Year of the Black Rainbow by Coheed and Cambria:

If you’re a fan of Coheed and Cambria, you were no doubt anxiously awaiting the release of the group’s fifth album, Year of the Black Rainbow. On April 13, the highly anticipated album finally dropped in stores and hit iTunes. Of course, if you’ve been looking forward to the album, you already knew that. What you’re really waiting for is some idea of what to expect when you get around to buying (or downloading) the album.

Year of the Black Rainbow is an interesting album, particularly for those who have already established a fanship, due to the fact that it’s sort of an in-between album. What do I mean by that? Well, the album isn’t entirely what we’ve come to expect from Coheed and Cambria, but at the same time, Year of the Black Rainbow doesn’t go in an entirely different direction from what fans are used to.

In case you didn’t know (or never realized), Coheed and Cambria’s first four albums were highly story-based, with each one being a concept album that connected to the stories of the other albums. Year of the Black Rainbow was made as a prequel to the series of stories, yet it doesn’t maintain the same storytelling feel of its predecessors. Instead, this album is more of a stand-alone, which isn’t a bad thing, just different from what fans would expect.
Musically, Year of the Black Rainbow is very much the same Coheed and Cambria we’ve known for years, but with a few tweaks made here and there.

The group has always had a sound that is distinctly its own—due both to the instrumental styling and singer Claudio Sanchez’s easily recognizable voice—and that sound remains in Year of the Black Rainbow. However, there is a much heavier feel to this album than previous ones.

Where the group’s prior albums had a definite catchiness factor to them, with some songs being on the verge of peppy, Year of the Black Rainbow keeps things a little darker. The extra edge actually works pretty well, except for the fact that, if listened to straight through, the songs tend to blur together. It’s as if the group’s members found a new sound that they liked, but didn’t quite know how to proceed further with it.

Even Sanchez’s voice takes a different approach on this album.

Rather than getting the frequent high notes that distinguish Sanchez’s voice from any other singer’s, listeners get to hear his voice brought down just a few notches, and kept at a more even level.

It would be impossible to completely overhaul Sanchez’s characteristic vocals, but there is a change that, while subtle, is still noticeable.

While it’s clear that Coheed and Cambria tried to take things in a new direction with Year of the Black Rainbow, it does feel as though the group played it safe and didn’t push the envelope as far as it could have, which is unfortunate because the album ends up being left in a mild state of limbo between the older material and something really different.

All told, though, Year of the Black Rainbow is a solid album, especially when you start to feel more familiar with the newer sound.

Coheed and Cambria definitely deserves credit for trying to change things up, and Year of the Black Rainbow is definitely worth the listen.

Congratulations by MGMT:

My first exposure to MGMT was three years ago when the group opened for of Montreal at a show at The Pageant. Oracular Spectacular had been released about a month earlier, but there were still only murmurings about this band that was bringing a ‘60s-psychedelic feel back to music. Having seen of Montreal before, I knew how brilliant of a live show the group put on, and knew that whoever opened the show would have to be pretty outstanding to compare.
When MGMT took the stage, I was absolutely blown away. Members Ben Goldwasser and Andrew VanWyngarden brought a fresh sound and stellar stage presence, and genuinely seemed like they were having fun while they performed. I was hooked instantly. Needless to say, I was more than a little excited when I heard MGMT was working on a new album.

Well, the new record, Congratulations, was released on Tuesday and, honestly, it’s a little disappointing.
What shot MGMT to fame with Oracular Spectacular was the musical style. While reminiscent of music from the ‘60s, it still felt completely new; it was catchy, it was fun, it was different from most other stuff out there. With Congratulations, something got lost.

The sophomore effort from any band is always the most challenging, especially if the band started out with a strong debut. On Congratulations, it’s fairly evident that MGMT was well aware that it had to make a good follow-up to Oracular Spectacular—maybe too aware of the fact.

Congratulations has a more mature vibe to it than Oracular Spectacular, and one can understand how a band that gained its popularity thanks to catchy, danceable songs would want to make an album that portrays them as more serious musicians. However, with Congratulations, it seems that the guys of MGMT were taking themselves too seriously when they were making the album.

There are a few standout songs, such as “Flash Delirium” and “Song for Dan Treacy,” but as a whole, Congratulations falls short of the expectation listeners would have from Oracular Spectacular. There’s no doubt that MGMT consists of talented musicians, but Congratulations just feels like they were trying too hard to make sure their listeners realized what they already knew.

Congratulations isn’t a terrible album, but it’s not great either.

Sit down, have a listen and appreciate the fact that MGMT is trying to move forward as artists.