Every song tells a story, whether it’s an episodic ode to the emotions of a moment or a novel on the ups and downs of love and life. New York progressive rockers Coheed and Cambria take this musical storytelling a step further, recording concept albums. Each album relates to its listener a different part of the same story. The current story arc is planned as a five-part saga known as the Bag On Line Adventures, and thus far, three studio albums have been released.

The band’s sometimes cryptic lyrics are often given widely varied interpretations by Coheed and Cambria’s fans, much the same way that the band itself has gone through various interpretations before becoming what it is today. In the mid-1990s, Toxic Parents disbanded, and former members Claudio Sanchez and Travis Stever teamed with Nate Kelley, whose own band had dissolved around the same time. The three formed Beautiful Loser, with Stever on vocals and guitar, Sanchez playing guitar, and Kelley handling the drums. Jon Carleo was recruited as the bassist. Beautiful Loser broke up later the same year, but three of the members got back together as a trio called Shabutie, minus Stever. This time, Sanchez took over the vocals.

Carleo left the band in 1996, making way for Michael Todd. Shabutie explored numerous musical styles, and its sound began to mature over the next few years. “The Penelope EP” was released in 1999, and it was during this period that Stever rejoined the group. Kelley, however, quit the group, and Josh Eppard took his place in 2000. Midway through 2001, this lineup changed its name to Coheed and Cambria and released the EP “Delirium Trigger,” bringing an end to the days of Shabutie.

In 2002, “The Second Stage Turbine Blade” was released as the first installment of the Bag On Line Adventures, and the next installment followed in 2003. A third was put out in 2005, and though by then, Coheed and Cambria had been together, in one incarnation or another, for about a decade, the band was still largely unknown to the mainstream. But, fans of the band’s hard-edged, progressive rock have been clamoring for Coheed and Cambria tickets since the beginning, and that fan base persists even as the mainstream audience finally becomes aware of the band formerly known as Shabutie.