A concept hair metal band?

It's all about synergy. Record execs at Columbia Records must have been drooling on themselves upon signing Coheed and Cambria, who have serious aspirations to achieve a mix between Rush, Led Zeppelin's Physical Graffiti and Spinal Tap. In addition to two successive indie hits and an impressive live act, frontman Claudio Sanchez has developed comic books based on the story behind the band's albums, making them a concept band. Not bad for dorky guys from upstate New York who five years ago called themselves Shabutie.\nNo rational explanation can be found for the plotline behind Good Apollo, I'm Burning Star IV, Volume I: From Fear Through the Eyes of Madness. For starters, it's the first installment of part four of a four-part story, with 2002's Second Stage Turbine Blade and 2004's In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth 3 comprising parts two and three. The band's name comes from the two main characters in the story, and that's about what most fans can figure out.\nAt more than 71 minutes, Good Apollo... is a tour de force of chunky, catchy guitar rock. Sanchez does his dead-on impersonation of Rush singer Geddy Lee with impressively effeminate vocals, and adds guitar licks that would sound perfect in any late 1980s hair metal single. \nWhile the themes presented on the album are full of love, death and vengeance, Coheed and Cambria shouldn't be seen as a totally serious act. They seem obsessed with throwing the kitchen sink into this release, and it shows.\nDespite lofty aspirations, the album remains surprisingly grounded. After a full string section intro, Sanchez coos through the light-hearted "Always & Never" before launching into "Welcome Home," the closest approximation to Led Zeppelin's "Kashmere" in years. What follows is a series of radio-friendly singles displaying the band's lush vocal harmonies, guitar prowess and, most of all, vastly improved production value.\nThe wheels all but fall off, though, when the album plunges into the "sub-album" The Willing Well, which boasts one seven minute-plus opus after another, culminating in the absolutely transcendent "The Final Cut." Taking their instrumental mastery to yet another level, Sanchez and guitarist Travis Stevens end the album with a track built around wailing, whimpering guitar solos, setting the scene for what should be an equally verbose follow-up album.\nAt times, the band overindulges on strings, keyboards and self-importance. Worse, at other times it can be downright silly; the album's outro sounds like those "Beef: It's What's for Dinner" commercials. \nThis album isn't for everyone. The jury's still out on whether Coheed and Cambria have come into their own, or if they've just gone a little too far this time.