The Angry Nerd Would Like to Have a (One-Sided) Discussion
So here’s something you may not know: this is also going to be a music blog (sort of). I have kind of a broad and very mood-defined music tastes. There are, however, several pillars of my constantly evolving taste. By “pillars” I mean bands/artists that I will always love no matter what. One of these is a rock/alternative band known as Coheed and Cambria.
I’ve been a fan of this band since my Freshman year of high school. For several years before this they were a kind of annoying presence in my life that a friend of mine played a lot when we hung out. Then one day he said, “You know they have a sci-fi story behind all of their albums right?” The week afterwards on a night when I was home alone, I sat at my kitchen table with my (then) hulking, old laptop and listened to all 4 albums they had out at the time while reading a summary of the story online while each album played. Nowadays, I have their entire discography, have seen them half-a-dozen times, and have spent more on their merch/comic books than I will ever care to admit. Their music, ambitious concept, and general love for what they do absolutely entranced me. In fact, they came out with a new song today and I’ve been listening to it almost non-stop since like noon.
But there has long been a pall over my beloved, awesome concept band. Many a time have I heard them described as “emo” or “pop punk” or even the dreaded “screamo”. It disheartens me to hear such things said for one simple reason: anybody who says that they are any of the above is MISSING THE FUCKING POINT OF THE BAND AND ITS MUSIC.
Screamo, and its kindred are about unleashing raw emotion. There’s very rarely any larger design to any of the kind of art that those bands produce. I’m not saying its bad music, and I’m sure a screamo band’s concert would be completely wild. However, to say that Coheed and Cambria, a band with a motherfucking classically trained frontman AND lead guitarist, that went from getting booed out of dives in New York and North Jersey to selling out venues all over the world while creating an incredible, grimdark space opera on the side is not the same as screaming one’s lungs out for the enjoyment of the masses. It’s true, they have toured with screamo bands and played events like Warped Tour, but my boy (the lead singer) Claudio Sanchez unleashes his screaming muscles very rarely, and usually tastefully. It’s just a tool for him, not his only one. Coheed and Cambria deserves to be mentioned with true rock bands like the Black Keys, Arctic Monkeys, and The Killers, even though their style is vastly different.
I know this post ain’t going to change shit really. Just had to explain why I get all indignant whenever somebody lumps in Coheed and Cambria with bands I’ve never seen any reason to associate them with. They’ll keep being misunderstood, I’ll keep loving the shit out of them, and hopefully, they get the gods-damned recognition they deserve.