The Color Before the Sun

The Color Before the Sun is the eighth studio album by American progressive rock band Coheed and Cambria. Following the conceptual double album, The Afterman: Ascension and Descension, released in 2012 and 2013 respectively, The Color Before the Sun is the first non-conceptual album the band has released, making it the only Coheed and Cambria album to not be a part of The Amory Wars storyline. The band released a live acoustic version of "Atlas" in August 2014, and announced a release date of October 9 in July of the following year, before announcing a push back to October 16, 2015. The first single was "You Got Spirit, Kid", released in July 2015, with a music video for the song released in August. A second music video, for the song "Island", was released in October. Background and recording In August 2014, Coheed and Cambria singer and guitarist Claudio Sanchez released a self-shot acoustic rendition of a new song titled "Atlas" via the band's official YouTube channel. Musical style Journalists characterized the album’s sound in a number of ways. AllMusic, in describing the album’s songs, stated that “some are fueled by catchy hard rock/pop-punk hooks with anthemic choruses, while others offer knotty, dissonant angles and breathtaking instrumental interplay.” Pop Matters noted similarities with the band's prior work, stating that "Even without a conceptual story, The Color Before the Sun feature[s] a lot of the same musical elements that have made the long-running prog-rock band so enduring: big riffs, bigger choruses, intricate guitar interplay, and strong vocals from frontman-songwriter-guitarist Claudio Sanchez". According to Darryl Sterdan of Toronto Sun, "The Color Before the Sun" abandons the band's previous progressive rock sound, in favor of a "more grounded and streamlined" alternative rock sound. Richard Whittaker at The Austin Chronicle characterized the album as "pop rock rather than space prog." Release