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Coheed and Cambria

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Coheed and Cambria
File:CoheedandCambriaPub.jpg
Background information
Years active1995–present
MembersClaudio Sanchez, vocals, guitar
Travis Stever, guitar
Michael Todd, bass guitar, vocals
Josh Eppard - drums

Coheed and Cambria (sometimes abbreviated to "Coheed" or "Co&Ca") is an American progressive rock band from Nyack, New York. Coheed and Cambria has released three studio albums, one live album, and various special-edition re-releases. Their albums are concept albums, all telling the same story in different parts. So far, there are a planned five albums for the Bag On Line Adventures, the current storyline running through the songs. To date, three studio albums have been released: The Second Stage Turbine Blade (2002), In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3 (2003), and Good Apollo I'm Burning Star IV Volume One: From Fear Through the Eyes of Madness (2005). These albums make up the second, third, and fourth parts of the five-part saga of Coheed and Cambria, respectively. The albums are being released out of sequence; the second part was released first, and the first part will be released last. Good Apollo I'm Burning Star IV Volume One is the first half of a two-part conclusion to the saga, which will be followed by the story's introduction.

History

When a band called Toxic Parents, featuring Travis Stever and Claudio Sanchez, dissolved around the same time as Nate Kelley's project, Moe & The Boogie Cats (who disbanded after their lead singer left New York to join a UFO cult in Arizona), the members came together to form a new band in March 1995.

The band was Beautiful Loser, and it featured Travis Stever on lead vocals and guitar, Claudio Sanchez on guitar, Nate Kelley on drums and Jon Carleo on bass. The group was short-lived, breaking up by June of the same year they started the band, due to an argument over gas money. Stever left the band, and Kelley was initially kicked out, but came back when asked by Sanchez. Without Stever, the band became a trio, and Sanchez took control of the lead vocals and guitar.

Renaming themselves Shabütie (a name taken from African tribe chants for "naked prey" in the movie Naked Prey), the band spent nearly a year experimenting with a multitude of different sounds—punk rock, indie rock, acoustic rock, funk and heavy metal—and purportedly wrote as many as 100 songs, few of which they kept. When Carleo left the band in August 1996, Kelley recruited Michael Todd, with whom he had worked on an acoustic side project called Esme 9, to take his place. Todd, primarily a guitarist, picked up the bass specifically for Shabütie.

With this near-final formation of the band, they entered their most productive and mature period. According to Kelley, the band sometimes wrote up to seven new songs in one five or six hour sitting. Also during this period, the band put out its first public release, the Penelope EP (in 1999) and Stever rejoined the band on second guitar, making them a four-piece once again.

Around 1999, the band members had developed a habit of drinking too heavily during shows, and the quality of their performances declined. During one such show, Sanchez allegedly screamed the lyrics of the song "Life Without You", a Cassiopeia-esque ballad, prompting Kelley to pack up his drum set in front of a packed audience and leave the stage. Thus, on February 19 2000, Shabütie's original lineup, apart from Sanchez, was gone.

Following Kelley's departure, Sanchez and the others chose Josh Eppard, then of the band 3, to take his place. They finished out the year and performed halfway through 2001 before changing their name to Coheed and Cambria and releasing the Delirium Trigger EP, and the history of Shabütie was finished.

The band now consists of four members: Claudio Sanchez (vocals/guitar), Travis Stever (guitar), Michael Todd (bass), and Josh Eppard (drums). When playing live, Dave Parker (keyboards/guitar), joins the lineup. If Josh Eppard is sick, Aaron Otoka fills in. The group primarily uses these standard instruments, but occasionally their songs call for a lapsteel or a mandolin.

Influences and similarities

Coheed and Cambria's music is often compared to that of Rush, partly because of lead singer Sanchez's vocal range, Dream Theater, for their technical phrasing and intricate time changes, and Yes, partly because of the intracacy and "dueling" style of guitar work. Their technical precision, terse rhythmic phrases and the advanced compostional structures of songs evoke earlier similarly crafted rock. Story elements and melodic themes are cohesively wrought throughout their albums to date. Co&Ca are the most visible arbiters of a new sort of "prog-rock opera" style for the 2000s. Notably, though, the futuristic sci-fi storyline from which all their music is based harkens back to the epic sound and feel of 1970s progressive-rock.

Interpretations

Coheed's albums tell a story, but its details can be difficult to decipher, leading to a morass of speculation by fans spurred on by cryptic lyrics and hints from the band. For example, some fans have suggested that Sanchez's higher vocals reflect the teller of the story (a young boy). Those fans point out that now that the storyteller has grown up in the new album, Sanchez's vocals have become slightly lower-key.[citation needed]

The meanings behind Coheed and Cambria's lyrics are explained in two comic books (The Second Stage Turbine Blade) and one graphic novel (Good Apollo I'm Burning Star IV).

Other projects

  • The Bag On Line Adventures — Claudio Sanchez is writing a graphic novel series to further illustrate this story. There are currently two Second Stage Turbine Blade comic books, illustrated by Wes Abbot, and a graphic novel entitled Good Apollo I'm Burning Star IV Volume 1: From Fear Through The Eyes of Madness, illustrated by Christopher Shy. (It is undetermined whether or not these artists will continue to illustrate the rest of the story.)
  • The Prize Fighter Inferno — Side-project of Claudio Sanchez. An album entitled "My Brother's Blood Machine" is slated for a 2006 release.
  • Weerd Science — Josh Eppard's hip-hop project. An album entitled "Friends and Nervous Breakdowns" has been released on Equal Vision Records.
  • Fire Deuce — Travis Stever's side-project, that has released one EP, "Children of the Deuce".
  • The English Panther — Travis Stever's solo side-project. No album is scheduled for release.

Discography

Includes work done as Shabütie.

Studio albums

The Bag On Line Adventures are being released out of sequence. The first part will be released last, following the second half of Part 4.

Live albums

Year Title Label
2005 Live at the Starland Ballroom EVR/Columbia

EPs

Year Title Label
2000 The Penelope EP Wisteria Records
2000 Delirium Trigger Wisteria Records
2004 Live at La Zona Rosa EVR/Columbia
2005 Live at the Avalon EVR/Columbia

Singles

Year Title Label Album
2003 Devil in Jersey City EVR SSTB
2004 A Favor House Atlantic EVR/Columbia IKSSE:3
2004 Blood Red Summer EVR/Columbia IKSSE:3
2005 Welcome Home EVR/Columbia GAIBS4,V1:FFTEOM
2005 The Suffering EVR/Columbia GAIBS4,V1:FFTEOM

Music videos

  • Delirium Trigger from The Second Stage Turbine Blade (featured on the IKSOSE:3 Albums bonus DVD)
  • Devil in Jersey City from The Second Stage Turbine Blade
  • Devil in Jersey City (Alternate) from The Second Stage Turbine Blade
  • A Favor House Atlantic from In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3
  • Blood Red Summer from In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3
  • Welcome Home from Good Apollo I'm Burning Star IV, Volume One: From Fear Through the Eyes of Madness
  • The Suffering from Good Apollo I'm Burning Star IV, Volume One: From Fear Through the Eyes of Madness
  • A series of six vignettes that showcase music from Good Apollo I'm Burning Star IV, Volume One: From Fear Through the Eyes of Madness (featured on Good Apollo I'm Burning Star IV, Volume One: Special Editions DVD)

See also

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