When music journalists write about the origins of punk rock, they generally cite that the ethos of the music stood in firm opposition to the bloated nature of 1970′s progressive and arena rock. On “The Second Stage Turbine Blade,” COHEED AND CAMBRIA introduced themselves to the world with a curious handful of songs loaded with punk influence and surrealistic guitar melodies. We also learned that the band was operating around a concept of two individuals in space somewhere, and part of the fun of the band was attempting to decipher the lyrics. Since then, the band released the hugely successful “In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3″, where the band retained much of the influence of the first album, but added more progressive and pop elements. The story also began to spin out of control, which brings us to the present… “Good Apollo, I’m Burning Star IV: Vol 1 – From Fear Through The Eyes Of Madness”, the extremely intricately titled third album from COHEED AND CAMBRIA, is precisely this sort of bloated record which the original punks would have gagged at. Clocking in at a little over an hour, the album has not one, but TWO introductory tracks (one featuring the piano theme from the previous albums), both of which are fairly forgettable. Finally, the album kicks off properly with “Welcome Home”, which is undeniably the album’s strongest track, a cohesive piece of metal and prog rock. Unfortunately, after this song, the rest of the album is mostly downhill. Much of the record seems to drift by aimlessly, with no truly memorable songs, save for the occasional interesting melody or riff. Melodies and riffs which seem to have been borrowed from other bands. The song “The Willing Well II: From Fear Through The Eyes of Madness” sounds almost exactly like “Piece of Mind”-era IRON MAIDEN, and I’ll be damned if “The Willing Well IV: The Final Cut” does not sound like something from PINK FLOYD’S “Dark Side of the Moon.” Furthermore, the lyrics are beyond decipherable, and I’m not sure even the band knows what they are writing about anymore or how they are connected to the stories of the previous records. It strikes me as somewhat ironic how COHEED AND CAMBRIA gained a following within the punk/hardcore scene, and now, they have become somewhat of an antithesis to their peers. My hope is that in forthcoming outings, they will rein in all the prog-fantasies, look back at what made them unique, and produce something far more focused. With song titles a maximum of three words long, preferably.

Columbia