After the last three songs having little to do with the concept and more to do with personal struggles of the band members, the album takes a turn back into the actual concept. With that comes another love ballad. Going back to the band's earlier acoustic styles seen on songs as "IRO-Bot" and "Wake Up", Coheed presents another soft, beautiful tune that speaks to anyone who has ever been truly in love. Next up on the list for this album is my new favorite Coheed and Cambria acoustic ballad -- "Pearl of the Stars."

Speaking from the concept, Pearl is the name of one of the major characters. Specifically, she's the wife of Dr. Leonard Hohenberger, the scientist who, after the tragic loss of his son Joseph in a protest against Wilhelm Ryan's brutal war against the other Mages, created Coheed, Cambria, and Inferno -- artificial humans with immense powers and abilities -- as a way to stop Ryan. Although the three prove to be more than a match for Ryan's army, there is no real way to fill the void that has been left in Pearl's heart after her son's death. The best way for her to grieve is to take it out on the only person she can. In a way, Leonard bears some responsibility for Joseph's death by allowing him to attend the war protest despite knowing the dangers of such a thing.

But despite the relationship with his wife deteriorating and her sanity slowly crumbling, Leonard holds on to the hope that somehow everything will turn out okay. His love for his wife remains ever strong, no matter what the current situations have done to their lives. That being said, the song solely explores their relationship. I personally love the way this was done. First, there was a song that explore just the relationship between Coheed and Cambria, and then one that was a sort of mix between the two. Now, there's just one that focuses on the darker side of love and relationships.

The song's lyrics are also found in the novel: "Each night I wish to God He'd let her rest" and "I'd give you anything if only I'd have known you'd take it" are such examples. While these quotes are found at far different times within the novel's chronology than they are found in the album's chronology, the relationship between Leonard and Pearl is a critical one within the novel, so it needs a place on the album. And on an album that was influenced by relationships as much as it was struggle, why not add one more song that deals with this theme? Like other love songs on this record, this song gets its influence primarily from Claudio's wife. It's very poetic and personal in so many ways, but it speaks to anyone who's ever truly been in love. The greatest message is that no matter what happens, if you're willing to make it work, your loved one will always be by your side.

As I've said, this is my favorite ballad tune out of Coheed's career thus far. It's haunting yet beautiful, and simple but complex. The effects and piano add a wonderful ambient feel to the song, in keeping with the rest of the album's experimental genre. Further, Claudio's vocals are top-notch for me. The best thing about this is that he's not singing completely in his usual high key. Instead, he incorporates some low key vocals. While I don't think the low-key style is as great as his high-key, it was a well done result nonetheless. Chris' drumming is also what makes this song as haunting as it is. Instead of the conventional drumming, he uses mallets to give the drums a more orchestra-like feel to it, which I completely approve of.