The Color Before the Sun

The Color Before the Sun is the eighth studio album by 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 and therefore not a part of The Amory Wars series.

Editions
Trifold Edition

Limited Edition Box Set


 * Two CDs & Digital Downloads
 * The Regular CD
 * The Color Before the Sun (Big Beige / 4th St Demos)
 * Two Hardcover Coffee Table Books
 * The Color Before the Sun (A lyric & art book)
 * The Unraveling Palette of Dawn (A look into the creative process of each song)
 * The Physics of Color Documentary DVD
 * One clear vinyl (7") with two bonus tracks
 * A house key with the Keywork replacing the standard head
 * Exclusive lapel pin

Clean Edition


 * Removed cursing in three tracks
 * Was also in trifold sleeve

Deconstructed Versions


 * Digital only; Regular, Demo, and Live tracks combined (30 tracks)
 * Clean version removed cursing in three tracks

Vinyl Editions


 * Storm Blue Limited Edition
 * Sold at NYCC & Tour
 * Egg White Limited Edition
 * Also included limited lapel pin
 * Picture Disk
 * Indie Outlet Release Only
 * Silver Limited Edition
 * 1,000 copies; tour only

Critical Reception
At Metacritic, The Color Before the Sun generated a score of 70/100 from nine reviews, indicating "Generally favorable reviews".

Tom Jurek at AllMusic stated "The Color Before the Sun is not the band's best record, but it is utterly inspired and almost nakedly sincere. It will likely play well to fans, but even more importantly, perhaps attract new ones." Sean Barry of Consequence of Sound opined "this sort of autobiographical songwriting can’t be found in the band’s foundation." Despite that, Barry stated that "this new freedom and genuine self-acceptance" should be encouraged by the band and expanded upon in future material. Jordan Blum from PopMatters concluded that it's a good album in its own right, and that fans will find things to enjoy about the album, adding "It may sound silly to fault an album for not doing what it was never meant to do, but the lack of an epic scope and a more seamless sequence ... surely makes The Color Before the Sun feel less significant and magnificent than many of its predecessors."

The album was included at number 29 on Rock Sound 's top 50 releases of 2015 list.

Charts
On Billboard 200 in the US, it topped at #10 and in Canada it topped at #26. On UK's OCC, it topped at #55.

It also topped Billboard 's Rock Album Chart at #1.

Trivia

 * This is the only album to not be based on The Amory Wars concept.
 * The album art was designed by Nick Steinhardt, a guitarist for the band Touché Amoré.