The year I turned 15, my cousin bought me a Coheed & Cambria CD for my birthday ("In Keeping Secrets Of Silent Earth:3"). We are also on vacation together at the time, so I didn't get a chance to listent to it until the ride home.
I'm not sure how many times I listened to it, but to this day I can remember listening to certain tracks and staring down at my CD player, amazed that this sound could come from instruments.
The tracks "Three Evils (Embodied In Love And Shadow)", "The Camper Velorium I: Faint Of Hearts", "The Camper Velorium II: Al The Killer" and "A Favor House Atlantic" were my favorites. Originally.
I was crazy obsessed, refused to listen to anything but this band. It was the soundtrack to the summer after my freshman year of high school.
Nearing the end of the summer, I bought their first CD "The Second Stage Turbine Blade", and I loved it even more.
After that, I did some research and learned that Coheed & Cambria was actually originally called Shabutie (hence the "eh, shabutie" in the very beginning of "Devil In New Jersey". Shabutie was a more unrefined version of Coheed that I truly enjoyed, but nevertheless I loved Coheed more. However, the song "Elf Tower New Mexico" under the name Shabutie left me nearly speechless, and I consider it one of my favorite Coheed songs though it is technically not one.
I have this fascination for songs that can sound beautiful beneath all of the ruckus in them. That's what Second Stage did for me. Even more than the first album I heard, their songs would begin in one direction, and take off in another ending in a place you wouldn't have thought it could.
They amazed me. They were progressive and quarky, and also (as I had learned) scifi.
Coheed & Cambria, in case you weren't aware, is not only a band but the two characters in the comics by lead singer Claudio Sanchez. I purchased two comics, interested in the story, but never got a chance to get a hold of the graphic novel that paralleled the release of their third album.
Their third album was good, I liked it.
For me, it was a bit of a let down.
It didn't have that classic, Coheed feeling. It was too poppy, too smooth, too mainstream (which I should have realized they were going to lean towards after listening to the slight sound change between the first and second album).
None of the songs truly stood out to me, the plot about the writer of the comics was too much and I was just very disappointed.
I'm not saying I hate it, I'm saying I wish they could sound more like them. But, I still enjoy it, still have it my collection and listen to it a good amount. I just would have liked it were it from another band.
However, there was an allusion to their first album (the song "Everything Evil") in the song "III: Apollo II: The Telling Truth".
From Everything Evil:
Jesse, just come look at what your brother did
Here he did away with me.
From III: Apollo II: The Telling Truth:
Jesse, bad boy, just come look at what your brother did
To that girl's precious, little whore of a body.
I loved the fact the Coheed intertwined so much of their music. There are more links to their first album, less distinct and a few are only assumptions that I have made, but I almost find Coheed as much of music as it is a game and a story.
I could go on, I think I'm going to stop myself.
Instead of leaving you a Coheed song, that I believe you may already have, I'm going to leave you the lesser known Shabutie "Elf Tower New Mexico".
The melody of this song is beautiful, and if you listen with headphones all of the lyrics are echoed. Both Coheed and Cambria are mentioned, and I found it is the most obvious and eloquent connection between the two bands. Enjoy.
Elf Power, New Mexico
Elf Power, New Mexico
Thank God you're still angry at me
I've got a better chance of seeing you dead and buried
Thank you for this, one last, big mistake
It's your turn, come shoot for it
If you win, well, you can lead the way
Mid-days are grey into New Jersey
Did you, think maybe I, was doing quite well without you in the frame?
"Staile, killed in defense"
I can't believe I told you right after
"I've given you up, go on find someone new"
Till then pretend, you've touched me for your last
I've given you up, go on find someone new.
Dear Nikki, what, Dear Nikki, what
What if I could have found a better half here, in you?
I merely came here and
Elf Power, New Mexico
Elf Tower, New Mexico
Stay here, in our last standing hourglass, circumstance
Devoted here, in the midst of weary eyes
Lost and buried here, in your big surprise, again
Will your fingers find my bag?
Familiar, I fit in the question I had to ask.
Did you, think maybe I, was doing quite well without you in the frame?
"Staile, killed in defense"
I can't believe I told you right after
"I've given you up, go on find someone new"
Till then pretend, you've touched me for your last
I've given you up, go on find someone new
Dear Nikki, what, Dear Nikki, what
What if I could have found a better half here, in you?
I merely came here and
Elf Power, New Mexico
Smile, tomorrow, you are home
I'll give my words in one lesson:
Dear God,
Before I heard, this is your intention, for I
I could've figured out, over and over.
"See there's Coheed, and then Cambria in innocent merger"
"Absence makes the heart grow fonder"
Thank God they recovered your body in New Mexico
Three days, I'm spoiled
I miss you in every way
You could have been dear, wish you were here, still in the frame
"Staile, killed in defense"
I can't believe I told you right after
"I've given you up, go on find someone new"
Till then pretend, you've touched me for your last, (woah-ho)
I've given you up, go on find someone new
Dear Nikki, what
What if I could have found a better half here, in you?
I merely came here and
Elf Power, New Mexico
I bought my first Cursive album on a hunch.
It was actually a miracle I got into the band in the first place. My brother, off of a sprite bottle cap, got a code for a free song off itunes. And me, being the brat that I was, took it and used it for the Cursive song "Driftwood".
I played the song to death for two weeks before I went to the mall and purchased "The Ugly Organ" along with Hot Hot Heat's "Make Up The Break Down".
I always found Hot Hot Heat's sound easier to listen to, but there was something in Cursive, a magnetism that I felt to the sound that I could not escape. So, I kept listening.
I was so impressed by them, their unique sound, their sometimes catchy, sometimes angry, sometimes morose lyrics. Everything appealed to me. So I downloaded more songs from other albums, songs dubbed as popular, and I found a new sound (from "Domestica") and I was in it deeper.
"The Lament Of Pretty Baby" was one of the first songs I actually felt attached to. It was incredible.
Soon, I bought "Songs Of Early Summer", then "The Difference Between Houses And Homes" and for Christmas begged for my own, real, hard copy of "Domestica"
Then, a year later, "Happy Hollow" came out.
Cursive, for me, is musical Heaven. Sometimes the sounds are disconnected, sometimes they are melodical, Tim Kasher's voice is beautiful and perfect for the type of music Cursive likes to play. Though I think now their sound is going in a new direction, especially with their newest release, I'm fondest of the sound on "Domestica" and "Songs Of Early Summer".
After my parents bought me "Domestica", I discovered the song "The Radiator Hums". The song's begninning reminded me of an upbeat, poppy Third Eye Blind song from the ninety's (and, I'm still a huge Third Eye Blind fan) and also that classic Cursive edge they always seem to have.
But, the song that to this day I am still overtly attached to is "The Lament Of Pretty Baby". Why? I'm not quite sure. Perhaps it reminds me of when I was first listening to Cursive. Or, maybe because it's just that great of a song. So many interesting images and an offbeat (literally, at some points) melody.
I saw something I was not supposed to see
A ghostly memory, that keeps on haunting me
The kitchen door was open a crack, so naively I peek inside
Oh darling sister, have they hurt you? Have they hurt you, oh?
Oh pretty baby, they won't touch you. They won't touch you again.
We will fix this incident.
I don't want to be seen as a pretty thing, 'cause it's the pretty things that we're always breaking.
And now she whispers into the mirror "I'm broken"
Oh, doctor doctor can you fix me? Can you fix me, uh huh?
Oh pretty baby, you're so naive. But it comes off so cute.
We don't want to fix you, we love you just the way you are.
With the butterfly pinned to the page
The nightingale locked in the cage- won't you sing for me? Sing for me, uh huh?
Yeah, we love you just the way you are
Crushed 'neat fashion magazines
Trampled by circus pony dreams
Won't you kiss me? Won't you kiss me, uh huh?
Please, mister, can't you fix me? Can't you fix me, uh huh?
Someone, anyone, won't you fix me? Won't you fix me, uh huh?
Oh, someone, please, the moon has raped me
I can feel it inside me
Oh, mama, please let someone fix me
Let them fix me, uh huh
Let them fix me, uh huh
So cry yourself to sleep
Cry yourself to sleep
I am strong and you are weak
Wait, you are strong and I am weak
Fuck, just cry yourself to sleep
During the ever-popular Myspace era, I was lucky to have been bored so many times and have clicked around different people's pages, because that is how I found one of my favorite bands to this day. I was little nosy back then, finding out what's up with not only my friends but also my brother's and on one of his friend's pages played "Your Ex-Lover Is Dead". Immediately, I fell in love with the sound. I found the Stars myspace page and downloaded each song I could, including "Ageless Beauty", "Reunion" and "Calendar Girl".
But that wasn't enough. I needed more, it was like a drug. So I went on itunes and downloaded the album "Set Yourself On Fire".
Still, not enough. I next downloaded "Heart", and then once I tore through that album and fell even deeper into the enchanting melody of Stars I downloaded "Nightsongs" and was content for quite sometime.
Until I found out that they had two glorious EPs. At that point, my obsession was cemented.
Stars is not just a band, they are an experience. Everything they do has an incredible romantic aura about it, everything seems so well thought out and pristine.
I've planned to do numerous projects concerning them, made an entire outline for an inter-connected story displayed as a series of music videos for the album "Heart" and then found a way to incooperate "Nightsongs" into it, but never got a chance to film because I didn't have anyone who would agree to participate.
Then, my obsession grew beyond the music and to the herat of the characters I had created in this music video story of mine based on the four members of the band, and I nearly wrote a book about them (literally). But, I stopped myself. I took up school work again, and returned to having extremely vivid daydreams about the characters who interact with one another in Stars' great songs.
Yes, I was obsessed.
I attempt to turn every one of my friends into Stars fans, almost like it is my job. Whenever we're talking about bands we like, I turn to them and say "Have you ever heard of this crazy Canadian band called Stars?"
And they reply, "Yeah, I've only heard you mention them a dozen or so times."
And then I reply, "Here, I'll put 'em in." They usually roll their eyes.
I'm absolutely hooked on this band, so I cannot understand how other people aren't.
The songs that resonate with me the most are "One More Night" off the "Set Yourself On Fire" album, "Toxic Holiday" and "Liar" from "Nightsongs", "Death To Death" and "Romantic Comedy" and "Elevator Love Letter" from "Heart", and "When?" off of the EP "A Lot Of Lies For The Sake Of One Big Truth". Their song have this intangible, sexy quality about them as well as a modern beat and hypnotizing lyrics. Their sound is almost classical at some points to me, and I can't help but imagine the writers of these lyrics in 18th century London sipping tea with the queen (I'm a dreamer). They border on perfection on so many levels.
I am so lucky I bothered to listen to this band, I'm not sure who or where I would be if I never took such an interest in them. Buy any of their albums, you will not regret it.
Comments
Their new album is coming out soon, I can't wait.
what a great post! I've been looking forward to their new album since seeing them this summer :)