Featured review by:
UG Team, on december 15, 2008
4 of 6 people found this review helpful
Sound: Chiodos don’t fit neatly, or sloppily for that matter, into any genre. Rather, the band forces its own cache of hybrid and “dash” descriptions, simply because Bone Palace Ballet: Grand Coda is one of those albums that defies conventional categorization. The falsetto of Craig Owens lives among the epic guitars, which were educated at the emo, screamo, hardcore, metal and post-hardcore school of Hard Rock. Ultimately, Chiodos manufacture proggy screamo and it’s unquestionably an acquired taste. But those who’ve had their musical taste buds tickled by Chiodos have latched onto the band with the kind of passion that would cause them to follow the band into the depths of Hell. To attach four new songs and to rework two album tracks acoustically and to call it Bone Palace Ballet: A Coda signifies the excess that this band is known for, but at least the consumer is presented with a total of six extra tracks since they are shelling out more cash on the reissue of an album they just picked up a year ago and are essentially purchasing they same album twice. The Coda self-indulges and toes the line between artsy and dangerously full of itself. Thankfully, the band never crosses the line of that delicate demarcation. The new tracks have word soup titles, which is par for the Chiodos course. They are dubbed “Two Birds Stoned At Once,” “And Then Her Liver Screamed Help,” “Smitten For the Mitten” and “We Swam From The Albatross The Day We Lost Kailey Cost,” while “I Didn’t Say I Was Powerful, I Said I Was Wizard” and “A Letter From Janelle” are stripped down to acoustic compositions. Even in this “more bare” form, the songs retain their lushness. The acoustic’ified versions are almost score-like and the keyboards continue to soar in a way that’s not normally expected of the instrument. They piano melodies are enough to haunt your dreams forever. And the guitars? Well, they gently weep. // 8
Lyrics and Singing: Craig Owens is fearless. He has to be, given his upper register falsetto. He hits high notes and shows off quite a girly affect. On record, he’s not dude-like at all and he allows his voice to really act as another instrument in the Chiodos mix. The kids who pack Chiodos shows –- and I once saw a fan singing and dancing so voraciously on the balcony of the venue that he actually kept hanging over the railing till he flipped over the side, fell on his head into the crowd below only to climb back up to the balcony for more relentless headbanging without missing a beat—scream their hearts out alongside Owens, as he sings about being made a fool of in the heartfelt “A Letter From Janelle." Owens believes, breathes and bleeds every syllable that tumbles from his mouth and so do his followers and his adoring audience. // 7
Impression: These boys proudly display their emotions for all the world to see and they certainly don’t fear or hold back on their desire to be as artsy fartsy as possible. There’s a cabaret-like ferocity that’s present on the Coda. This is piano-driven rock that isn’t Ben Folds nor is it Train. It’s got guts, balls and accepts its feminine qualities. Again, Chiodos and the band's members are nothing if not fearless. // 8
- Amy Sciarretto (c) 2009
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