Year of the Black Rainbow

Untitled

Year of the Black Rainbow is the fifth album by rock band Coheed and Cambria and is the prequel to The Amory Wars storyline.

History

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic
Altsounds
Kerrang!
The AV Club	B+
The Guardian
Time Out New York
Sputnikmusic
SPIN

The band began recording the album in summer 2009 and finished up later that year in November. Claudio Sanchez noted that the album is very melodic.

On February 2, 2010, the band confirmed that the release date will be April 13, 2010. The album will be released by Columbia in both a standard format and a deluxe edition including a 352-page Year of the Black Rainbow novel, penned by the lead singer Claudio Sanchez and New York Times bestselling author Peter David. In Europe the album will be released by Roadrunner Records.

The album is produced by Atticus Ross (Nine Inch Nails, Jane's Addiction) and Joe Barresi (Queens of the Stone Age, Tool). According to Sanchez, "they have helped us evolve our sound to be more powerful and dynamic than ever and we think it's definitely our best work to date." The new album also marks drummer Chris Pennie's studio debut with the band, who has been playing alongside Sanchez, lead guitarist Travis Stever and bassist Michael Todd since 2007.

Year of the Black Rainbow's release will be preceded by a series of eight intimate club gigs on the northeastern United States, all of which have already sold out. The band announced a U.S. tour featuring 36 dates (including the eight in March).

The first song to be released from the album, "The Broken," premiered at midnight on February 9, 2010. On March 10, 2010, a music video for "The Broken" premiered on Myspace.

The first official single from the album, "Here We Are Juggernaut", was uploaded onto the band's Myspace site on March 4, 2010 and went on sale March 9, 2010.

A special vinyl edition of "Guns of Summer" will be released exclusively at Vintage Vinyl for Record Store Day.

The album began streaming on the band's MySpace on April 7, 2010.

Track Listing

All lyrics are written by Claudio Sanchez; all music is composed by Coheed and Cambria except "One" and "Pearl of the Stars," written by Claudio Sanchez and Atticus Ross

Year of the Black Rainbow

No.	Title	Length
1.	"One"	1:54
2.	"The Broken"	3:53
3.	"Guns of Summer"	4:47
4.	"Here We Are Juggernaut"	3:44
5.	"Far"	4:54
6.	"This Shattered Symphony"	4:26
7.	"World of Lines"	3:18
8.	"Made Out of Nothing (All That I Am)"	4:38
9.	"Pearl of the Stars"	5:05
10.	"In the Flame of Error"	5:29
11.	"When Skeletons Live"	4:18
12.	"The Black Rainbow"	7:33

Deluxe Edition Only

No.	Title	Length
13.	"Chamberlain (Demo)" (Previously Unreleased Bonus Track)	4:20
14.	"The Lost Shepherd (Demo)" (Previously Unreleased Bonus Track)	4:11

iTunes Exclusive

No.	Title	Length
15.	"Hush" (iTunes Exclusive Track)	4:18

Deluxe edition

The deluxe edition will include:

• 352-page Year of the Black Rainbow novel, penned by Claudio Sanchez and author Peter David.
• "Every End Has A Beginning" DVD featuring studio and interview footage.
• Coheed and Cambria "Black Card", available only from the band's official website. Black Card Cardholders will be eligible for early entrance to selected shows, discounts on band merchandise and exclusive downloads and offers.
• Previously-unreleased bonus tracks

Critical Reception

So far the album has received generally positive reviews, garnering a 71% on Metacritic.Rocksound gave the record a 9 out of 10 and said the album, "is possibly their best record to date."A.V. Club, who praised the album highly, remarked, "Reconciling its post-hardcore roots with the progressive-rock flourishes that have been eclipsing the band’s sound over the past couple albums, tracks like “Here We Are Juggernaut” and “World Of Lines” far outshine the recent output of Coheed’s closest peer, The Mars Volta..." Allmusic, who gave the record a 4 out of 5, concluded that "any fan of heavy progressive rock music may find this music to be of compelling interest, whether one buys into the conceptual nature of the Amory Wars or not."

On the other hand, BBC Music reports that the album "suffers just a little too much from its own grand, sprawling ambition." The Guardian feels the record only appeals to "morose adolescents" and is filled with "woe is me choruses", concluding that "...there is nothing new under the sun, no matter what galaxy you're in" Slant Magazine laments, "There's no trace of Coheed's oddball eclecticism here, or of their dynamic pop sensibilities; instead the emotionally and tonally monochrome Black Rainbow gives the impression of a typically humorless metal act."