GOOD APOLLO, I'M BURNING STAR IV, VOLUME ONE - FROM FEAR THROUGH THE EYES OF MADNESS

I love this album. Everyone else seems to be obsessing over No World For Tomorrow though, and I still can't get into it as much. This is my #1 favorite album of all-time, and it has been since it came out. I know this sounds shallow, seeing as it only came out in 2005, but it's true. I'll go to listen to other albums, and eventually, I'll always come back to this album. I never get sick of this one.

Keeping the Blade is a nice opener, I love the band's explanation of the merging of the intro tracks from In Keeping Secrets, and Second Stage. They say that merging two beginnings (said intro tracks) can only mean that all that's left is the end. It was a successful transition, and I like the newly written part in this track as well.

The fade into Always and Never seems almost Broadway-esque, but I think that might be why I like it so much. The second half of the opening riff in Always and Never seems to invite the listener in to hear the story that this band wants to tell you. I'm not raving about the noises of small children's laughter in this track, but it's obviously story-related.

Welcome Home makes me feel like an army is marching through my dorm room/car/headphones/wherever I am when I'm listening to it. It's such a great song, and the solos are really fitting, not seeming out of place at all. Though the end does get a little repetitive, I feel like they ended it just in time.

Ten Speed (Of God's Blood and Burial) is an incredibly catchy song, with an interesting explanation of story material. This song is about the main character's battle between himself and his subconscious self in his head, which takes the form of a bicycle (named Ten Speed, obviously.) Ten Speed is trying to encourage the character to kill off the main love interest in the story, and the positioning of the lyrics in this song really makes the listener envision a conversation going back and forth between the character and Ten Speed, especially in the chorus. (Claudio's different vocal tones are most likely used to designate two separate characters.)

Crossing the Frame always comes off to me as Ten Speed II. But that doesn't make it a bad thing. It doesn't quite carry the momentum of Ten Speed, but it's still fun to listen to, and carries along the same tempo and mood as Ten Speed, which really prepares the listener for a dynamic change just in time for Apollo I: The Writing Writer.

Apollo I: The Writing Writer has a sadistic mood to it, and I love the lyrics. The bass groove in the verses are really inexplicably fun to listen to, and the whole song, even though it repeats a little bit, is still really well-written, and you can taste a tinge of prog in this song.

Once Upon Your Dead Body is the Orange to Apollo I's apple. It seems a little out of place, but this song picks up a little bit, and towards the end of this song, it becomes fun to listen to. At this tempo, and in this mood, you can pick out Josh Eppard's skillful drumming, with which he is gracefully modest.

Wake Up is one of my least favorite songs, and I think that this song is the Cloverfield of the album. It's great the first time, then it kinda descends after that. It seems to carry on for just one chorus repetition too long, but it doesn't necessarily ruin the album for me by any means.

The Suffering is #2/3 of my least favorite songs, just because this song is incredibly out of place in terms of mood and structure. But, I guess every band needs a catchy single that they can spam the airwaves with. It's too bad that this had to be the result of that, especially since this song still really only serves as filler as far as the story goes.

The Lying Lies and Dirty Secrets of Miss Erica Court is a very subtle song, until it gets going, but I like the mood that it starts in, slowly building until it gets to the chorus. Once the chorus comes along, Claudio wails on his vocals, and the emphasis of the song sits in the chorus and later sections. Nothing too technically interesting here, but still a good song to build tension with, for the conclusion of the album.

Mother May I is #3/3 of sore thumbs of this album for me. It starts out a little oddly, then it starts to switch back to normal. I'm not sure that Josh Eppard's syncopation was what this track needed at the beginning, but the chorus or refrain section is interesting. The tempo is good for Claudio's 'Heed-ish style of guitaring, though.

The Willing Well I: From Fear Through The Eyes of Madness. YES. I love this song. This is one of my three favorite songs on this album, and this song is also a major contributor to my love for this album. I think Coheed excels on technical parts, and I think that might be a reason why I didn't enjoy the new album as much. The guitar lines in this song fit the cool time switches well, and I love some of the vocal processing and general sound modifications that they use in this song. So creepy and neat to listen to, at the same time.

The Willing Well II: Fuel For the Feeding End SEEMS out of place at first, but I think it's supposed to, because within the story, this song takes place in a completely different setting/mindset of the characters, which is why it goes from a happy-go-lucky mood to a strangely sinister, sick progression.

The Willing Well III: Apollo II: The Telling Truth isn't much different from Apollo I, besides the bridge section and on. I will say that I've never heard a repeated section of an album pulled off so well. I think this song sits here with good reason, establishing the plot of the story, and once again pounding the plot into the readers' heads, before something drastic happens in The Final Cut.

The Willing Well IV: The Final Cut is one of my three favorite tracks on this album for so many reasons. Seeing them play this song live is even better, because they just keep going on a jam-session sort of escapade. On the Last Supper DVD, this song goes on for upwards of 10 minutes, but I love how jazzy/bluesy it is. The solos are great, and I couldn't have asked for a better closing track.

I HAVE to give this album a 5. I won't say that this album is PURE prog, because honestly, it's not. The influence is definitely there however, and the small pieces of prog thrown into here and there are definitely true works of art.