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:

It's moments like this that make me realize that I don't quite care what anyone says about No World for Tomorrow. Perhaps it doesn't feel quite as memorable as previous records, but the album does have its truly wonderful moments. This is one of those moments.

As we get closer to the end of this album -- and, I remind again, the end of the story -- Coheed and Cambria add one last catchy, ballad like song to the mix. But it's a different sort of ballad. It isn't as anything like "The Light & the Glass," "Wake Up," or "Mother Superior." Instead, it's more like a dance. The rhythm to the song is simple and bouncy.

"The End Complete IV: The Road and the Damned" plays out in a beat that's very similar to a waltz, which is why I said it sounds like a dance ballad (though it's lyrical content and melody still mean it wouldn't be much of a thing to dance to). More to the point, the song is a rather simple tune, at least in comparison to the rest of "The End Complete" series. The song is accompanied with beautiful piano work that plays in sync with the guitars. To me, this song seems to have been made with the idea of being something to groove to. Which is fine, because since Coheed and Cambria are a concept band with a grand story to tell, the lyrics add a whole new dynamic.

Now, given how "The Road and the Damned" sounds -- upbeat, hooky, even a bit optimistic --  you might think I'm crazy for coming up with this interpretation, but here it goes. I can only think that this song is the narration of Claudio fulfilling his task as the Crowing. Using the powers given to him as the Crowing, he burns Star IV (after all, that's what the last two albums dealt with, right?), and in so doing destroys the Keywork holding all of Heaven's Fence together. By doing this, he has allowed the souls of all who gave their lives to fight back during Ryan's tyrannical rule. Why do I come to that conclusion? Well, the answer is in the title of this post.


Okay, so that was a rather grim and perhaps unsatisfying explanation, but that's because I suck at these things. Truthfully, the idea sounds much better in my head than it does written down.

As of this past Monday, I'm officially in my last semester at college. I've taken on 18 units (translate: 6 classes, for those of you who don't know what I mean), four of which are three hour long Art classes, one English class, and the last is a Computer Technologies course. And as of yesterday, the first week is over. Only fifteen more to go.

The English and Computer courses are lower division, which I chose in order to help balance out the workload that I'll no doubt be receiving from my Art classes. One of these courses is called Senior Projects -- a class where you learn the business side of the major you've chosen, and how to market yourself in that career. As I've never been the type of person who's confident in his abilities or outgoing enough to seek out people, this class is scaring me at the moment. It doesn't help that I've also got a ton of homework to do over the weekend.

So why am I posting a blog instead of working? Don't worry, I'll get to it as soon as I'm done.

I just wanted to post my thoughts about what this means for me. The truth is that I'm scared. I don't think I know of too many people who aren't, when this time finally rolls by. After several years of work, some of it involving the constant changing of majors, you're truly not prepared for what's out there. I guess that this reality finally hit me, because it's my last semester and I'm just as clueless as the next person where I'm headed and what my life will have in store for me. I've got some short term goals: move out, work hard in what field I can afford, practice and get better at my skills. The long term goals... well, I'm still working on those.

But, in spite of that, I'm choosing to continue to do what I've always tried to do: take each day a step at a time. I'm not expecting to land an awesome job right after I graduate (and I've always hated that some of my classmates DO expect that), but I do hope that once this is all over I'll have time to take a breather and relax. I might take a whole year off and just work, and might go on the grad school. I'll use the time to hone my skills day after day, so that I can benefit myself and any future family I might have.

In the meantime, it's time for one final stretch of working hard, so that all this work will pay off. So, I say to all of those out there, in college or not, who are making such big decisions and changes in their lives: Good luck!

And I end this with a quote from one of my favorite t.v. series of all time:

It's finally come down to this. With his plans to overthrow God and consume all life within Heaven's Fence scuppered, his right hand General having been defeated, and his base of operations most likely a smoking ruin, Wilhelm Ryan has fled to Star IV, or some planet nearby. However, Claudio Kilgannon -- the Crowing, the one destined to destroy Ryan and save all of Heaven's Fence by freeing their souls from the Keywork -- followed him. Now, the final confrontation is at hand.

Dramatic, isn't it? Yes, I like to go a little over the top. This is all pure speculation anyway. As I've said before, I won't likely know the true stories behind these last few songs until Claudio either elaborates more on them or until the corresponding comics are released. In the meantime, it's fun to come up with one's own interpretations. Given that Ryan always feared that one of Coheed and Cambria's children would possess the power to overthrow him, I feel safe in assuming this moment would occur. And that's where the song with the most redundant title comes into the picture.

"The End Complete III: The End Complete" has to be some sort of confrontation, given the lyrics and style. It's not exactly an aggressive piece of music, but much of the lyrical content indicates some manner of judgment. Within the comics, Claudio Kilgannon as the Crowing is said to be God's juror, who would judge the souls of the Keywork. This includes Ryan, and thus this is why I believe this song is about their final battle. Such indications are: "You are the jury, we are the saints", and "Now spite me, jury, we've come for change." Further, the garbled vocalization during the bridge is this:

"The End Complete II: Radio Bye Bye" was a strange song when I first heard it. Well... actually, it's still a strange song. Coming after the mediocre and disappointing song that was "The Fall of House Atlantic," this song shows the full band back on. And coming right after that last one, it's a welcoming change. Time to bring the mood of the album back into a rocking tune.

Part of this strangeness is due to the song having one of the weirdest titles. I couldn't help but wonder what a radio had to do with the story. But then again, what the hell do I know? Coheed and Cambria aren't exactly a normal band by most means. All I know is the song goes on and on about 'curses' and 'radios' and whatnot. It's repetitive and slightly irritating.

But despite the song's obnoxious lyrics, "Radio Bye Bye" is definitely one of the catchiest tunes on No World for Tomorrow. It's incredibly groovy. Just take a listen to the song played live:




The story is incredibly hard to decipher at this stage. Many people believe that Wilhelm Ryan is on the run and Claudio Kilgannon is giving chase. But just where is Ryan running to? Well, I personally believe it's Star IV, or a planet nearby. I mean, this album and the previous are the Good Apollo, I'm Burning Star IV albums, so there's got to be at least SOME mention of Star IV in this album right? Right?!

Ahem... sorry.

But anyway, that seems the simplest explanation to me. Ryan is fleeing, with the Crowing directly behind him, and the song sounds to me to be coming from Claudio's perspective. The final battle is about to commence.

I don't think too much of "Radio Bye Bye." It's nothing too special. But unlike the previous song, this song is at least catchier and more groovy. It just pales because it comes directly before what I think is the album's best track. "Radio Bye Bye" doesn't rank too high in my list of favorites. It's just lacking, to me, in ways the rest of the "The End Complete" series succeeds at.

This is it. After years of turmoil and suffering, Wilhelm Ryan's hold over Heaven's Fence is coming to an end. The devastating attack on his headquarters and the subsequent loss of his right hand man Mayo Deftinwolf have out the Supreme Tri-Mage on the run. The only thing that he ever feared was the Crowing -- the messianic messenger of God that would ultimately save Heaven's Fence by destroying it, and stop Ryan along with it.

With General Deftinwolf dead and Ryan escaping, House Atlantic easily falls. And with that, the story's ending begins with the appropriately titled "The End Complete I: The Fall of House Atlantic."

T"The End Complete" series is no where near the quality of epic songwriting that was "The Willing Well" series of From Fear Through the Eyes of Madness. They're a lot shorter and more light hearted. However, they still have some good moments of rocking out. Unfortunately, this song is not one of them.

This review is short, because there's really not much I can get into about this song. I once said there wasn't a Coheed song I didn't like. Well, I was wrong. I've forgotten. I've never been much of a fan of this song, because it's... well, boring. It's repetitive, uninteresting, and frankly disappointing. When I first heard the title of this song, I suppose I was expecting something more epic.

Every band, at some point in their career, will find that one song (or perhaps more than one) that's the hardest to perform; not because of the song's technical skill, but because of what that song means to the songwriter.

For Coheed and Cambria, or at least Claudio Sanchez -- who writes all the lyrics -- "Justice in Murder" is that song. I'll go ahead and let Claudio himself explain his view:




If you skipped the video entirely (it's only just over a minute, you lazy-ass), I'll reiterate. "Justice in Murder" brings back memories of Claudio's dying aunt. Alzheimer's disease affects many people around the world, and watching anyone go through it is unbearable. I couldn't even imagine what the person with the actual disease feels. Anyway, I digress. But, Claudio's aunt helped Claudio and Travis stay together as a band when they were on the verge of break up due to Mic's and Josh's departures.

Unfortunately, in the eyes of a lot of Coheed and Cambria fans, this song doesn't hold up well. Sadly, I believe I see their point.

"Justice in Murder" sounds like something straight out of a 80s metal album, the difference being Claudio's vocals. It's a very straightforward song that literally follows the verse-chorus-verse-chorus-solo-chorus of generic songs. The riffs are very simple (at least by comparison to the more experimental styles of previous records), the drums don't provide anything that's really noteworthy, and overall the song is just very generic. I would say that most fans of the band have come to expect something, anything more unique. Which is quite sad.

However, the flaws that can be found in "Justice in Murder" don't make it a bad song in my opinion. I liked it from the first moment I heard it. It's a hard edged song that only serves to add to the aggression that the final album of an intense story needs. Plus, the chorus is as catchy as any chorus Coheed has done before.


I apologize for this review really not having much substance. I just feel it's very clear what's going on in this song. It's all too simple to really get into it very much. Stay tuned! "The End Complete" is coming up.