Throughout their storied career, Coheed and Cambria have created literal worlds with their music, weaving epic stories throughout nine full length albums and a galaxy of comics and novels. They’ve managed to find staying power throughout countless trends and eras of music, maintaining their cult following for two decades. They’ve even created their own cruise. They’ve nearly done it all, but throughout their storied career, they have yet to write an album quite like The Father of Make Believe. Comprised of fourteen catchy-as-hell, explosive and genre-bending songs, The Father of Make Believe not only sees Coheed exploring the depths of their sound, but it also finds them exploring uncharted territories – at least for them: It finds them writing about themselves.
Hands-down their most personal release to-date, The Father of Make Believe stands apart from Coheed and Cambira’s past work because of its storyline – or lack thereof. While The Father of Make Believe surely tells a story, it’s one that many fans haven’t heard quite yet. Rather than weaving tales of The Amory Wars, this album is the story of Claudio Sanchez. Taking a departure from their past work, this album is an incredibly personal one for Sanchez, who lets listeners into his world more than ever with these songs.
Songs like “Goodbye, Sunshine” and “Searching For Tomorrow” find Sanchez reflecting on all that he’s created with Coheed, meanwhile the emotional ballad, “Meri of Mercy” is a stunning ode to his late grandparents. “Play The Poet” is an analysis on his role as a cultural figure, while “Corner My Confidence” is an ode to his wife.
Sonically, The Father of Make Believe marks the beginning of a new chapter for Coheed and Cambria, as well. Explosive singles like the ripper, “Blind Side Sonny” and poppy “Someone Who Can” might not be sweeping, six-minute long epics, but they find the band experimenting with vastly different sounds in a way that not only feels fun, but somehow totally works together. And that’s not to say that the album is without the massive, technical tracks that they’re used to. In fact, the final four songs bleed perfectly into one another, taking up twenty minutes of the album’s run-time in a way that fans will love.
The Father of Make Believe is an album that proves exactly why Coheed and Cambria have the staying power to keep them front-runners in the scene for twenty years. It proves that they’re not afraid of venturing into the unknown. It proves that they’re capable of just about anything, including bearing their heart and soul for everyone to see, and that’s what makes it a must-listen.
LISTEN TO THE FATHER OF MAKE BELIEVE HERE.