Year of the Black Rainbow
Encyclopedia
Year of the Black Rainbow is the fifth studio album by American
progressive rock
band Coheed and Cambria
, released on April 13, 2010 on Columbia
. The album is a prequel to the band's previous four concept album
s, which comprise The Amory Wars
narrative. Year of the Black Rainbow marks drummer Chris Pennie
's only studio appearance. It is the last album to feature Michael Todd
on bass.
noted that the album is very melodic.
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." Sanchez also states that, "musically, there's a very cinematic tone. There is a lot of atmosphere on this record, and that's something I've always wanted to incorporate on the other records, but just never could attain it as we have on this one."
The 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. Sanchez states that: "[Pennie] really kicked ass on this record. There are a lot of tunes on this album that I'm not so sure we would've been able to execute had we not have had him."
Year of the Black Rainbow also completes the main tetralogy of The Amory Wars
:
The first song 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. Also in Purevolume the entire album can be listened to.
On April 20, 2010, "Here We Are Juggernaut", "The Broken" and "Guns of Summer" were released as downloadable content for the Rock Band 2
music store.
The album was released by Columbia Records
in both a standard format and a deluxe edition, which included 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 was released by Roadrunner Records
.
Regarding the album's novelization, Sanchez states that: "It was kind of tough juggling both of them; recording an album and writing a novel. That was a little strenuous but, for the most part, it was a lot of fun."
out of 18 reviews. Rocksound gave the record a 9 out of 10 and said the album, "is possibly their best record to date." The 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." The NewReview rated the album a 4 out of 5 and said "A big portion of the songs on this album are slower in tempo and that makes the listener really analyze the music and appreciate the subtle nuances that this album has to offer." Paul Brannigan of Kerrang!
called the album "a genuine career highpoint for this most idiosyncratic band".
On the other hand, BBC Music
reports that the album "suffers just a little too much from its own grand, sprawling ambition." 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." Slant also criticizes the album for featuring an "oppressive production job by Atticus Ross and Joe Barressi" that creates "gloomy atmospherics that shroud each and every track".
The album debuted at #5 on the Billboard 200, and sold 51,000 copies in its first week. In addition, it was #2 on the Rock Album charts and the third most digitally downloaded album. In its second week, Year of the Black Rainbow charted at #42 on the Billboard 200. The record charted at #73 during its third week on the Billboard 200.
iTunes Exclusive
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
progressive rock
Progressive rock
Progressive rock is a subgenre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s as part of a "mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility." John Covach, in Contemporary Music Review, says that many thought it would not just "succeed the pop of...
band Coheed and Cambria
Coheed and Cambria
Coheed and Cambria is an American progressive rock band from Nyack, New York. Formed in 1995, the group incorporates aspects of progressive rock, punk rock, metal and post-hardcore....
, released on April 13, 2010 on Columbia
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
. The album is a prequel to the band's previous four concept album
Concept album
In music, a concept album is an album that is "unified by a theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, narrative, or lyrical." Commonly, concept albums tend to incorporate preconceived musical or lyrical ideas rather than being improvised or composed in the studio, with all songs contributing...
s, which comprise The Amory Wars
The Amory Wars
The Amory Wars, originally entitled The Bag.On.Line Adventures, is an ongoing series of comic books written by Coheed and Cambria frontman Claudio Sanchez and published by Evil Ink Comics. The story of The Amory Wars is also the focus of the band's music...
narrative. Year of the Black Rainbow marks drummer Chris Pennie
Chris Pennie
Chris Pennie is the former drummer for the progressive rock band Coheed and Cambria and former drummer and co-founder of mathcore band The Dillinger Escape Plan.-Background:...
's only studio appearance. It is the last album to feature Michael Todd
Michael Todd (musician)
Michael Todd or Mic Todd was the bassist for progressive rock band Coheed and Cambria. Todd left the band in August 2006 because of personal issues, but officially rejoined the group on April 25, 2007. Upon the time of his initial departure, he had been with the band for ten years. He officially...
on bass.
Background and recording
The band began recording the album in summer 2009 and finished up later that year in November. Vocalist, guitarist and lyricist Claudio SanchezClaudio Sanchez
Claudio Paul Sanchez is an American writer and musician best known for being the lead singer and guitarist for the alternative/progressive rock group Coheed and Cambria. He is also the creator of the comic book series, The Amory Wars and Kill Audio, co-written with wife Chondra Echert...
noted that the album is very melodic.
The album is produced by Atticus Ross
Atticus Ross
Atticus Ross is an English musician, composer and producer. Ross, along with Trent Reznor, won the Academy Award for Best Original Score for The Social Network in 2011.-Early career:...
(Nine Inch Nails
Nine Inch Nails
Nine Inch Nails is an American industrial rock project, founded in 1988 by Trent Reznor in Cleveland, Ohio. As its main producer, singer, songwriter, and instrumentalist, Reznor is the only official member of Nine Inch Nails and remains solely responsible for its direction...
, Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction is an American alternative rock band formed in Los Angeles, California in 1985. The band's original line-up featured Perry Farrell , Dave Navarro , Eric Avery and Stephen Perkins . After breaking up in 1991, Jane's Addiction briefly reunited in 1997 and again in 2001, both times...
) and Joe Barresi
Joe Barresi
Joe Barresi is an American record engineer and producer who has worked with bands such as Kyuss, The Melvins, Tool, Queens of the Stone Age, Coheed and Cambria, Tomahawk, L7, The Jesus Lizard, Parkway Drive and Bad Religion.-Biography:...
(Queens of the Stone Age
Queens of the Stone Age
Queens of the Stone Age is an American rock band from Palm Desert, California, United States, formed in 1997. The band's line-up has always included founding member Josh Homme , with the current line-up including longtime members Troy Van Leeuwen and Joey Castillo , alongside Michael Shuman and...
, Tool
Tool (band)
Tool is an American rock band from Los Angeles, California. Formed in 1990, the group's line-up has included drummer Danny Carey, guitarist Adam Jones, and vocalist Maynard James Keenan. Since 1995, Justin Chancellor has been the band's bassist, replacing their original bassist Paul D'Amour...
). 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." Sanchez also states that, "musically, there's a very cinematic tone. There is a lot of atmosphere on this record, and that's something I've always wanted to incorporate on the other records, but just never could attain it as we have on this one."
The album also marks drummer Chris Pennie
Chris Pennie
Chris Pennie is the former drummer for the progressive rock band Coheed and Cambria and former drummer and co-founder of mathcore band The Dillinger Escape Plan.-Background:...
's studio debut with the band, who has been playing alongside Sanchez, lead guitarist Travis Stever
Travis Stever
Travis Stever is the lead/rhythm guitarist for Coheed and Cambria, a progressive rock band from New York.-Shabűtie:Travis joined the band Shabűtie in 1995 along with vocalist/guitarist Claudio Sanchez, bassist Jon Carleo, and drummer Nate Kelley. After an argument over gas money the band split up,...
and bassist Michael Todd
Michael Todd (musician)
Michael Todd or Mic Todd was the bassist for progressive rock band Coheed and Cambria. Todd left the band in August 2006 because of personal issues, but officially rejoined the group on April 25, 2007. Upon the time of his initial departure, he had been with the band for ten years. He officially...
since 2007. Sanchez states that: "[Pennie] really kicked ass on this record. There are a lot of tunes on this album that I'm not so sure we would've been able to execute had we not have had him."
Year of the Black Rainbow also completes the main tetralogy of The Amory Wars
The Amory Wars
The Amory Wars, originally entitled The Bag.On.Line Adventures, is an ongoing series of comic books written by Coheed and Cambria frontman Claudio Sanchez and published by Evil Ink Comics. The story of The Amory Wars is also the focus of the band's music...
:
Release
Year of the Black Rainbows release was preceded by a series of eight intimate club gigs on the northeastern United States, all of which sold out. The band announced a U.S. tour featuring 36 dates (including the eight in March).The first song 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
Myspace
Myspace is a social networking service owned by Specific Media LLC and pop star Justin Timberlake. Myspace launched in August 2003 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. In August 2011, Myspace had 33.1 million unique U.S. visitors....
.
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
Record Store Day
Record Store Day is an internationally celebrated day observed the third Saturday of April each year. Its purpose, as conceived by independent record store employee Chris Brown, is to celebrate the art of music...
.
The album began streaming on the band's MySpace on April 7, 2010. Also in Purevolume the entire album can be listened to.
On April 20, 2010, "Here We Are Juggernaut", "The Broken" and "Guns of Summer" were released as downloadable content for the Rock Band 2
Rock Band 2
Rock Band 2 is a music video game developed by Harmonix Music Systems. It is the sequel to Rock Band and is the second title in the series. The game allows up to four players to simulate the performance of popular songs by playing with controllers modeled after musical instruments...
music store.
The album was released by Columbia Records
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
in both a standard format and a deluxe edition, which included a 352-page Year of the Black Rainbow novel, penned by the lead singer Claudio Sanchez and New York Times bestselling author Peter David
Peter David
Peter Allen David , often abbreviated PAD, is an American writer of comic books, novels, television, movies and video games...
. In Europe the album was released by Roadrunner Records
Roadrunner Records
Roadrunner Records is an American record label that concentrates primarily on heavy metal bands. It is currently a subsidiary of Warner Music Group.-History:...
.
Regarding the album's novelization, Sanchez states that: "It was kind of tough juggling both of them; recording an album and writing a novel. That was a little strenuous but, for the most part, it was a lot of fun."
Critical reception and sales
The album has received generally positive reviews, garnering a 71% on MetacriticMetacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
out of 18 reviews. Rocksound gave the record a 9 out of 10 and said the album, "is possibly their best record to date." The A.V. Club
The A.V. Club
The A.V. Club is an entertainment newspaper and website published by The Onion. Its features include reviews of new films, music, television, books, games and DVDs, as well as interviews and other regular offerings examining both new and classic media and other elements of pop culture. Unlike its...
, 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
The Mars Volta
The Mars Volta is a Grammy award winning American progressive rock band from El Paso, Texas. Founded in 2001 by guitarist Omar Rodríguez-López and vocalist Cedric Bixler-Zavala, the band incorporates various influences including progressive rock, krautrock, jazz fusion, Latin American music, and...
..." 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." The NewReview rated the album a 4 out of 5 and said "A big portion of the songs on this album are slower in tempo and that makes the listener really analyze the music and appreciate the subtle nuances that this album has to offer." Paul Brannigan of Kerrang!
Kerrang!
Kerrang! is a UK-based magazine devoted to rock music published by Bauer Media Group. It was first published on June 6, 1981 as a one-off supplement in the Sounds newspaper...
called the album "a genuine career highpoint for this most idiosyncratic band".
On the other hand, BBC Music
BBC Music
BBC Music is a team working in the department of Audio and Music Interactive at the BBC. Responsible for the BBC Music website - the portal site to music content across the BBC website....
reports that the album "suffers just a little too much from its own grand, sprawling ambition." 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." Slant also criticizes the album for featuring an "oppressive production job by Atticus Ross and Joe Barressi" that creates "gloomy atmospherics that shroud each and every track".
The album debuted at #5 on the Billboard 200, and sold 51,000 copies in its first week. In addition, it was #2 on the Rock Album charts and the third most digitally downloaded album. In its second week, Year of the Black Rainbow charted at #42 on the Billboard 200. The record charted at #73 during its third week on the Billboard 200.
Track listing
Deluxe Edition OnlyiTunes Exclusive
Deluxe edition
The deluxe edition includes:- 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
Singles
| Year | Single | Chart | Peak position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | "Here We Are Juggernaut Here We Are Juggernaut "Here We Are Juggernaut" is the first single from the Coheed and Cambria album Year of the Black Rainbow. The song was released for streaming on the band's Myspace on March 4, 2010. It was made available for purchase on March 9, 2010. It was made available as downloadable content for the music... " |
Alternative Songs | 29 |
Coheed & Cambria
- Claudio SanchezClaudio SanchezClaudio Paul Sanchez is an American writer and musician best known for being the lead singer and guitarist for the alternative/progressive rock group Coheed and Cambria. He is also the creator of the comic book series, The Amory Wars and Kill Audio, co-written with wife Chondra Echert...
- vocals, guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
, keyboardsKeyboard instrumentA keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
, synthesisers - Travis SteverTravis SteverTravis Stever is the lead/rhythm guitarist for Coheed and Cambria, a progressive rock band from New York.-Shabűtie:Travis joined the band Shabűtie in 1995 along with vocalist/guitarist Claudio Sanchez, bassist Jon Carleo, and drummer Nate Kelley. After an argument over gas money the band split up,...
- guitar, lap steel, backing vocals - Michael ToddMichael Todd (musician)Michael Todd or Mic Todd was the bassist for progressive rock band Coheed and Cambria. Todd left the band in August 2006 because of personal issues, but officially rejoined the group on April 25, 2007. Upon the time of his initial departure, he had been with the band for ten years. He officially...
- bassBass (instrument)Bass describes musical instruments that produce tones in the low-pitched range. They belong to different families of instruments and can cover a wide range of musical roles... - Chris PennieChris PennieChris Pennie is the former drummer for the progressive rock band Coheed and Cambria and former drummer and co-founder of mathcore band The Dillinger Escape Plan.-Background:...
- drums, percussion
Additional musicians
- Wes StylesWes StylesWes Styles is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, composer and producer, earned his stage name by playing several different "styles" of music...
- additional keyboards - Brian Dembow - viola ("Pearl of the Stars")
- Claudia Sarne - additional keyboards, orchestration ("Pearl of the Stars")
Recording personnel
- Atticus RossAtticus RossAtticus Ross is an English musician, composer and producer. Ross, along with Trent Reznor, won the Academy Award for Best Original Score for The Social Network in 2011.-Early career:...
- producer, recording, mixing - Joe BarresiJoe BarresiJoe Barresi is an American record engineer and producer who has worked with bands such as Kyuss, The Melvins, Tool, Queens of the Stone Age, Coheed and Cambria, Tomahawk, L7, The Jesus Lizard, Parkway Drive and Bad Religion.-Biography:...
- producer, recording, mixing - Jun Murakawa - assistant engineer
- Dustin Moseley - additional assistant
- Catherine Marks - mixing assistant ("Here We Are Juggernaut")
- Mike Fasano - drum tech
- Dan DruffDan Druff (musician)Daniel James Irving , better known as Dan Druff, is a bass guitarist, guitar technician, and vocalist who has worked with artists including Queens of the Stone Age, Slayer, Butt Trumpet, The Distillers, Monster Magnet, Sum 41. To date he has worked on over 50 studio records...
- guitar tech - Brian GardnerBrian GardnerBrian Gardner, also known as Brian "Big Bass" Gardner is a mastering engineer. He has worked on countless recordings since the mid-1960s, including classic rock, funk, disco, alternative rock, R&B, hip hop, pop punk, and dance pop. He is perhaps best known for his work on hip hop albums and in...
- mastering