Main Street Music

Reviews:

It doesn't take a lot of internal strife to unravel a band, and road break-ups are often discussed in the past tense from the separate perspectives of new band situations for everyone involved.

Coheed and Cambria found themselves on the wrong end of this rock and roll clicher nearly dissolving on the six-month tour following the 2002 release of their acclaimed debut, The Second Stage Turbine Blade. Amazingly, rather than packing it in, C and C avoided the ignominy of breaking up after their first album and mended their fences to create the dark and passionate In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3.

Blending elements from a number of like-minded genres, from emo ("Three Evils [Embodied in Love and Shadow]") to prog rock (the title track) to arena rock ("A Favor House Atlantic") to metal ("The Crowing"), Coheed and Cambria have woven an intricate sonic tapestry that offers the contemporary conceptual hard rock majesty of Spock's Beard and Conspiracy while referencing the classic structure of genre masters like Rush and King Crimson. "Blood Red Summer" shows C and C's pop heart as it glides along with an almost Beatle-esque bounce, while "The Velourium Camper" suite in three acts runs the gamut of the band's technical facility. With a heavier hand, material like this would drag and meander, but Coheed and Cambria have struck the proper balance between darkness and light, prog and pop, pummeling brutality and a delicate subtlety.