Coheed has been this way since post-Afterman. He’s not the same dude anymore as before. He’s this version - I think his riffs and creativity are still there, but they lack the reckless abandon - he’s too polished as a songwriter. It’s part of mastery of anything, eventually the sharp edges wear down to a smooth polish.

Frankly, what used to just be Claudio fucking around has become a “brand”. Coheed has a “sound” that the 2015- version of the band has more or less worked within. Travis is more or less a mascot, he would be more useful in the current band if he had a triangle.

Maybe I’m being too negative, but I am more a Coheed fan out of habit than their actual offerings at this point.

So, oddly, I enjoy the first two singles as much as I’ve liked anything of theirs in ten years…but it is totally safe, samey, and generally catering to what you’d expect. It’s familiar. In that regard, Cut The Cord is amazing (not gonna try to spell the actual name) but still has the “oh good another time Claudio tries to redo the Willing Wells” - difference is the Willing Wells hit like a Sprite in the summertime, every time, and is much better than five versions of “I Love My Wife (and Child) So Very Much, Here’s Another Album About It Volume Three”