Creativity in Popular Music

I know I'm going to upset a few people with this next statement. Aside from all the critical success, huge album sales, and legions of fans I believe Kurt Cobain did a disservice to music. Since Nirvana landed in the scene in the early 90's with Smells like Teen Spirit everyone has had the perception that if music isn't personal, heartfelt, and wrought with emotion then it isn't any good. I'll be the first to admit that I enjoy honest songwriting that bares the soul of the artist and discloses to the listener sometimes the most raw and vulnerable details of an arist's life. One thing however, is left out of that equation. Creativity. Pre- 90's there were musicians singing personal things and getting praise for it, but the best bands found a way to write about those things cloaked in ornate and imaginative story lines and themes in their music. Led Zeppelin sang of Celtic lore and mythological subject, but there was always an element of emotion woven throughout their songs. The Eagles as well sang these huge opus songs, but at their core taught listeners about themselves through fueling their imaginations and inviting them to dig deeper into the context of their songs.

Within the post- grunge explosion is their an artist like those bands of old that entertained and taught with their creativity and identified something in their craft that went beyond the songs, music, and the members of the band in our midst. I believe there is one such band. In 2001 there was a mini explosion in the music world that pointed this time mainly to the East Coast and gained maybe a third of the buzz that grunge did. It was called Emo. While bands like Jimmy Eat World got plugged Emo, bands that were accepted in the Emo culture were bands that molded elements of punk, hardcore, and pop. While most bands in the genre were singing about broken relationships, their longings for sex/personal intimacy, or how they just didn't fit in, there was a group of guys from New York that were pushing the envelope of the emo revolution.

Coheed and Cambria were bending the rules of the genre while drawing on the creativity used by bands like Led Zeppelin and the Eagles. Coheed's first album, "The Second Stage Turbine Blade" fit nicely into the Emo crowd with its high energy brand of abrasive and visceral rock blended with the extremely high pitched and shrill voice of Claudio, their lead singer. Upon looking closer to that album I realized there was something there that set this band apart from the others they were getting booked with. Their songs were filled with stories of nameless women getting raped, back- alley high crimes, voyages of conflicted characters. Within these stories they begged their listeners to explore qualities of the human condition through their grandiose tales of adventure, pain, and triumph.

2003 saw the release of their highly anticipated follow up "In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3." Releases from some bands demand a certain amount of listening and shelf life in order for a listener to appreciate what the artist has created. Keeping Secrets was certainly one of those releases for me. After falling in love with Second Stage I was ready for more of the same. What I found was a departure from the darker indie sound of Second Stage. Keeping Secrets embodied more of a structured form of song writing with repetitive bridges and catchy choruses. To the untrained ear it would seem that Coheed was selling out and trying to get played on the radio, with overtly catchier songs and a more radio friendly sound. There was also moments where they would reintroduce parts from songs from the previous album, but they wouldn't actually play those songs. To say the least, I was confused, I just didn't get it. I decided that I didn't like the album and I put it back on the shelf. Little did I know that my mind would change a year later.

Apart from my disappointment Keeping Secrets went gold and I once again decided to purchase their '05 follow-up "Good Apollo I'm Burning Star IV- Volume 1: From Fear Through the Eyes of Madness." After one listen I wasn't sure. After two, three, and four I was still undecided and after five I began to notice something. I noticed that they were doing something that went beyond creating an album that would stand on its own. They were creating once again a lush story line, but they were also mixing elements of their two previous albums and adding them with new elements to create a unique amalgamation of blue grass, grand arena rock, and heartfelt ballads. Just like a good story teller changes tone and verbal style Coheed changed the elements of their craft to emphasize different story lines and characters. The more I listened the deeper I was taken into the album. I would lose track of time while listening and then I would shelve it. Every now and then I would get songs from the album stuck in my head and I would pull it out again and would once again enjoy so much. Every time I would listen I would notice something new. Whether it was the countless tempo changes, the mixing of first album lyrics with second album music, the recycling of themes throughout the entire album, and the incredible use of flashback. What they were doing was both unprecedented and brilliant they had created three albums that built off one another. I was so lost in euphoria over the third album that I got out the other two albums and would listen to them in order. I had never been so awestruck by a single band or album like I was with Coheed and Good Apollo. As much as I always wanted to believe, Coheed had shown me that the worth of an album went far beyond slick production, catchy guitar riffs, and heart felt lyrics. An album is a creation just like anything else and nothing impresses and humbles me more than seeing a group so concerned with what they create that they focus so much energy on making it so complex and worth while for everyone who partakes. Music is one thing that allows different people to come together to appreciate one thing. No one has done this better in recent years than Coheed and Cambria.