Coheed and Cambria - Vaxis - Act I: The Unheavenly Creatures (October 5, 2018) Album • Page 26

Lol at Pavilion sounding like TCBTS, would’ve been top 3 on that album, what a banger. Claudio has brought some HOOKS so far.

 

It’s driving me nuts that I can’t listen to this until Friday afternoon

 

Queen of the Dark is the kind of Coheed that doesn’t do it for me. Power rock ballad in the vein of Dark Side of Me and just as boring

 

Coheed has put out so much music that means so much to me, so the fact that their albums are still this quality is pretty baffling to me. I see this getting a lot more play time than TCBTS.

 

Prologue/Dark Sentencer
God this song still fucks hard. Can't overstate how good Claud's lyrics are. Chills every time during the HEY HEY part

Unheavenly Creatures
You know how good this chorus is. I know how good this chorus is. We all know how good this chorus is. Anyways I'm ready for some new music

Toys
OK inject this fucking riff DIRECTLY into my veins holy FUCKING shit. And this chorus!!!! Are you fucking kidding me? This song is incredible. I need them to play this next month so I can sing my lungs out to it live

Black Sunday
This song is so menacing but in kind of a dark sexy way?? That growl into the 2nd chorus, unffff. Love the seamless transition to this major key bridge and outro! Fuck I'm in love with this album already

Queen of the Dark
Gigantic toms, check. Gigantic chorus, check. I feel like I'm crawling through a dungeon and into a furnace. I wish these guitar leads were brought a little more to the front, this song is already fucking huge as is but it would elevate to another level.

True Ugly
OK, this one is on some shit! Getting some heavy Gravemakers and Gunslingers type vibes from the verses. Claudio is making weird af noises and screaming with distortion and all that fun stuff. A nice hearty FUCK as well, I'm here for all of it

Love Protocol
I see where people were coming from with the Backend of Forever comparison, but it's really just the palm muted guitar sound. Anyways this rules, the chorus is like a expanded version of Here to Mars. I should have known the people complaining it was too poppy were full of shit

The Pavilion
This is the classic uplifting Coheed shit that I just absolutely love. The "You want me here? Well then ask me to stay" line hits all the right spots of my heart. You can hear the real life angle from Claudio in this song more than any of the others so far imo

Night Time Walkers
Claudio said he was playing with synths more on this album and I've been wondering when we'd get to a song that features them so heavily. The voice modulation in the 2nd verse is sick, chorus melody is so fuckin huge yet again. I think my favorite part is the bridge though

The Gutter
I'm not going to lie, listening to 7 straight fuckin awesome new Coheed songs is exhausting. Very much enjoying kicking back and singing along to this absolutely perfect chorus. Ready for the last 4

All On Fire
OK, so Zach is fucking owning this song. He is so damn good. Some of Josh's grooviest drumming on the album so far too. Getting some Mothers of Men vibes as well. Probably my least favorite so far, but the bar has just been SO high on the rest of the album....

It Walks Among Us
This intro segue has got me in a very IKSSE mood. This song is going to be so fuckin fun to sing live, holy shit. Josh busting out the double kicks in the chorus, and I know he uses one pedal, so that's even cooler

Old Flames
I'm so glad I held out on this one. I love when they go full classic rock, the chorus is so great. I'm running out of things to say that I haven't already said but that happens when you've listened to 13 bangers in a row. OK, the na na nas are great too and all the haters can eat shit. AAAAH THE PROLOGUE REPRISE

Lucky Stars
Felt like we were due a proper acoustic ballad, and here it is! Loving the strings. A bit surprised they'd end it on a fade out but it's just setting up the next part, I suppose.

Anyways, fuck yeah. Absolutely killer album. Almost everything I wanted. Definitely as good as the Aftermen, possibly better. Now to jam Toys into the ground

 

I'm trying to understand this but just can't see it at all. I hate Dark Side -- probably bottom 5 in their catalog -- but this sounds nothing like it. Closer to the Willing Wells than DSOM, imo.

The only similarity I see is the tempo. This is far more ethereal, melodically it's dissonant and shifty and kind of a mindfuck, and there's lots of layering with some interesting lead guitar stuff going on (admittedly buried in the lackluster mix).

 

Yah that's what's crazy to me, I expected a few solid songs and some filler at this point in their career, not an album almost chock full of legit bangers

Even a song like Black Sunday is not usually my shit and yet its so complex and diverse that by the end of the song I'm mentally exhausted and I fucking love it

 

I think if I had to categorize this album it would be the catchiness and classic rock influence of NWFT mixed with the electronic/overall feel of Afterman, but more consistent than that one was. These are very initial thoughts and I skipped the singles (limited time to listen). I’ll have more fully realized thoughts on this tomorrow.

 

This is like Integrity Blues for me - after their previous album, I didn’t think this band was capable of this kind of output anymore. This is just such a strong release that it feels like it should’ve came out 10 years ago.

 

It really puts TCBTS into perspective because this sounds like a perfect follow up to the Afterman.

 

Frankly it feels like the perfect follow up to Good Apollo

 

physically cannot stop listening to Toys

 

Wow coheed

They fucking boomed me

 

My one beef, the fade out to Lucky Stars. Songs should rarely fade out ever, let alone on a closer.

I wish the album ended stronger in general. But that’s a small gripe for an amazing comeback

 

Dark Sentencer - solid, but not sure it justifies its sprawling runtime quite like most of their other epics. I'll enjoy this on full album listens but it's not quite a highlight or immediate go-to for me.

Unheavenly Creatures - it's OK. Not my speed. Might skip sometimes without too much guilt.

Toys - this one earns its 6+ minute runtime with ease. A hair more poppy and radio rock than I expected, but it's fucking great. Intro and late bridge/outro both rule. I can tell it's the type that will only grow on me more, too.

Black Sunday - this is probably their best post-2005 song. Domino is the only competition outside this album. Brings back that signature twisted Backend of Forever/Writing Writer space prog sound that brought me into their fanbase originally. Endless twists and turns. Impossible to guess where either the instrumentals or vocal melody are going next. Sounds ripped out of an acid trip to another dimension, with uncharacteristically quirky lyrical phrasings to match. FUCK YES.

Queen of the Dark - perfect follow through to Black Sunday. More brooding and less twisted, but keeps that super dark otherworldly vibe going. Lots going on beneath the surface to let soak in on future listens. Just fantastic.

True Ugly - it's simultaneously poppy/catchy yet impossible to grasp; can't think of much else in their discography to compare it to. I need several more listens to come to any conclusions, but it's certainly not boring.

Love Protocol - wasn't thrilled with this earlier this week as a single, but it works better in context. The chorus is basically "Here to Mars" with an alternate vocal melody. The verses are at least more interesting than that, though. Good album track.

The Pavillion - unabashed soaring pop-rock. Plenty good for what it is. Enjoyed it.

Night-Time Walkers - cool experiment. Don't love it. Don't see myself returning much.

The Gutter - this is their poppy side done RIGHT, at least by post-GA1 standards. It's not that I can't enjoy pop rock, and this proves it. Really great, up there with 2's My Favorite 1 and such. The bridge just solidifies it further.

All on Fire - pretty much NWFT-style cheese. Some interesting nuances in the second half, but I'll likely skip this almost every listen. Yuck. By far the low point.

It Walks Among Us - wow. I was worried about this just being more cheese when the synths first kicked in, but it then proceeded to build into something special, haunting, and catchy as fuck. This may be the rare gem that can unite the poppy, dark/prog, and classic rock contingents of the fanbase in agreement that this shit fuckin' slays. Undoubtedly one of the highlights.

Old Flames - mid-tier among this record's several pure pop-rock outings. I genuinely enjoy it, and it was stuck in my head for a couple days last week. Will jam it every listen through, even if it doesn't totally bowl me over.

Lucky Stars - starts out as a typical acoustic bit for them, but the second half is really new territory for Coheed. It didn't grab me immediately like Peace to the Mountain on TCBTS, but I imagine it will soon.

OVERALL -

As someone who puts the first 3 LPs far above the rest, I'm pretty sure this will be my favorite of that post-GA1 era. No question it has the highest highs, at least.

What's interesting is I feel like some of the darker and more experimental songs (my favorites) actually represent a better execution of what they might've been going for on YOTBR. I've never been as down on it as many, and the production clearly hurt it pretty badly.

Finally, I think most of the syrupy pop stuff on this record is really good (even great in the case of The Gutter), but I'm still kinda confused why TCBTS gets so much shit for playing in that same space with relatively comparable quality.

This probably didn't quite need to be 80 minutes, but it is, and I'll sure as shit love dissecting all of it in the weeks and months to come.

 

whoa hook me up with this version man

 

hating the production/mix on this but goddamn Toys is a fucking slapper

 

I don't bother with leaks so found those track-by-tracks genuinely helpful, cheers guys!

 

the midsection of this album is just outstanding

True Ugly is like Al the Killer Pt. 2, Love Protocol has one of the best choruses Claud's ever written and The Pavilion has some full-on dreamy indie pop vibes with that guitar

 

I definitely think there’s some YOTBR sound but done better on this album.

Seriously, this album is incredible. It has potential to smash into my top 3 Coheed albums. Claudio sounds amazing on every song, and there’s seriously something here for everyone. Can’t wait to play this over and over again. I’m so happy.

 

I'll do a track by track after my next listen through. This is just hit after hit after hit, doesn't ever really let up though.

 

I was really hoping for a crusher to end the record. Just something that made me feel exhausted.

 

Lots to chew on here, but all the pre-release tracks are easily my favorites which is always kind of a bummer.

 

Ooo the drums in the chorus of It Walks Among Us, hahaha this is so stupidly good.

 

I just realized it’s been forever since I listened to TCBTS. So maybe I’ll jam that today since I’m waiting for this to hit streaming still.