Editor Reviews:

Amazon.com:
Coheed and Cambria's first three outings were smart, adventurous affairs that didn't eschew accessibility and No World for Tomorrow proves no exception. From the title cut to the epic "The End Complete," No World carries an intensity informed by occasional touches of the light, such as "Feathers," which not only recalls the Van Halen classic "Dance the Night Away" in its opening measures but also gives a knowing wink to silliest and most histrionic elements of emo. ("The Hound of Blood and Rank" and "The Running Free" are two of the finest pieces C&H has thus far committed to disc.) Throughout, there are odd time signatures and multilayered sounds that will keep listeners coming back to dissect the album. As good as the pop-inflected elements on this record are, it's the closing "On the Brink" (featuring requisite nods to Pink Floyd) that steals the show and demonstrates that Coheed and Cambria's greatest attribute is that it stimulates the mind as much as the foot--a promising sign in a time when too many think too much about too little. --Jedd Beaudoin

Rating : - Somewhere between "fair" and "solid."
It's been just over a year since I first listened to No World For Tomorrow, and I've had plenty of time to enjoy both the overall feel of the work and the subtleties of the tracks. That being said, when you consider Coheed's earlier releases, this album is somewhat mediocre. Highlight songs include the title track, as well as "Mother Superior" and "The End Complete III" & "V" (not to mention, being a sort of guilty pleasure, the super-poppy "Feathers"). However, between these highlights there feels to be a drain and lag; even listening to some songs intently you get the impression in structure that said songs are begging to be finished ("The Hound" is an excellent example of this).

No doubt, this is a consequence of how overproduced the whole venture is--even listening through Sony MDR-7506's, which are used almost ubiquitously in recording and engineering and the like, failed to rid the muddy feeling of every track. This basically destroys the energy of certain songs, particularly "Mother Superior," which by the last minute of the song begins to feel like a headache layering of Claudio's beefed-up vocals (and speaking of last minute, something about the track makes it feel about a minute too long to begin with).

Many fans will of course automatically compare this album to Coheed's prior releases, no doubt reiterating something I completely disagree with--that the band's first release is their greatest. That title I give to Good Apollo, Vol. 1; the prior releases, while notable for their "rawness," and "energy," just can't compare when we consider how structurally superior later tracks are (the "Willing Wells," in my opinion, highlight Coheed's peak). And while I will not say that Coheed's sound has swayed towards "pop-rock mainstream," when you consider how ferocious a song like "The Telling Truth" is, the feeling of let-down is not far away. Not to mention the jarring, inevitable moment of "What am I listening to?" when you hear "The Road and the Damned."

Overall, I don't know whether the overproduction of this release has colored my perception of its merit to an awful extent. But I do know that No World For Tomorrow blends fairly well with the rest of the band's discography, and the tracks are--ultimately--very enjoyable.