And now tonight's second feature -- "Crossing the Frame." This is yet another awesome title. It also happens to be a very interesting and revealing title when taken into the story's context. I'm sorry this is going to be a massive info dump, but I can't really see any other way of explaining this song without giving a lot away. With that, ready for total mindfuckery?

The story has taken on a twist. Every event that has taken place within Heaven's Fence -- Wilhelm Ryan's conquest, Coheed and Cambria's deaths, Jesse's rebellion, the rise of Claudio as the Crowing, all of it -- is mere fiction.

You read correctly. No, I don't mean that it's obvious fiction in that it was written by the real-life Claudio Sanchez. I mean that within the story, there's another. The Writer character created the story of Claudio Kilgannon and his life. While the story was originally the Writer's way of escape, his failed relationship with Erica has caused him to spiral into madness. The story has become a burden and now he wants to finish it in the way he meant it to end -- with the destruction of the Keywork and Heaven's Fence. However, another part of him doesn't want to give up his beloved work simply to end his suffering. This is where the two worlds -- the world of the Writer, and the world of his creation -- collide, an almost literal crossing of the frames.

The most interesting thing about this is that we get to see how the Writer's life influenced his story. The song makes references to the character known as Newo, who as shown on earlier albums is the former girlfriend of protagonist Claudio Kilgannon, who had to leave Newo behind as he fled his home world. "Crossing the Frame" switches back and forth between the Writer's world and the world of Heaven's Fence, and we discover that the hatred the Writer has for Erica has manifested in Newo -- just as Erica became unfaithful to the Writer, so has Newo become unfaithful to Claudio. Claudio realizes this (not yet knowing that his entire life is nothing but fiction), and just as the Writer comes to hate Erica, so has Claudio come to feel betrayed and hurt by Newo.

However, there is the other part of Erica's character -- the part that the Writer still loves. I won't discuss that here right now, because the important part is the relationship between the Writer and Claudio.

Perhaps it's because I'm such a big fan and I'm really trying to invest myself into the story, but I personally think this is getting good. So Claudio Sanchez broke the fourth wall and used a rather cliched technique. I think he did it magnificently.

I couldn't really get too much into music aspect of the song without repeating what I said about "Ten Speed." The short story is that the song is upbeat and catchy. It's not the "pop" style catchy, but it's enough to warrant many listens simply because it's a fun song. When I first heard this record it was actually my favorite from the bunch. I've never heard it played live save for what can be found on the internet, but I hope to someday.