12. They Include The Perfect Amount Of Guitar Shredding
It's very easy for expert guitarists to get too carried away with sounding awesome simply for the sake of, well, sounding awesome. Some guitarists just want to show the world how technically proficient they are without asking one simple question: Does this actually serve the song? More often than not the answer to that question is no, with the excessive guitar wankery only taking away from the song's rhythm and overall effect. The guys in Coheed are certainly top tier musicians who know their instruments like few others in modern rock, but they don't flaunt it just because. No, if they're going to shred away, there's damn well going to be a reason for it. It's a Goldilocks situation: not too hot and not too cold. They're very much capable of finding that middle ground. Just listen to what is arguably their most famous song, "Welcome Home." I'm sure it would have been very easy to fall down the rabbit hole of epic soloing toward the end of it, but they never let it overtake the song. Sometimes restraint is just as much of a sign of being a skilled musician.