Coheed and Cambria - Vaxis II: A Window of the Waking Mind (June 24, 2022) Album • Page 70

my dog needs some dental surgery so I'm selling some Coheed records to help pay for it if anyone is interested

everything is negotiable

Coheed And Cambria – In Keeping Secrets Of Silent Earth: 3 (2xLP Reissue, Remastered, Peach Tour Exclusive) - $150
Coheed And Cambria – Good Apollo I'm Burning Star IV | Volume One: From Fear Through The Eyes Of Madness (2xLP Black/White Swirl & Black/Red Swirl Record Store Day 2017 release of 2500 copies) - $120
Coheed And Cambria – The Afterman: Ascension (first press on black) - $140
Coheed And Cambria – The Unheavenly Creatures (3xLP Limited Edition, The Unheavenly Colorway - Creatures Eye (Translucent Orange W/ Black Smoke) / Sister Spider Pink (Pink Marbled) / Colossus Grey (Clear W/ Black Smoke) 4000 copies worldwide of deluxe color vinyl set) - $115

 

So I'm in love with the entirety of A Window of the Waking Mind even if I've listened to Rise, Naianasha in a ratio of 3:1 to the rest of the record.

Musically, thematically, where do I go from here? Is it the obvious answer and I go in on The Unheavenly Creatures next?

 

That’s not a bad idea at all! I would actually go into In Keeping Secrets next. AWotWM shares a lot of the hookiest prog parts of Coheed with that record and is considered a fan favorite amongst the fandom. But you can’t go wrong with any record (outside of Year of the Black Rainbow or The Color of the Sun). I’d save The Afterman for later in your listen, as it was the start of the resurgence of the band, before the Unheavenly Creatures > A Waking Mind two-fer

 

In Keeping Secrets has the title track and A Favour House Atlantic (which I love) so that's a good starting point I think!

 

If you enjoy the pop punkier elements of stuff like Comatose and Rise, then it’s perfect. excited to hear your thoughts! It’s always fun to watch someone fall in love with a band you love

 

Personally, I would go to NWFT. They're paired up for a reason. They are both the most straightforward, catchy side of Coheed, but Vaxis II implements a lot more electronics, and NWFT has a lot more classic rock riffing going on. Next I would probably check out Afterman: Ascension. If you still want to delve, go into the classics with IKS and Good Apollo.

 

I checked out NWFT as a courtesy before the show on Sunday and really liked it. Have been advised to at least investigate Vaxis Act I and then use the classics to crowbar my way into the rest of their stuff. This is a full-on project and I like it already.

 

Act I is dense. It's got some gems and no one song is bad, it's just a little tiresome due to runtime. Each song is also 5+ minutes long, which really isn't necessary for the most part. You'll get vastly different recs per album on here, but for my money, the highlights of Vaxis I are The Dark Sentencer, then the run in the middle of the album from Love Protocol to It Walks Among Us. The Gutter is an all-timer.

 

wish i could listen to IKS for the first time again

 

All their albums are great in certain ways but Good Apollo is the one that cemented their career direction and is still a monster almost 20 years later

 

Every Coheed and Cambria Album Ranked (thehardtimes.net)

pretty wild rank. If you don't want to click, they said:

1. Good Apollo
2. Vaxis I
3. NWFT
4. Vaxis II
5. Descension
6. TCBTS
7. Ascension
8. IKS
9. YOTBR
10. SSTB

I got a lot to debate there, basically everything but number 1, haha.

 

I feel like with how large and expansive their catalog has gotten it’s gotten easier to just think about Good Apollo as “the one with Welcome Home” but that’s still just such a tiny slice of what it has to offer

 

Are their rankings a joke like the rest of the website?

 

IKS and SSTB being that low on the list should be considered a war crime.

 

Where are my 5 other peeps that stan Toys as the best song?

 

yeah that's a fucked and cursed list

 

1. Vaxis I
2. In Keeping Secrets
3. Good Apollo
4. Vaxis II
5. NWFT
6. Second Stage

The others are all interchangeable and I very rarely revisit.

 

Really I would just start at the beginning. They have such a cool progression from SSTB to Good Apollo I.

 

Revisited this album yesterday for the first time in almost a year and I like it more than I remember liking it last year

Hope they swing through Philly once more so I can catch them on this album cycle

 

Giving this an attentive listen again this morning (I listen all the time at a low-ish volume in the car when my kid asked to listen to Coheed ) and I really think the MVP of this album is Josh. There are so many refreshing and intricate drum patterns here. Love Murder One is wild. I wonder if that came about by Claudio laying down pad beats over the OG demos and then Josh coming in with fresh ideas because of those? Not sure, but Josh is so good here.

EDIT: Aaaaand I just got to Ladders of Supremacy. That song still stops in me in my tracks when the first chorus kicks in. I think I'm at a point with this album to say it's part of the S tier with GA and IKS.

 

I agree with all of this. Their best album since GA, as much as I love the others

 

Josh has always been great, but he really came with some incredible ideas on this one

 

the bridge of comatose

 

Them not playing Comatose either on the Vaxis II tour nor in their current encore is a goddamn travesty.

 

Rise, Naianasha has my favorite stuff he’s done on the record. His groove is those verses is an elite level of taste and feel