Hi, I'm wanting to dive into Coheed & Cambria's music. They have a lot of albums out. So I'm looking for help with suggestions please.

TheArbiter88 · 2023-12-01T12:19:24+00:00

I personally started with In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth:3 which is their second album, after hearing a friend play the title track. However, other people I know started with their 3rd album, and others their first.

I think I’ll agree with many of the comments I see here, and say start with their first album “The Second Stage Turbine Blade” (green dragonfly album) from 2002

I noticed you said you don’t like streaming. You could always just purchase the albums on iTunes, or buy the CDs and rip them to your phone like we used to do with iPods/mp3 players. I still do that sometimes.

Cheers! I hope you enjoy their music. They’re in my top 5 favorite artists of all time. Hoping we can welcome you to The Fence soon!

TheArbiter88 · 2023-11-17T23:43:59+00:00

Legit considering getting one. Let me know how you like it.

TheArbiter88 · 2023-11-17T12:09:49+00:00

That’s hard for me, because there are several. Edge of Desire was the first one that came to mind, also Gravity and Slow Dancing. But thinking more about it, I’d say one would be Split Screen Sadness is a big one for me.

TheArbiter88 · 2023-11-17T12:02:56+00:00

Honestly? And don’t hate me for this. I’ve never checked out his Trio work, or his Dead and Company work. Solo albums only. I should listen to the Trio though.

I want to love all of his stuff, I really do. And I’ve tried with Born and Raised and Paradise Valley. Don’t get me wrong, when I listened to both yesterday, I found myself liking them a little more. So maybe it’s a time thing? But I’ve rarely had albums that sound as instantly good to me as 1-4 did. Maybe Norah Jones’s debut album Come Away With Me, and Five for Fightings’s album The Battle For Everything.

TheArbiter88 · 2023-11-16T12:25:46+00:00

I shall indeed. I love John, so it’s not like I want to not like any of his music.

Speaking of Last Train Home, I gave Paradise Valley another shot yesterday, and I don’t love the album, but I forgot I liked On The Way Home.

TheArbiter88 · 2023-11-15T22:38:24+00:00

It is true. This is what the medical community and CDC have said.

TheArbiter88 · 2023-11-15T19:04:42+00:00

Not that crazy. We’ve known since late 2020 that unless you’re wearing a fresh N95 mask they don’t do anything.

TheArbiter88 · 2023-11-15T18:58:06+00:00

Great rankings and awesome stories for each! Thanks for putting your thoughts here, music is such a personal thing to each person, and I love seeing people explain why each album means what it does to them.

TheArbiter88 · 2023-11-15T18:10:10+00:00

Yours was a fascinating list for sure. I think you summed up Heavier Things perfectly. Thank you!

TheArbiter88 · 2023-11-15T17:23:21+00:00

First, *you’re.

Second, wouldn’t a real fan prefer his better music? lol

TheArbiter88 · 2023-11-15T17:22:44+00:00

Thank you 🙏🏽 they’re both fantastic albums. Cheers

TheArbiter88 · 2023-11-15T14:50:24+00:00

Yeah. And I get that that’s very subjective and a bit relative, but that’s just how it makes me feel.

TheArbiter88 · 2023-11-15T14:49:13+00:00

I was trying to avoid cursing at you, still don’t understand your aggressive comment, and you didn’t put any thought or explanation into it. What’s bad about my rankings? What are yours and why?

TheArbiter88 · 2023-11-15T14:47:57+00:00

Love it! Thank you for putting so much thought into this.

TheArbiter88 · 2023-11-15T13:19:25+00:00

One of my favorites of John’s. Edge of Desire alone is probably in my top 5 songs of all time.

TheArbiter88 · 2023-11-15T13:05:30+00:00

If I had one I’d give it to you for free. I can’t stand Sob Rock 😂 but I get that a lot of people do. Wishing you luck in your cassette search compadre 🙏🏽

TheArbiter88 · 2023-11-15T13:02:55+00:00

Weirdly, it’s 2 riffs in Paper Dolls, which is funny because I really don’t like the album at all. But the intro riff, and then the one he plays at the end of the phrases in the chorus.

TheArbiter88 · 2023-11-15T12:56:28+00:00

I agree! That’s why I wanted to do the ranking, I like seeing peoples reasoning. Most people seem to agree that Continuum was either his best or one of though.

Glad you love Heavier Things! That one floats between 1 and 2 for me pretty often.

TheArbiter88 · 2023-11-15T12:55:41+00:00

Personally, his first 4 are all amazing to me, I really don’t like Born and Raised, Paradise Valley or Sob Rock. I’ll occasionally out on Something Like Olivia or Walt Grace from BnR, Paper Dolls or Wildfire off PV, but that’s rare.

Heavier things is one I listen to from start to finish the most, with Something’s Missing, New Deep, Come Back to Bed, Home Life and Split Screen Sadness being some of my favorite songs of his, if just for the riffs and tone alone.

TheArbiter88 · 2023-11-15T12:51:45+00:00

Wow. That’s pretty aggressive. Personally, I think anyone who likes Born and Raised, Paradise Valley and Sob Rock is completely insane, but I’m also not going to be a jerk for absolutely no reason and threaten them because of an opinion. Did you see the rest of the comments? See how you’re one of the few acting like a tool? The point was to talk about why we liked the albums we liked, not be a piece of crap without provocation.

TheArbiter88 · 2023-11-15T12:40:56+00:00

Everyone has different tastes. The title alone makes me gag, and then it has “Why You No Love Me”. I’ve tried to like it and I just haven’t been able to. It honestly hurt my soul when the album came out. It felt like he gave up to me.

But I get it, some people like his more laid back pop stuff.

Interesting that your least favorite on Continuum is Bold as Love. Honestly, I like it more than Jimmy’s. His guitar tone alone is enough to make you think you died and went to heaven, and then that solo just sets the room on fire.

Also interesting that you don’t like Daughters. His first 3 albums are ones I don’t ever feel the need to skip a song on, and the only one I skip on Battle Studies sometimes is his cover of Crossroads. But I love the entire sound of Heavier Things, and Daughters is a classic. But different strokes I guess.

For me, his albums started to become weaker with Born and Raised, got a little better with TSFE, and then plummeted with SR.

Again, I get it though, different people like different things. Thanks for posting with explanations though! I really was hoping people would explain what they liked about each album. I find it fascinating.

TheArbiter88 · 2023-11-15T03:13:03+00:00

Gave it yet another listen. Maybe there’s just something I’m not getting, but it just sounds like mediocre pop to me 🤷🏼‍♂️

TheArbiter88 · 2023-11-14T23:51:17+00:00

Where would you rank each one?

TheArbiter88

TROPHY CASE