Monday, January 31, 2011
"So long, Amory... Please drive me home one last time"
5:59 PM | 
Posted by
Kevin
I wasn't much of a fan of No World for Tomorrow when it was released. I loved the songs, undoubtedly, as I did with any and all Coheed records. But, something always felt lacking, for reasons I couldn't quite explain. Suffice to say that when the final song, "The End Complete V: On the Brink" played out, I was originally disappointed. For the final song of the album and thus the final song in the story, this song originally felt like a let-down.
Perhaps it had something to do with me expecting another "Willing Well" like song that was incredibly progressive and heavy. Maybe the repeated screams of "Hail!" turned me off. Whatever my reasons could have been (though I still am not sure what they were), "On the Brink" didn't suit my tastes for a while.
But then during the band's Neverender tour I saw videos of the song being posted online. Though I've yet to see the song performed live for myself, what I saw through YouTube blew my mind. As of this day, "On the Brink" is now, in my opinion, one of the most underrated songs of Coheed's career.
The song begins in a low key. From the start, I get this feeling that there's still some bit of unhappiness left. This somber mood continues for all of about forty seconds before the guitar comes in. Even here, the mood is still quite solemn. The keyboards of course help to add to this atmosphere. In fact, they keys add so much more to the song and the rest of the album that I applaud the band for adding in this new element to their work. Then the drums come in a simple beat, keeping the rhythm smooth while Claudio Sanchez comes in with yet another example of his continued growth as a singer. His vocals are some of the best on this song. From "The worlds have now learned..." to "So long, Amory..." they're very melodic and eerie.
But Coheed and Cambria aren't quite done. As I've said, though the song isn't quite as epic as some of their other closers, "On the Brink" does save room for one final act of awesomeness. Slowly, the music builds up as the piano plays a hooky tune, the drums get louder in volume, and the guitars and bass chug along. And then:
Perhaps it had something to do with me expecting another "Willing Well" like song that was incredibly progressive and heavy. Maybe the repeated screams of "Hail!" turned me off. Whatever my reasons could have been (though I still am not sure what they were), "On the Brink" didn't suit my tastes for a while.
But then during the band's Neverender tour I saw videos of the song being posted online. Though I've yet to see the song performed live for myself, what I saw through YouTube blew my mind. As of this day, "On the Brink" is now, in my opinion, one of the most underrated songs of Coheed's career.
The song begins in a low key. From the start, I get this feeling that there's still some bit of unhappiness left. This somber mood continues for all of about forty seconds before the guitar comes in. Even here, the mood is still quite solemn. The keyboards of course help to add to this atmosphere. In fact, they keys add so much more to the song and the rest of the album that I applaud the band for adding in this new element to their work. Then the drums come in a simple beat, keeping the rhythm smooth while Claudio Sanchez comes in with yet another example of his continued growth as a singer. His vocals are some of the best on this song. From "The worlds have now learned..." to "So long, Amory..." they're very melodic and eerie.
But Coheed and Cambria aren't quite done. As I've said, though the song isn't quite as epic as some of their other closers, "On the Brink" does save room for one final act of awesomeness. Slowly, the music builds up as the piano plays a hooky tune, the drums get louder in volume, and the guitars and bass chug along. And then:
"HAIL!
HAIL!
HAIL!
HAIL!"
This whole bridge goes on for at least 57 repetitions. No, I'm not kidding. "Hail!" is literally screamed 57 times, all the while the instruments mostly play the same beats and melodies for a near minute. Cheesy? Very. Pretty cool? Definitely. Epic? Absolutely. At least, in this reviewer's opinion. Even then, the song isn't over. After the last scream, the song slows down once more, allowing the listener some time to relax and take a breath while listening to a calming piano interlude. But of course, Coheed and Cambria must end this song and The Amory Wars with a bang. The guys jam out to one last session including all instruments as they essentially play a rendition of "The Final Cut." I think in doing this, it helps to bring the story to a circle. As this album is the second volume to the Good Apollo series, it feels fitting in a way to include a theme from both albums.
But wait! What about the story? What's going on in this song? Well, as I've said about many songs off this album I'm not entirely sure at all. If we assume Heaven's Fence is destroyed in the previous song, and Wilhelm Ryan defeated before that, what's next? To me, I like to believe this song is a final meeting between Claudio Kilgannon and the Writer. I like to believe this meeting would occur in some parallel universe that only these two can see. Now, Claudio Sanchez has stated the Writer has no relevance to this part of the story, but I just can't get over this feeling. I just think it feels... right. So, am I being far-fetched? Yeah, but until the comics are released, I won't know one way or the other.
I simply think this song is about Claudio meeting the Writer, who apologizes for everything. He confirms to Claudio that even if the world he lived in might have been fiction, it was a very real world. Knowing the pain he's caused Claudio by creating events as they are, The Writer offers Claudio a chance to escape the story world and live in the "real world." Claudio declines, perhaps realizing he'd rather be with his family after all that's happened.
Returning to the fictional world, I believe the "Hails" are the countless souls of Heaven's Fence praising the Crowing, their savior. During this moment, a final Crowing scream is heard. To me, this signifies the end of Claudio's life. And finally, I believe the breakdown that follows the "Hails" up until the end seems like something that could be where credits would start to roll if this were a movie.
The Amory Wars is over. But, I still have one final album to review -- the prequel.
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