I hate to classify one genre of music as my favorite, I just listen to bands I like. However, it seems that most of the bands I like fall into one genre: progressive Rock, and it's sub-genres. My sister told me about this band when she was still in high school back in '03. So I automatically disliked them without ever listening to them! Never thought my lil sis had great music taste, of course I have been stuck in the nineties forever, and no new band could be that great. I'm an obsessive Tool fan, by the way.

So about a month ago I was watching a video on you tube and it had this great song in it. Sounded a little like Rush. I looked it up, exited to add a new band to my list. I am very picky about the music I like. Anyway, I found out it was "welcome home" by C&C. :( Crap! Aren't they gay EMO.

I downloaded their this album anyway. First listen... they're ok, not emo though. Hard classify them...just like all the other bands I like. Most of the bands I listen to take a few listens to fully appreciate their genius. So listen after listen they just kept growing on me.

I hate to say it but there is at least one good, great, "new" band. Coheed are genius. "Progressive" rock for the new generation. It's such a shame that they were lumped into the EMO category because of the time they released their albums. I think progressive rock means unclassifiably SIC!

I have to admit that I didn't like 'The Suffering' the first time I heard it on 'Rock' radio a while back. I thought, Who are these guys cribbing so blatantly from Geddy Lee and Prog Rock in general?

Then I got 'Good Apollo, I'm Burning...' and it has pretty much been in my CD player and on my iPod nonstop ever since.

Granted, it is a form of music that has a certain 'learning curve', so I can't say it's for everyone. But once you get into the music, you are effectively hooked on it.

The most intriguing element of the songwriting may perhaps be the geekiest, as well. Thematic, sci-fi lyrics set in a world that these guys have made up. Wow. It's almost unfathomably compelling.

I recommend this to anyone who's willing to experiment with his/her boundaries. For fans of Prog Rock, Mars Volta, etc.

This is their perfect album. Its the culmination of everything they've ever done in a nice neat package. some may call it "pop" but it is a beautiful meta-analysis of their own work. it's brilliant!

This album is such a great one in my collection, never get tired of listening to it. Claudio, great vocals, catchy notes and melodies. Buy this record, you won't regret this one on your list !!!!

This album made me fall in love with Coheed and Cambria. My only issue is why in the world does Amazon have them in the Emo and Punk-Pop categories? These guys are definitely rock and its finest, with touches of experimental rock (watch them do The Final Cut live) and progressive elements as well. People might say the lyrics are what put them into that category, since Claudio sings of love and heartbreak and dramatic sorts of things, but what pushes his lyrics is the incredible sci-fi story that drives each song (btw, the story also adds to C&C's progressive/experimental nature).

Someone please get them out of the emo and punk pop categories. By doing that you're throwing them in there with Fall Out Boy and Blink 182 and whatever else MTV might be showing...if they're showing videos anymore these days.

It's funny, as I'm about to close this review, I see people have tagged this album as prog rock and metal. Wake up Amazon, I'm not the only one saying this

As a prog and metal rock fan for over 30 years, I tried real hard to like this enigmatic release, but in my opinion it falls short on many levels. The vocalist is horrendous. He has been compared to Geddy Lee by many, but Geddy's voice has a LOT more soul, timbre, and smoothness. Comparisons to Dream Theater have also been made as well, but C&C's chord progressions and guitar work sound purposeless and disjointed, and DO have elements of the lousy 'Emo rock' genre. The fact that many here bring this up must mean many of us hear it. I applaud bands that try to 'push or break the musical envelope', but unfortunately, C&C's sound comes across as confused with no real musical direction. You can play with fervor and conviction, as these guys do, BUT if the music sounds forced and boring, there's nothing you can do to 'connect' with some listeners. Not my cup of tea.

I wasn't excpepting much from this album before purchasing. I heard the Suffering which I thought was catchy, but I thought there was no way the album could be that good the whole way threw. I was wrong. The music ranges from rythmic harder rock (Welcome Home, and some of the later songs on the album) to really out there fast beats (Once upon your dead body, the Suffering).

Were this album really succeds is in it's great stroyline. The artwork of the album as well as the music relays a sense of epic-ness. You truly will not understand the depth of this Cd until you've heard it first-hand. Buy this CD I could not have been more pleased. In the great words of Apollo I and II, tonight the night on Burning Star IV...

You also may want to check out the Special Edition of the album. The Special Edition comes with a bonus DVD.

Luis Mejia (son) - I have to admit that I am one of those guys who love proffesional and complex music but I certainly lost my hope since mid 90's, specially in prog and good rock, and stayed in the era of the 70's, a magical era wich I didn't live. I never met the band 'till I heard the genre "new prog" and Coheed And Cambria was on the main charts, I also recognized the band because my cousin told me about it so I decided to give them a try, and this was the first album I bought seen the good critics and sales. Low in hopes, even when I heard the first track I was surprised they applied that kind of instruments in a classical way. Even more than a year that I've heard this album from the first track to the last one I'm still shocked of how excellent, delicate and professional it is!

I characterize this album more as heavy metal or progressive metal, even a litle bit of alt rock, but it stays a little apart from prog, even when it has certain characteristics of the genre.

The composition of each track is simple superb, delicate, heavy and well thought. Lisetn well, EVERY track is incredible and outstanding, one of the few album you don't have to skip any track; Welcome Home, Ten Speed (Of God Blood And Burial), the four fragments of The Willing Well (specially part 4), The Suffering and Wake Up are extremelly potent tracks that show every characteristic of the album, including soft ballads (until half of the album I never imagined a soft track), rythmical and confortable tracks like The Suffering, heavy, potential tracks with escapist sounds like Welcome Home and Ten Speed, the most likely prog songs like the fragments of The Willnig Well, and so on, each track is different from the other one. The moods of the CD are quite difficult to identify; I quite agree with those reviewers who characterize this album mainly EMO, and though it has many characteristics of EMO (wich I still do not think is a defined or even real genre) it also assimilates alt rock, prog, heavy metal, and so on; within the moods the songs are very different among each other but I can say their moods are agressive, hard, soft, constantly changing, experimental and a certain level of complexity.

Among the artists the guitar of Travis Stever is the best feature in the album, he's such a talented guitarrist, Claudio Sanchez vocals are very melodic and nice to hear but it isn't a voice such talented and trained but stunning as well, Josh Eppard drums are one of those instruments that in every song you listen to them carefully, and Michael Todd bass can be heard, you don't know how it bothers me not to be able to hear a bass in a song, but he makes it sound incredible.

Viewed as a concept album, its a little weird and even a little dumb as a concept album, I trully know that they are trying to make five albums about Teh Amory Wars but it's obvious that Coheed And Cambria would have a lot more credit and much better critics if it weren't for this detail.

In conclussion this band demonstrate among a world full of pitiful new music how still it can be excellent compositions written, if they only take their time, any musician can bring back the flame of music, good music, and the CD is a masterpiece, my sincere recommendations to everyone who appreciates good music.

As my title states, Coheed & Cambria remind me of a really good sci/fi book set to music. Like a cross between Star Wars and Dream Theatre. I got IKSOSE first and still like that album better, I think simply because it is easier to follow the storyline. This album is much more musically complex though. It took me a long time to get used to the Claudio's voice because I a fan of Doom Metal not pop (not that they are a pop band), so it actually was the storyline that got me so interested. If you like concept albums, this is like trying to solve a really awesome riddle. I love the intro to Good Apollo with the violin!

Yes C&C is an acquired taste, everything written in other reviews for all the albums pretty much spells out what people like about them. They are just what the current scene lacks, and bring back melodic, powerful, catchy metal in spades.....call it emo(the stupidest label ever coined bar none) or any other dumb term you want.....these guys simply rock.
The reviewer below is more interested in the album art, if thats your concern stick with cereal boxes or bazooka joe wrappers, this is rock n' roll. He also claims "sub par musicianship", which is an amazingly naive statement by someone who must know little about that which they speak. Grab a guitar and write tunes anywhere near this level. Sub par my a**. These guys are at the top of their game.

I am a huge fan of concept albums. Dream Theater's "Scenes from a Memory" and Queensryche's "Operation Mindcrime" are two of my all-time favorite albums because they bring together theme and form. In other words, the music fits the theme of the album, which is also complemented by the artwork and the composition's overall structure.

I am also a fan of new punk rock. Taking Back Sunday's "Tell All Your Friends" is an anthemic album that tugs at many strings, notably angst and self-conscious outcast. Thursday's "War All the Time" is a prime example of a relatively simple subset of music (emo/punk) reaching beyond its comfort zone into more controversial territory. Still organic, still cohesive.

"Cohesive", ironically enough, is not a word I'd use to describe Coheed and Cambria's "Good Apollo" album. It fails in both respects: it does not unify its theme (complex story) with its content (music & artwork) and the overall musicianship is subpar. Though I am not familiar with their previous albums (and therefore not familiar with the story that precedes it) I will strictly deal with this album as it stands alone.

At first glance, the album's song titles ("Ten Speed (Of God's Blood and Burial)", "Apollo I: The Writing Writer", "The Willing Well I: Fuel for the Feeding End") suggest an intricately woven story that will not easily reveal itself to the listener. A more negative viewpoint would say that the track titles are deliberately complicated; they are strange for the sake of strangeness. The artwork is dark, sinister and also suggests that the music will sound gothic or at least morose.

Convoluted story? Yes. Gothic, intricate music? No. What we have is the following:

A piano, string-quartet intro to start off the album. It begins with "Keeping the Blade", an instrumental piece that starts with a single ominous note, and gradually builds up to a full 4-string ensemble with a piano hinting at an eerie buildup. "Always & Never" is a warm acoustic piece that hints at singer/songwriter Claudio Sanchez' harmonized and pained vocals. Nothing heavy or intricate. "Welcome Home" takes this same acoustic guitar and adds a metal crunch to it. The song is 6 minutes of pinched vocals, squealing guitars, and epic strings.

This is as close as the album gets to its artwork and song title complexity. From there, you have simple guitar rock, campy "punk" songs, devoid of any real complexity. Songs that attempt to mimic odd time signatures ("Mother May I") end up sounding empty and poorly thought-out. Others, such as the insufferable mouthful "The Willing Well II: Fear Through the Eyes of Madness" are too flimsy to merit a 7-minute duration.

All in all, it is a lump of coal in a silver box. Attempting to say that Coheed and Cambria are bridging the gap between punk rock and progressive rock is almost insulting. The artwork and thematic construction of the album suggests that the songs will come together to create a progressive masterpiece. But (and I should have thought of this before buying it) it's an album written by an emo band. Though I don't want to discredit Sanchez' imagination, the music does not fit the rest of the album. He needs to up his songwriting to compete with the intricacies of his album's conceptual designs or tone the art in his future albums down to more accurately reflect the music within.

This is not a progressive masterpiece - it's a subpar emo album with a flashy exterior and one good song.

i received this cd in only two days and i love it! i doubt i will ever get tired of it =]

Coheed and Cambria is a bit of an acquired taste. The vocals are a bit odd, but that's what I like them. DL a couple of their songs first, then get this cd if you like what you here, that's what I did.

Wow! This is my first Coheed album to buy after being turned to it by a friend of mine. It was a good purchase. They are innovative and can play very well. While many of the songs begin to sound similar at times, their style is good enough that it doesn't get boring, and the other half of the album is different and interesting. I especially loved the first two tracks. They use good vocal harmony. A good band with real vision and songwriting ability among many, many bad ones.

I need an aspirin from just reading the album title (there's more than what above). Jokes aside, Coheed and Cambria truly have a unique and refreshing sound. To classify it would be unfair, but picture if you can a hard rock/progressive musical theater production. There latest album takes you on an emotional roller coaster through many interesting musical landscapes. Can this new and vibrant sound stand the test of time? Mmmmm...

Its good to see a modern band taking the old elements of the past (Pink Floyd, Led Zepplin, Rush etc) and producing something interesting and original. Coheed...'s songs are generally catchy and relatively short (compared to more progressive metal bands of today), relying on curious guitar and voice harmonies.

This is my first Coheed... cd, so i can't compare it to those that came before. Apparently they share the same story, but i have no idea what it is (and nor do i really care)...apparently there are graphic novels that accompany it, which is an interesting concept.

This band is no way emo, or at least what i understand it to be (teenage angst softcore punk). The lyrics are a little cryptic though, but the story isn't about the real world as such, so it hardly matters to the listener.

The biggest criticism is that strange voice - most of the time its fine, on the odd track the 'girlishness' is deliberately emphasised, and i think this detracts from the song more than anything. For the most part though, its highly original and suited - just don't expect a huge deviation in the vocal range.

This is highly recommended to fans of proggy rock and i hope their other releases are of compare. Best listened to with headphones though!

This album has some of the best progressive guitar work in the modern music scene. You can definitely see that Claudio was hugely inspired by early 70's prog rock bands such as Yes, Led Zepplin, and Rush, yet also a variety of other genres. Catchy choruses, great guitar licks, and epic songwriting abounds on 'Good Apollo...'

I have often heard people say that Claudio's voice turns them off because it is 'too girlish'. In reply I can only say that it is a shame because of how much great musicianship is present on Coheed's albums. It took me a little while to get used to Claudio's vocal style but I have grown to love it...especially on this album during songs like 'The Willing Well 2...' where his singing is beautifully fit for the melodic phrase "No one runs faster than you...". Besides, the emo/screamo scene (which I do not consider C&C to be a part of) is full of high-pitched guys singing that can sometimes become unbearable.

If all you have heard from this album are the singles then you are missing the best songs. The last 4 songs on the album (all exceeding 7 minutes in length) are in my opinion the best muscianship present on this album. 'Good Apollo' is creative and innovative rock of superb quality.

RECOMMENDATION: If you are a fan of progressive rock and want to hear more new bands that are doing great progressive music then Pain of Salvation is a must! The albums 'Remedy Lane' and 'Perfect Element 1' are in my opinion ESSENTIAL for any fan of progressive rock. Also check out the band Porcupine Tree.

I just wanted to say that this is the band that restored my faith in rock n roll. Listen with your imagination and you will become a raving fan as well. Enjoy!

People have to stop writing reviews for bands they didn't like in the first place. Does it make you feel better to put a band down and then promote your own crap like Sum 41??? How can people disgrace a band like Coheed that is trying to bring intelligent music back? No way is this emo, even their more poppy, mainstream songs still have hidden subtlies and amazing guitar work. They aren't GODS when it comes to musicianship, but they're still PRETTY DAMN CLOSE to being gods.

I'm just a bit puzzled how someone can throw Coheed and Cambria into the emo genre. Can anyone else find an emo band that has 15 minute solo sessions in their live sets? It's kind of sad that the singles Co&Ca puts out are their most pop like songs, even though those songs are 10x better than anything AFI or Fall out boy could ever hope to accomplish. If you want to hear a band break away from the generic songwriting of today and actually play their instuments, Coheed is your choice

I got to see these guys with Thrice down in Denver 4 years ago. I thought they were crazy and it took me a while to like them. Good Apollo is insane. I love the uplifting song, Ten Speed. It makes my socks want to pop off everytime I hear it. If I had cancer, this album would be my cure. There are very few bands that make me want to go nuts these days. Coheed and Cambria are so talented I could lay an egg. Rock on my fellow
Coheedians.

Their third release, and it does not let down in the slightest. More insight is given into the epic story the albums play out. Not really much to say except this is great cd on its own or even if you're just the slightest bit interested in Coheed.

There is so much bad emo music out there, and this band certainly would fall under that category. The only real good emo bands are Fall Out Boy, My Chemical Romance, and AFI, although I don't even count them as emo. Coheed & Cambria has everything going wrong for them. They have bad songwriting, a singer who sounds like a girl, and worthless chord progressions. I don't see why anyone would like this band, they're just as bad as Hawthorne Heights, Cartel, Saves the Day, Anberlin, Emery, Red Jumpsuit Apparatus; the list goes on and on. But Coheed & Cambria is without a doubt the worst emo band out there, and in fact the worst band ever! OH, and what do you know, they have the worst album ever entitled In Keeping of Secrets 3. Their only even close to decent album is the Second Stage Turning Blade, the rest have no appeal whatsoever. This band needs to break up now.

I am a progressive rock fan who grew up listening to, and seeing in concert, bands like Rush, Yes, Floyd, etc.; so when a friend told me that Coheed and Cambria (hereafter referred to as C&C) were the second coming of Canada's alltime greatest rock group, I was intrigued. I knew the name C&C and a little about their prog-rock "street cred" but nothing else. Then another pal said their set at the '06 Lallapoolooza was second to none and I knew I had to check them out.

As soon as I slipped "Good Apollo.." into my CD player, I have to admit I was a little relieved... a 70+ minute album!! That's almost always a good sign when you examine the more recent history of this particular genre. And the first few tracks gave me hope that C&C would live up to their rep: a majestic overture-style opening song leading into an acoustic ballad to whet the appetite. And then I heard one of the great "first" songs of recent memory! "Welcome Home" is epic alterna-metal at its finest. A flamenco acoustic intro suddenly becomes monstrous distortion with an operatic chorale background and then Sanchez shows us his amazing vocal range. Pure emotion just pours out through his lyrics. And the guitar solos are as complex and well-thought out as any I have heard in a long time.

So, after such an auspicious beginning, track 4 ("Ten Speed...") is a complete shift in style. Very up tempo with a "happy" chorus; it is completely out of place in comparison with the first three songs. Okay, maybe they wanted to metaphorically cleanse the palette. But then the next track was in the same vein. Both tracks sounded like songs you would hear from Blink 182 or Good Charlotte. I was starting to get a little worried. Track 6 ("Apollo I...") reaffirmed my optimism. Starting out slowly, it builds into a complex song with intricate movements and a memorable chorus. The day (and CD) had been saved, right? Wrong!

Except for a very good, moody acoustic song ("Wake Up"), 4 out of the next 5 tracks are the same as #s 4 and 5: barely listenable. They remind me of the worst power pop/emo garbage that dominates the charts nowadays. I was sure that I would once again categorize this highly-touted band/CD as overrated and extremely disappointing.

"The Wishing Well" saved the entire album. It is an ambitious masterpiece. Each movement is different than the previous one (of course, "Apollo II.." is a continuation of "Apollo I..") and these 4 unique songs boast some of the best musicianship and vocals on the entire CD. The final track, "The Final Cut", is massive. It should only by played at maximum volume and is a great complement to "Welcome Home". Travis Stever's solo reminded me of David Gilmour at his best. What a way to finish the album!! The whole 4-part composition ranks with Rush's "2112" and the best of Yes.

So do I like this CD overall? Yes and no. Let me explain: if you exclude all the weak tracks (#s 4, 5, 7, 9, 10 and 11), you have a very accomplished 49 minute album. It can be favorably compared with some of the better prog-metal releases in recent memory, including the best of Tool, Isis, etc. If they had stuck with the epic-style, symphony-like songs that made my cut, "Good Apollo, I'm Burning Star IV, Volume One: From Fear Through the Eyes of Madness" could have claimed the title of the best album of its type in modern prog rock history. Too bad.

Hooray, Claudio Sanchez wins second place for the longest and most spaced out track titles, only after Omar and Cedric of The Mars Volta.

On Coheed and Cambria's third release, Sanchez and his team of prog-rockers take on another chapter of the continuing story and create a mild and swell blend of greatness. It starts out fast, then slows down, a different touch for the band, especially with a song such as "Always and Never." Classical guitarists will find solace here.

"Welcome Home", the band's current single, reels in some Iron Maiden influences with those classic harmonies any Coheed fan begs to sing along with. Enthusiasts will find "Ten Speed" as a satiable track four. Although many might hear echoes of previous rhythms or 'sing alongs' in "The Suffering." All in all, there's a lot of the old still here, but there's so much expansion too, bringing Claudio Sanchez vocally into the realms and glory of Geddy Lee.

Hooray for the third follow up, one of the band's better additions.

It amuses me that this band has a fanbase since they're so bad. The singer is a talentless banshee, the chord progressions don't make sense, the lyrics are just blah thanks to the singer. The singer's pretty ugly too, I hate to say it. Ever since I heard "The Suffering" I've hated this band. I'm glad the average rating for this item is 4 and a half, since it means not everyone gave it five stars. There is sanity out there, yes.
Anyway, it takes nothing more than a set of ears to know this band has everything going wrong for them. I'd give this CD about 1 and a half stars since at least two songs had a shred of substance, but even a 1 star rating is gracious. The album with the earth on the front isn't worth any stars, it's the worst album I"ve ever heard.
The best rock album is Muse's Origin of Symmetry, matched only by Muse's Showbiz and then by Sum 41's Does This Look Infected. Obviously few would agree with me there since everyone's tastes are different, though. Whatever, I hate this album so one star the end.

This is a pretty good album. I'd have to say that this is my favorite from this band and the production is top notch, allowing every element their space within the mix. I still find the lead singer's voice a tad annoying. It's got that munchkin meets a warbling bird (tons of vibrato to his voice). I like the overall super-geek concept of the band and the songs. I also like the little touches of sound design used throughout the album that give it more of an epic feel.

However, these guys are no Mars Volta (especially "De Loused"), and yet they somehow make a nice companion, more rockish type quality. Definitely something you need to spin a few time to begin to appreciate it's overall artistic merit.

Coheed & Cambria and their whole series of adventures might seem a little geeky. But hey everyone has a little geek in them! Second Stage Turbine Blade (Technically the second album, the first album will be released as a prequel) was very good also and simmiliard to Good Apollo, then came in Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth 3, which was also wonderful but less so than the follow up album Good Apollo I'm Burning Star IV: From Fear through the Eyes of Madness Volume I. Yes! Volume ONE!. There will be a TWO which makes the cd total five not four. This album included many wonderful songs a few leaning more towards Led Zeppelin style rock such as the song Welcome Home. Other good songs are Ten Speed, Crossing the Frame, Apoll I and II, The Suffering, The Lying Lies and Dirty Secrets of Miss Erica Court, and The Final Cut all very good songs. Believe me, even if you have never listened to the other albums buy this one! It will get you hooked! (A note: It really does not deserve its explicit lyric label. The album only swears briefly.)

Coheed and Cambria's 3rd effort is, without question, a master piece. After displaying more of a pop-rock oriented sound with "In Keeping Secrets...", the band returns to more of the sound displayed in "Second Stage..."

I am not trying to say that there are no "pop-friendly songs" on this album. "The Suffering", "Wake Up", and "The Lying Lies and Dirty Secrets of Miss Eric Court" are exmaples that there are.

The true gems of the album are "Welcome Home", "Crossing the Frame", "Once Upon Your Dead Body", "Mother May I", and the 4 Willing Wells, with my favorite being "Fear Through the Eyes..".

As usually, Coheed displays great guitar work, creativity, and underrated vocals from Claudio Sanchez.

"Good Apollo..." is a real treat and I strongly recommend it.

A few months ago, one of my friends recommended Coheed and Cambria to me and I took him up on the offer and downloaded one of their songs to listen to. I didn't like it all, mostly because of Claudio Sanchez's, the lead singer, very high voice. Then, I gave them a try again about a month ago and I absolutely loved it.

Coheed and Cambria is now my favorite band, and I sometimes can't believe that I didn't like them. Good Apollo, I'm Burning Star IV was the first Coheed CD I bought because most of the songs I liked from them were on that album. I can't begin to describe how awesome the music on this CD is.

The album starts off with a quaint instrumental theme, Keeping the Blade, progresses to Always and Never which at first appears to be a love song before the twist ending. Afterwards, we go to one of the most amazing songs on Good Apollo, Welcome Home. The whole CD can be attested to being a prog rock opera, but Welcome Home definitely can be called this. The guitar playing in this song is only surpassed, in my opinion, by one other song on the CD and it ends with an awesome guitar solo by Claudio Sanchez.

From there on out, the song quality does not decrease but only at some times gets better. Ten Speed (of God's Blood and Burial) is the most metal the band has ever gotten and is also one of my favorite songs they're ever made. After that, we go to Crossing the Frame, which is has the same musical melody as Ten Speed except it's toned down a bit. Apollo I: The Writing Writer is a great song, but what I really like about it are the amazing lyrics in this song.

Once Upon Your Dead Body also has some great lyrics, though not as much as Apollo to me. Wake Up is probably my least favorite song on the album, mostly because it has a soft tone and I was really in a rock tone by the time I got to this song. The Suffering has more of a pop tone and is the closest to a G-rated song we get to on this CD, besides Wake Up. Lying Lies and Dirty Secrets of Miss Erica Court, is one of the least memorable songs on the album, although it has a gigantically long title. In no way is it a bad song, I just liked most of the songs better. Then we go to Mother May I, which holds the prize for best lyrics on the CD for me.

The finale of the album is the four part series of the Willing Well. Each song is over seven minutes in length, and Fuel for the Feeding End is a great start to the quadrilogy. It has good, thoughtful lyrics with a catchy musical tone. Fear Through the Eyes of Madness is probably my least favorite of the four, though it has an exceptional ending. Apollo 2: The Telling Truth is essentially the same as Apollo 1 with slightly different lyrics and a remix of the musical tone. Still an awesome song even if it is part of a rehash.

Finally we have the grand finale of Good Apollo, and oh what a finale it is. With some of the best guitar playing I've ever heard in a song before, The Final Cut tops all the competition on this album as the best played. There aren't many lyrics, though the infamous "I'd shut your face in the door" is in this song. The lack of lyrics is doubly made up for with the amazing guitar solo between Travis and Claudio at the end of the song and the "nature" ending is quite a surprise.

If that's not enough to convince you to buy this wonderful CD, then Good Apollo just isn't for you. Even if you don't like this album somehow, you should try the other two, In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3 and the Second Stage Turbine Blade, as they are very different from Good Apollo, musically.

At first listen, You probably might think the Claudio Sanchez is singing about getting the short end of the stick in life. But the lyrics are really about the characters in his comic book printed by evil ink comics. Look them up!

As in music wise, If you like 80's hair bands, classic or new rock, you'll LOVE this cd! Killer guitar solos! As a band, Coheed and Cambria definitly have their chemistry down! If your not a fan of high pitched singing, you might not like this cd but if you can get over the voice and listen to the band itself, you'll see what I'm talkin about then!!!!!

When I 1st got into Coheed & Cambria, I didn't like Claudio's voice either but in the long run, it grew on me HARD! Now I love his voice!!!! But then again, when I was in kindergarden, I was listening to bands from a range to Slayer to Bon Jovi to Whitesnake to Metallica!

If you don't like this cd its because you dont like Rock!!!

Coheed has definitly become one of my favorite bands. Welcome Home and The Final Cut are the standout songs on this cd and the standout songs at their shows. Its like Led Zeppelin meets Taking Back Sunday and Pink Floyd. 5*****5 Star Album

First off, for all of those out there thinking CoCa is emo - you are DEAD wrong. Simple Plan, All American Rejects, 30 secs to Mars (I'm embarrased to know these names), that crap is emo - whiny, dramatic, simplistic and unimaginative music with all the same words in the lyrics. Coheed and Cambria are more like Rush than that crap. I bet a lot of you are like, "Huh, whose Rush?" That's what I'm talking about. You guys wouldn't know metal even if it "swung it's fist hello." You guys are like the Matt Lauer of music. To you it's either Emo or non-Emo. Oh, and for those of you who think Claudio's voice is too much - you should be paying more attention to the singer of Blink 182. God, that's beyond terrible. At least Claudio is singing - that guy is just talking with a really gaudy sound. Seriously. Claudio has a fresh, unique voice. But, of course, you emo kids are just deathly afraid of unique sound. That also just shows how much you don't understand the Coheed and Cambria story. He's singing in character (it's most obvious in the Willing Well songs), so when his voice changes, the character changes. Listen to it again, in this new light, please, and think about it. It's another chance to get into it!

AHH~!!! It's great, by the way.

OK, does this album have the worst, most overwrought and pretentious title ever? I think I wanted to dislike the album for that reason but damn, it's actually very good. Emo/pop-punk doesn't have a reputation for being 'art' or being conducive to progressive elements but Coheed and Cambria are set upon changing that. Still a bit too pop for my tastes, but it's a cut above most other bands of a similar ilk.

I've had this album for quite some time now and I feel like I may be qualified to finally review it.

Coheed and Cambria, on their full length album Good Apollo... take massive musical steps forward in their maturity process while also trying to maintain a hold on the pop-punk sound they expertly crafted on their debut album, The Second Stage Turbine Blade. Coheed's second album, while displaying some strong song writing, never really caught on with me due to some of the tracks feeling bloated. The only song that stood the test of time from the disc was the title track, which felt like the proper direction for the band to turn if they were going to go beyond pop-punk.

Now I don't want anyone to think that I believe Coheed has ever created basic pop-punk, they haven't. There musicianship has always been light years beyond the simple pop-punk and their song structures have never been entirely basic but The Second Stage Turbine Blade has a distinctive pop-punk flavor to it, there is no denying it!

So this leaves me with their newest disc Good Apollo, I'm Burning Star IV, Volume 1: From Fear Through the Eyes of Madness. I state the entire title of the album to make a point. Good Apollo... feels like another bloated attempt at melding Coheed's pop-punk/rock hybrid sensibilities with their love of the progressive and not quite achieving what they set out for. If the album could carry the urgency of the Led Zeppelin inspired ""Welcome Home" or the Pink Floyd ""The Willing Well IV: The Final Cut"" this album would be modern masterpiece. The problem is the sum of the parts do not make quite as powerful a whole. It seems like the band has matured enough to write a classic album but can't seem to write an entire albums worth of these types of songs.

It's not that the album is bad... it's that when you try to marry the two previous cuts with an album filled with mostly hit (""The Suffering"") and miss (""Wake Up"") material... it drags the album itself into mediocrity.

As a diehard fan of The Second Stage Turbine Blade, I'm not asking the band to turn back the wheels of time... I'm asking them to continue culling the classic rock ghosts of yore, finish maturing and put out the record I know they have in them