Album of the Week: Coheed and Cambria - The Afterman

     The observant among you (or just the extremely set in the routine among you) may have noticed something missing from your week last week: an album recommendation from yours truly.

     Don't worry, I didn't forget about you, and I haven't called it quits with the Album of the Week feature just yet. The last couple of weeks have been a little busier than normal here at Loud Noises HQ, and last week's album just slipped through the cracks. By the time I got my shit together to do one, it was already the weekend, and I figure you deserve the full week to do your homework.

     On the other hand, I don't like the idea of just skipping last week, even though that's essentially what we're doing here today, and I'd like to play catch up a little bit, even if it is only symbolic. To that end, I've decided that this week's album pretty much has to be a double album. Is this cheating? Maybe, especially when you consider that the record(s) I've chosen weren't even released simultaneously, but who cares?

     So, without further ado, this week you're going to spend some time with one, or preferably both, of Coheed and Cambria's Afterman albums. I've been a fan of Coheed for years, but even if you haven't, I think you'll still appreciate the high calibre of the total Afterman package: poppy, rocking, proggy, songs that span a gamut of styles and moods; some sci-fi concepts woven into the lyrics (but not an inextricable part of them -- no need to find a Coheed wiki to get up to speed on their albums-spanning space opera); hell, even the album artwork is suitably far-out.

     As much as the band's sophomore In Keeping Secrets... might still be my favourite record from their catalogue, there's no question that The Afterman, Part I: Ascension and The Afterman, Part II: Descension represent the band's best work in years, and there's also no question that I eagerly look forward to whatever they release next. Give these records some spins this week and I'll bet you'll be clamouring for new Coheed too.

Album of the Week: Coheed and Cambria - In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3

     Last week when I was recommending the Coheed song "Ten Speed (Of God's Blood and Burial)" it occurred to me that they're a band with a nice, deep back catalogue that could most definitely yield an album with enough meat on its bones for a week of auditory enjoyment. So today I'm makin' it happen, cap'n.

     But which Coheed and Cambria album should you spend the next seven days getting to know? There's several good candidates. The band's debut Second Stage Turbine Blade is a landmark in the post-hardcore movement of the early 2000's. Then again, their most recent work, the Afterman double album, is a bit of a return to form after a lackluster record or two, and as good as anything from their lengthy career.

     For my money, however, if you have to pick one Coheed album to push on people, it's got to be sophomore disc In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3, an album that works on multiple levels. If you're a sci-fi dork who digs the ongoing story of the Kilgannon family, then I put it to you that IKSSE:3 is when the story really kicks into gear. If, on the other hand, you couldn't care less about the concept and instead dig Coheed and Cambria on a purely musical level, all you need to know is that IKSSE:3 is a stellar prog-pop post-rock (is that a thing?) album from front to back, a genre classic like its predecessor the aforementioned Second Stage Turbine Blade. Riffs, beats, songs, melodies, harmonies, this record is so well crafted it's scary. Get familiar this week if you're not already. 

Song of the Day: Coheed and Cambria - The Velourium Camper II: Backend of Forever

     I've no doubt that pop proggers Coheed and Cambria earned themselves a bunch of new fans with last fall's The Afterman: Ascension and this spring's The Afterman: Descension. Maybe you're among them.