a good song.
• Far - 4 Stars - The opening riff is very cool (great tone). The first verse is good, and the chorus that follows it is very good too (the vocal overdubs sound great). I like the techno-sounding drums. This is a good song. It doesn't have anything that makes me overly excited, but it is a good song. It certainly isn't bad.
• This Shattered Symphony - 3 Stars - I wasn't a fan of the intro. The intro guitar sounded fine, but when the main rift kicked in, I didn't like the syncopation on it. I didn't think the chorus was catchy at all; it was bland. The guitars during the chorus did sound fairly decent.
• World of Lines - 4 Stars - The opening riff is a decent riff, and I like the vocals in the introductory verse. The chorus is good. I would have like to have heard Sanchez overlay a falsetto'd vocal over his chorus vocal(s) in his usual style; I think that would have been a good dynamic. I thought the drums really worked well in this song. This is a decent song.
• Made Out of Nothing - 4 Stars - The introductory vocals are good, but the guitars are lacking throughout most of the song. The overdubbed vocals on the chorus sound great. Vocally, I think this is one of the best tracks. The beat of this song is great.
• Pearl of the Stars - 4 Stars - I love the acoustic guitar in the beginning and the ambiance of the vocals (especially when the falsetto starts). The fuzzy guitar solo is good.
• In the Flame of Error - 3 Stars - This song is just a normal C&C song. Nothing stands out about it.
• When Skeletons Live - 4 Stars - My favorite guitar work on the album. The non-overdubbed vocals are kind of refreshing at this point in the album, although they are a little off key in some parts. This is probably my favorite song on the album.
• The Black Rainbow - 2 Stars - The swirling sounds in the background throw me off a little bit. This is probably my least favorite song on the album (assuming 'One' doesn't really count). I don't like the fact that my favorite on the album was followed by my least favorite.
• Chamberlain (demo) - 1 Stars - I spoke too soon. This is my least favorite song on the album. Where are the layered guitars? I know this is a demo, but this is bad. The drummer needs to lay of the cymbals too.
• The Lost Sheppard (demo) - 3 Stars - I understand that this is a demo, so I will judge this one lightly. It does show some promise. The guitars were great in the intro, and I like the breakdown at around the 2:15 mark. The chorus has some promise to develop into something catchy. I really like the way he rhymes the word 'swallow' with 'follow.'
• Hush - 3 Stars - Eh. Just a regular C&C song.

This was a decent album, but it didn't contain a song that I would deem as a major hit. Nothing stuck out to the point that I had to hear a song over and over again because it was so good.