Music Review: Coheed and Cambria - No World for Tomorrow
Written by Scott DeitchePublished November 16, 2007
Coheed and Cambria are most often compared to Rush, mainly because of lead singer/guitarist Claudio Sanchez’s high-pitched wail. And now that the band has teamed with producer Nick Raskulinecz, who helmed Rush’s latest, the excellent Snakes and Arrows, those comparisons will likely stay around. But simple comparisons do not do this band justice. Through a twisting sci-fi tale that has spanned all the band's recorded work as well as Sanchez’s graphic novels, Coheed and Cambria has staked out a unique place on the modern music scene.
Good Apollo, I'm Burning Star IV, Volume Two: No World for Tomorrow is basically a companion piece, musically, to their previous CD Good Apollo, I'm Burning Star IV, Volume One: From Fear Through The Eyes of Madness. They tone down the time changes, channeling the songs into a more streamlined structure. This gives the band the space to turn it to 11.While Coheed and Cambria are generally referred to as a prog rock band (and, inexplicably, an emo band) they bust out some serious metal chops on No World. The guitars on “Gravemakers & Gunslingers” could have come right out of the NWOBHM, “Feathers” stakes out the melodic metal route, and “Justice in Murder” starts off with a soaring Iron Maiden-like riff. The second half of the CD is “The End Complete,” and in true prog fashion they split it into five parts.
This is a consistently strong CD. Lyrically, though, it can get fairly pretentious in places. Carrying a story arc over four CDs might be pushing it.The fact that the music of an inventive band like Coheed and Cambria is played on the radio is surprising and welcome. This is music that rocks on the surface and gives a little more for those that dig deeper. No World will no doubt satisfy Coheed’s faithful, but for those that are not familiar with the band, this is a good place to start.
Sunday, December 09, 2007
Book Review: Black Gangsters of Chicago by Ron Chepesiuk
Written by Scott DeitchePublished November 08, 2007
With the recent release of the hit film American Gangster, the focus of organized crime has moved away from the Mafia and onto the inner city-born black gang leaders. Ron Chepesiuk, who previously chronicled Harlem’s gang bangers, turns his attention to Chicago and brings out a focused and satisfying effort.Black Gangsters of Chicago starts by examining the lives of some of the major policy kings of the 1920s. Working alongside Capone and the various other ethnic gangs in the city, these policy kings, like Daniel McKee Jackson, carved out a sizeable niche in the underworld, in an era of segregation and racism. The Outfit made its move to muscle into the policy rackets. Sam Giancana was especially instrumental in the Outfit’s attempts to bring the policy racket under their control, or at least to get a piece of the action. The last of the policy kings, Teddy Roe was gunned down outside his house.The book traces the de-evolution from the old style dapper policy kings to the street level thugs and drug dealers that populate the gangs of the modern era, especially as the neighborhoods declined and middle class blacks moved to the suburbs. One of the earlier of the new-style gangs were the Vice Lords. Moving through the rise and fall of numerous gangs, it becomes clear that some succeeded because of a highly structured system, while others were so fraught with internal dissention that they never reached a level past corner tough guys. But even gang bosses like Jeff Fort, who structured their gangs after the Mafia, were unable to keep a lid on internal dissention. Murder was commonplace.Though the presence of the gangs seems like an overwhelming tide of crime, Black Gangsters ends on an upbeat note, profiling former Vice Lords leader Bennie Lee, who has now turned his life around and is working to help kids on the brink of falling in with gangs.Chepesiuk focuses the story into a nice cohesive narrative. The chronological order is a given, but the author throws in interesting asides that enhances rather than derail the writing. This is another nice addition to the true crime canon.
Written by Scott DeitchePublished November 08, 2007
With the recent release of the hit film American Gangster, the focus of organized crime has moved away from the Mafia and onto the inner city-born black gang leaders. Ron Chepesiuk, who previously chronicled Harlem’s gang bangers, turns his attention to Chicago and brings out a focused and satisfying effort.Black Gangsters of Chicago starts by examining the lives of some of the major policy kings of the 1920s. Working alongside Capone and the various other ethnic gangs in the city, these policy kings, like Daniel McKee Jackson, carved out a sizeable niche in the underworld, in an era of segregation and racism. The Outfit made its move to muscle into the policy rackets. Sam Giancana was especially instrumental in the Outfit’s attempts to bring the policy racket under their control, or at least to get a piece of the action. The last of the policy kings, Teddy Roe was gunned down outside his house.The book traces the de-evolution from the old style dapper policy kings to the street level thugs and drug dealers that populate the gangs of the modern era, especially as the neighborhoods declined and middle class blacks moved to the suburbs. One of the earlier of the new-style gangs were the Vice Lords. Moving through the rise and fall of numerous gangs, it becomes clear that some succeeded because of a highly structured system, while others were so fraught with internal dissention that they never reached a level past corner tough guys. But even gang bosses like Jeff Fort, who structured their gangs after the Mafia, were unable to keep a lid on internal dissention. Murder was commonplace.Though the presence of the gangs seems like an overwhelming tide of crime, Black Gangsters ends on an upbeat note, profiling former Vice Lords leader Bennie Lee, who has now turned his life around and is working to help kids on the brink of falling in with gangs.Chepesiuk focuses the story into a nice cohesive narrative. The chronological order is a given, but the author throws in interesting asides that enhances rather than derail the writing. This is another nice addition to the true crime canon.
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