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General => General Music Discussion => Topic started by: James Mypetgiress on May 29, 2015, 05:30:59 AM
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So, for those who are unaware, The Mars Volta are a progressive rock band, who formed in 2001 in El Paso, Texas.
The band were formed out of the remnants of the band At the Drive-In. Prior to releasing their debut EP,Tremulant, The Mars Volta recorded two demo songs and were known for their somewhat rowdy live shows and drug use on stage.
(Some of this was done from memory, so please correct me if I'm wrong)
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EDIT: sorry just realised what this was. Follows. :D
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:lol that's okay. I'm surprised at how many people want to follow this, tbh. Never really saw much Mars Volta discussion here.
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Awesome! I'll be following this for sure!
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TMV rules. Maybe even my favorite pure "Progressive Rock" band. Will follow and chip in!
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i was gonna do this, but i got super busy w/ werk. will def follow and contribute my knowledge and witty banter. (i love this band)
also, be ready for my sacrilege fav list.
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Will follow from time to time :)
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I guess I'll follow some of this but I absolutely utterly despise Bedlam to the point that I haven't listen to any TMV after that album so :lol
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I cringe over the mixing on Bedlam..but I'm glad I didn't give up on them as I found Noctourniquet to not have the terrible mixing issues and a fair amount of good music.
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bedlam is soooo good tho. it's just so raw and energetic. i feel like it packs a much bigger punch than any of their other records.
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I cringe over the mixing on Bedlam..but I'm glad I didn't give up on them as I found Noctourniquet to not have the terrible mixing issues and a fair amount of good music.
Wow really?
I wasn't a fan of Bedlam's mixing when I first heard the album but I've gotten more... acclimated to its style over time. It's still not great but I can listen to it now and not be annoyed.
Noctourniquet, OTOH, is crushed to absolute hell. There are a few songs that I find physically painful to listen to at times due to the amount of compression on the songs. To be fair, the compression does make some of the songs sound really cool, but I think they could've accomplished that in a different, more pleasant way.
Gonna be following this though. I lurvs me some TMV.
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I don't think mixing has ever ruined an album for me, and it certainly hasn't with Bedlam. It's probably my third or fourth TMV favorite album, and I still love it a lot. Almost perfect, but I'd say a 9 out of 10 or so.
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Looking forward to this. I don't have all of their albums, but I assume there are ways to listen to the ones I don't have (youtube, spotify, etc)?
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Tremulant (EP) - Progressive/Math Rock/Experimental
(https://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51N0Z7B5Y8L.jpg)
Tracklist
1. Cut That City (5:43)
2. Concertina (4:54)
3. Eunuch Provocateur (8:48)
Personnel
Cedric Bixler-Zavala (Vocals)
Omar Rodríguez-López (Guitar)
Ikey Owens (Keyboard)
Jeremy Ward (Sound Manipulation)
Jon Theodore (Drums)
Eva Gardner (Bass)
Description
Tremulant is the debut release by progressive rock band The Mars Volta. Released on April 2nd, 2002, it was the only release by the band to feature Eva Gardner on bass. (who has since went on to play for Pink and Cher during their live performances)
The EP was recorded in late 2001. The EP was remastered and rereleased on April 16th, 2014.
Reception
The EP received mostly positive reviews from critics, with AllMusic giving a rating of 4/5, and Drowned in Sound giving a score of 9/10, stating that, although good, that the band were "not a safe option."
Thanks for reading! Please let me know of any corrections I may need to make.
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Looking forward to this. I don't have all of their albums, but I assume there are ways to listen to the ones I don't have (youtube, spotify, etc)?
I believe most of their releases are on YouTube in their full form. I know Francis the Mute is. That's how I found out about them.
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Looking forward to this. I don't have all of their albums, but I assume there are ways to listen to the ones I don't have (youtube, spotify, etc)?
I believe most of their releases are on YouTube in their full form. I know Francis the Mute is. That's how I found out about them.
Well, that is one that I have, so...
Don't have the EP. I will try to find it.
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I believe the original is quite rare. Should be able to pick up a remastered copy, however
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I haven't heard the EP actually. Is it worth checking out?
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I haven't heard the EP actually. Is it worth checking out?
Yeah,Concertina is one of my fav songs from TMV.
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I haven't heard the EP actually. Is it worth checking out?
Yeah,Concertina is one of my fav songs from TMV.
Same. Great song!
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I believe I even have that EP... Yes I do! I'll listen to it later today!
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Ah man, I used to have that EP on CD, but I think I traded it in at a record store at some point.........
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I believe I even have that EP... Yes I do! I'll listen to it later today!
You lucky person, you :hefdaddy
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I'd never bothered with this EP in the past, giving it a listen now. It doesn't strike me as anything special. The mix is kind of off putting. There's still a very strong ATDI vibe to these songs, which I guess is to be expected, but it's interesting to hear.
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I believe I even have that EP... Yes I do! I'll listen to it later today!
Lucky bastard.
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I haven't heard the EP actually. Is it worth checking out?
It's okay. I never really got into any of the songs on it, but honestly I haven't listened to it as much as their other stuff.
I should probably rectify that.
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I cringe over the mixing on Bedlam..but I'm glad I didn't give up on them as I found Noctourniquet to not have the terrible mixing issues and a fair amount of good music.
Wow really?
I wasn't a fan of Bedlam's mixing when I first heard the album but I've gotten more... acclimated to its style over time. It's still not great but I can listen to it now and not be annoyed.
Noctourniquet, OTOH, is crushed to absolute hell. There are a few songs that I find physically painful to listen to at times due to the amount of compression on the songs. To be fair, the compression does make some of the songs sound really cool, but I think they could've accomplished that in a different, more pleasant way.
Gonna be following this though. I lurvs me some TMV.
On literally 75% of Bedlam, the splash and crash cymbals sound like a high-pitched toned tambourine and it's literally like fingernails on a chalkboard.
Noctourniquet, I maybe noticed that problem on 2 tracks at the most.
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I never knew that the EP is that rare, I can't even remember where I bought it, or that it was very expensive (actually the sticker's still on it, it was 3,90 in euro's). I think I just wanted to complete the collection. Although I just have 7 albums, according to Wikipedia, I only miss Noctourniquet and a Live EP.
About the EP, never really listened to it, and this is quite an eye-opener. Actually the sound isn't that bad. I'll just write along as I listen.
The first song is quite cool, takes a lot of guts to open your first EP with a song like this. As always I don't have the faintest clue what the songs are about, English isn't my main language, and although I really think I can understand most English, I can't maken anything of all the random words Cedric is screaming.
Concertina isn't really that great. The songwriting sounds more poppy (could be the At The Drive In vibe, I've never heard a song by that band) but way too restless to be poppy. I do like the basswork in this song.
Eunuch Provocateur foreshadows De-Loused in the lyrics, but that's about it, I believe (apart from breakbeat in the outro, that's on De Loused right? Or is it on Frances?). I like the songwriting more in this track, the song could've done without the vocal effect in the verses though. I love the keys in the second part of this song.
Overall I think it's a good debut EP, they we're still looking for their own sound, and that's okay. The soundscapes/beats are very cool. I wish they used that more in later work.
The biggest plus is the bass playing, and Omar himself of course. The biggest flaw, imo, is Cedric. Impressive to see how much better he had become when De-Loused came out.
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i bought the ep a couple years ago from a local record store for like 5 bucks. i've only listened to it a few times, and it's pretty good, but i love all their records so much that i never really go to it.
i'll elaborate on my feelings about goliath when we get there.
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There was a single copy of the EP at the local Best Buy that sat there for years that I put off buying. One day it disappeared and I had a hell of a time finding it anywhere. Eventually bought a copy off of Amazon late last year. Might have been the remaster?
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There was a single copy of the EP at the local Best Buy that sat there for years that I put off buying. One day it disappeared and I had a hell of a time finding it anywhere. Eventually bought a copy off of Amazon late last year. Might have been the remaster?
i want to say that the remaster was digital only. if you bought the preorder of the antmasque record, you got it for free.
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There was a single copy of the EP at the local Best Buy that sat there for years that I put off buying. One day it disappeared and I had a hell of a time finding it anywhere. Eventually bought a copy off of Amazon late last year. Might have been the remaster?
i want to say that the remaster was digital only. if you bought the preorder of the antmasque record, you got it for free.
I believe there was a CD, but it was a somewhat limited release. I have the remastered copy in download form. It's a noticeable difference over the original.
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What's the best Mars Volta album to start with?
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De-Loused in the Comatorium
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What's the best Mars Volta album to start with?
De-Loused in the Comatorium and Frances the Mute are the two fan favorites, I'd say De-Loused is the easiest one as an entry album. The songs are shorter and more focused, on Frances they are longer and a bit harder to get into.
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I'm rolling through the EP right now and the second half of Concertina is really standing out as something I'd dig with more listens. I enjoy chaotic stuff like that.
[edit] Yeah, the last song was a little too trippy for me...it just trailed off into irrelevance too. But, that could just be because of my mood today. I'll give it another whirl tomorrow and see what happens. [/edit]
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just re-listened to the ep again. my initial reactions were that there was a huge atdi vibe while still sounding like mars volta. it's got that atdi edge with the volta complexity.
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Concertina was the highlight of Scabdates for me, great song. I haven't listened to this cd but just saw that it's sitting in my itunes so what the fuck I'll give it a spin.
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What's the best Mars Volta album to start with?
De-Loused in the Comatorium and Frances the Mute are the two fan favorites, I'd say De-Loused is the easiest one as an entry album. The songs are shorter and more focused, on Frances they are longer and a bit harder to get into.
This. I didn't like Frances the Mute's intro (the chains thing) but once the song started, fuckin' amazing!
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Eunuch Provocateur foreshadows De-Loused in the lyrics, but that's about it, I believe (apart from breakbeat in the outro, that's on De Loused right? Or is it on Frances?).
yeah, it reappears at the end of "Drunkship of Lanterns"! such a cool nugget.
both "Concertina" and "Eunuch" were re-recorded for DITC but were only barely released, sadly.
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De-Loused in the Comatorium - Progressive Rock/Jazz Rock/Experimental
(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/2/29/De-Loused_in_the_Comatorium.jpeg/220px-De-Loused_in_the_Comatorium.jpeg)
(ALTERNATIVE COVER)
(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/a/a3/Deloused_alternate.jpg/220px-Deloused_alternate.jpg)
Tracklist
1. Son et Lumière (1:35)
2. Inertiatic ESP (4:24)
3. Roulette Dares (7:31)
4. Tira Me a las Arañas (1:28)
5. Drunkship of Lanterns (7:06)
6. Eriatarka (6:20)
7. Cicatriz ESP (12:29)
8. This Apparatus Must Be Unearthed (4:58)
9. Televators (6:19)
10. Take the Veil Cerpin Taxt (8:42)
Extra Tracks - UK/AUSTRALIA SPECIAL EDITIONS
11. Ambuletz (7:30)
Personnel
Cedric Bixler-Zavala (Vocals)
Omar Rodríguez-López (Guitar/Bass) (Bass - Track 11 only)
Jon Theodore (Drums)
Ikey Owens (Keyboards)
Flea (Bass) (Except Track 10 and 11)
Jeremy Ward (Effects & sound manipulation)
Description
De-Loused in the Comatorium is the debut studio album by American progressive rock band The Mars Volta, released on June 24, 2003. The album follows a story created by Cedric Bixler-Zavala and sound manipulation artist Jeremy Ward, the concept album is an hour-long tale of Cerpin Taxt, a man who enters a week-long coma after overdosing on a mixture of morphine and rat poison. The character of Cerpin is reportedly based on Bixler-Zavala's friend, Julio Venegas, who died in 1996.
Reception
The album, like their debut EP, Tremulant, received largely positive reviews from critics, with AllMusic giving De-Loused in the Comatorium 4.5/5 stars, and the only negative reviews coming from Rolling Stone (3/5) and Robert Christgau, (C+) showing that De-Loused in the Comatorium truly was a great debut album from the band.
Thanks for reading! Please let me know of any corrections I may need to make.
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This album is so classic it burns my loins
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Such a chaotic and weird record. Yet so awesome.
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It's one of the best albums ever made. My opinion, of course, but I think the only other time they came to this level of greatness again was "Day of the Baphomets". There's not a single weak moment here. I think if I have anything against it, it's the two random little transition tracks that could have easily just been the beginning of the tracks they lead into, but I think the reason it was ten tracks instead of eight was because the record company wanted them to have that many? I thought I read that in an interview once, but that could be total BS.
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love love love this record. there's just so much good stuff here. start to finish is just a wild ride. out of the six records it's #2 on my list. jon theodore is such a beast. the drum break in cerpin taxt is one of my favorite drum moments of all time. i've gotten so frustrated trying to learn that part (still not even close).
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Great record, but one I rarely listen to anymore. In fact, I rarely listen to this band anymore. I love this album and the next, but I have to be in the mood for their style, and that only seems to happen once every leap year now.
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De-Loused is amazing. Their second best IMO, but it's such a flawless album. No weak moments.
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I agree with all you guys. Flawless album. Amazing drumming from Jon Theodore, as always on this record. And, the mixing is good on this one
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One of my favorite albums of all time.
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this is the only TMV album I really come back to anymore, tight songwriting and tons of energy, just really fun to listen to
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Tracking through for my very first time. This is really cool, but there is a lot to digest. I foresee several more listens in my future.
I'm beginning to think Thank You Scientist is a big fan of this album. :)
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when i first listened to Thank You Scientist I basically described them as "what if you put Coheed and TMV in a blender"
though honestly their debut is better than any album either of those two bands have ever put out IMO :lol
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Following. Sometimes I feel like I'm the only one who likes all the albums (except Octehedron) after Deloused more, though I love it. Took a while to get into it, maybe I missed the context in which the album came out (both in the context of music and culture by 2002, plus I've never got into At The Drive-In so I don't have anything to judge it against other than TMV's first EP) Nowadays I think it's one of the best albums ever, but it's not my favorite.
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this album simply exploded my brain when it came out! i was just finding my own taste and the record blew open all kinds of doors (especially ambient/noise, now that i trace it back). first love was "Cicatriz" but really the only song i skip is "Televators."
behind it i'd place "Eriatarka" and probably "Roulette Dares."
in case anyone thought otherwise, the intros for "Inertiatic" and "Drunkship" were split out to give the album more tracks, a problem with their label that would also plague them later on Frances the Mute.
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Great album, probably one of the better debut albums ever! The first and last songs stand out to me but it's all gold, though not their best.
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Not much to say that hasn’t already been said. I remember when this first came out, it blew a lot of people’s minds. They simply couldn’t comprehend prog that sounded like this. And it was once this album hit that music media really started talking about a new age of mainstream prog (in positive terms, one must add) that had already been about for a while.
My two favourite songs are Tira Me/Drunkship and Cicatriz, but nothing is bad on this one.
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Simply one of the greatest albums ever made, progressive rock or other. :hefdaddy Cicatriz ESP is an all-time favorite. Every second of that song is pure genius.
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there was some really interesting improv vocal work by Cedric on "Cicatriz" that was left off the final version. if you find the 'summer demos' that were leaked, one of the "Cicatriz" is the album recording with the vocals left in (it's in the jam prior to the fade into ambient ghostville).
i wish they'd release a version with the full, unedited jam!
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love love love this record. there's just so much good stuff here. start to finish is just a wild ride. out of the six records it's #2 on my list. jon theodore is such a beast. the drum break in cerpin taxt is one of my favorite drum moments of all time. i've gotten so frustrated trying to learn that part (still not even close).
Have you ever seen this vid: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lMXRc1UDR3w
Its a drum medley by Stan Bicknell (used to drum for Kimbra's backing band, The New Caledonia), covering all Jon Theodore grooves. It's a fun watch.
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love love love this record. there's just so much good stuff here. start to finish is just a wild ride. out of the six records it's #2 on my list. jon theodore is such a beast. the drum break in cerpin taxt is one of my favorite drum moments of all time. i've gotten so frustrated trying to learn that part (still not even close).
Have you ever seen this vid: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lMXRc1UDR3w
Its a drum medley by Stan Bicknell (used to drum for Kimbra's backing band, The New Caledonia), covering all Jon Theodore grooves. It's a fun watch.
The only word I have is... wow...
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Wonderful record, listened to it twice this week, and it stood out to me how good the album ends. It really sounds like it is closing a story, though, again, I don't have the faintest idea what Cedric is singing.
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Wonderful record, listened to it twice this week, and it stood out to me how good the album ends. It really sounds like it is closing a story, though, again, I don't have the faintest idea what Cedric is singing.
:lol you really need the good 'ol lyric book close at hand for TMV.
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Wonderful record, listened to it twice this week, and it stood out to me how good the album ends. It really sounds like it is closing a story, though, again, I don't have the faintest idea what Cedric is singing.
:lol you really need the good 'ol lyric book close at hand for TMV.
Even then I don't even think it matters. I don't even think he even makes any sense half the time.
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"Something something mandible tongues!"
Me trying to sing along to Mars Volta in the car. :lol
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"Something something mandible tongues!"
Me trying to sing along to Mars Volta in the car. :lol
Trying to sing along to cygnus vismund cygnus goes something along the lines of "woooo, will they foo us the wooooo"
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Fantastic album. A real classic prog album.
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(https://skitguys.com/images/products/hello-is-this-thing-on.jpg)
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(https://skitguys.com/images/products/hello-is-this-thing-on.jpg)
Sorry. I'm really busy doing physics revision right now. The exam is today, so I'll get back to it tomorrow
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Was listening to Frances today. I hope we're skipping Scabdates (is that even in between? I think it is).
While listening to Deloused I couldn't see why any other Mars Volta album would even be necessary, but I forgot how good Frances is.
Still have Cassandra to go, which is an adventure in itself.
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Deloused might be their most consistent album, but Frances is certainly my favorite. Easily. The band just lets loose with some of the best songs they've ever written.
Deloused took me forever to get into though. At first I only liked one or two songs on the album but then something just clicked and the chaos and weirdness of the music suddenly made sense. Not sure how or why, but I'm very glad it did.
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frances is like, okay i guess. there are a couple great songs, but it honestly doesn't do that much for me.
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frances is like, okay i guess. there are a couple great songs, but it honestly doesn't do that much for me.
you pretty much read my mind on that one. never really understood why people dug it so much.
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Speaking of Frances...
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Haha, hey Frances.
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While waiting for Frances, that mute bitch to show up, I might as well rank the songs from De-Loused.
1. Take The Veil Cerpin Taxt
2. Son Et Lumiere/Inertiatic ESP
3. Roulette Dares (The Haunt of)
4. Eriatarka
5. Televators
6. This Apparatus Must Be Unearthed
7. Tira Me a Las Aranas/Drunkship of Lanterns
8. Cicatriz ESP
This is a very consistent album, almost impossible to rank.
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(https://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i238/hefdaddy42/funny/lightenupfrancis_zps2xpheske.gif)
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While waiting for Frances, that mute bitch to show up, I might as well rank the songs from De-Loused.
1. Take The Veil Cerpin Taxt
2. Son Et Lumiere/Inertiatic ESP
3. Roulette Dares (The Haunt of)
4. Eriatarka
5. Televators
6. This Apparatus Must Be Unearthed
7. Tira Me a Las Aranas/Drunkship of Lanterns
8. Cicatriz ESP
This is a very consistent album, almost impossible to rank.
Best two songs ranked lowest. Absolutely criminal.
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Looking at this list I realise that it's almost impossible to rank that album, that's how awesome it is.
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the climaxes on Frances are more or less the greatest part of their whole body of work, and totally worth the build up.
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half of frances is just ambient noises. which is fine, but it's not worth sitting through to get to the stuff i want to hear. i usually just listen to cygnus, the widow and l'via nowadays. oh, and i skip most of the ambient stuff unless i really feel like listening to it.
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Are we even officially onto discussing Frances yet? If so, their best album by far. De-Loused is a 5, but Frances is better. Cassandra Gemini is the best song they have done, and blows everything else away.
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Are we even officially onto discussing Frances yet? If so, their best album by far. De-Loused is a 5, but Frances is better. Cassandra Gemini is the best song they have done, and blows everything else away.
Flip De-Loused and Frances and this statement is correct.
Though Cicatriz ESP remains my favorite thing they've ever done, Cassandra isn't too far behind.
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(https://skitguys.com/images/products/hello-is-this-thing-on.jpg)
Sorry. I'm really busy doing physics revision right now. The exam is today, so I'll get back to it tomorrow
Ummm...
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if they're not back in the next couple days, i can do some write ups. i don't want to steal any thunder here, but it's a been a while.
edit: just listened to frances about 3 times, and i've got an extensive piece ready to go if need be.
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If I listened to Frances 3 times in a row, I would also have an 'extensive piece' ready to go as well.
Um. Penis. That is all.
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If I listened to Frances 3 times in a row, I would also have an 'extensive piece' ready to go as well.
Um. Penis. That is all.
u know what's up.
oops. did it again.
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SORRY FOR THE ENDLESS DELAY - I HAD EXAMS, THEN MY INTERNET WAS DOWN FOR 3 DAYS
Frances the Mute - Progressive Rock/Experimental Rock
(https://cdn.albumoftheyear.org/album/frances-the-mute.jpg)
(ALTERNATIVE COVER)
(https://invisible-movement.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/the_mars_volta_frances_the_mute.jpg)
Tracklist
1. "Cygnus....Vismund Cygnus" (13:02)
2. "The Widow" (5:51)
3. "L' Via L' Viaquez" (12:21)
4. "Miranda That Ghost Just Isn't Holy Anymore" (13:09)
5. "Cassandra Gemini" (Pt. 1) (4:46)
6. "Cassandra Gemini" (Pt. 2) (6:40)
7. "Cassandra Gemini" (Pt. 3) (2:56)
8. "Cassandra Gemini" (Pt. 4) (7:41)
9. "Cassandra Gemini" (Pt. 5) (5:00)
10. "Cassandra Gemini" (Pt. 6) (3:48)
11. "Cassandra Gemini" (Pt. 7) (0:47)
12. "Cassandra Gemini" (Pt. 8) (0:54)
Extra Tracks - JAPANESE BONUS
13. "Frances the Mute" (14:36)
14. "Drunkship of Lanterns" (live)
15. "Cicatriz ESP" (live)
16. "Televators" (live)
Personnel
Omar Rodríguez-López – guitars, synth, production
Cedric Bixler-Zavala – vocals
Jon Theodore – drums
Ikey Owens – keyboards
Juan Alderete de la Peña – bass
Marcel Rodriguez-Lopez – percussion, keyboards
Description
Frances the Mute is the second studio album by The Mars Volta released on March 1, 2005 on Gold Standard Laboratories and Universal. It was solely produced by Omar Rodríguez-López. Frances the Mute sold 123,000 copies in its opening week and has sold 465,000 copies as of September 2006. The album made multiple "Best of" lists at the end of 2005, and is one The Mars Volta's most successful releases.
Reception
The album received largely positive reviews, getting a total of 75/100 on metacritic, showing that most critics rated the album favorably. Negative reviews mostly stated that they didn't like it because it was just another concept album, and was somewhat farcial.
Again, let me know what you think, and again, sorry for being away.
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if they're not back in the next couple days, i can do some write ups. i don't want to steal any thunder here, but it's a been a while.
edit: just listened to frances about 3 times, and i've got an extensive piece ready to go if need be.
p.s. please feel free to chime in, I'm REALLY busy right now, so... yeah. Go ahead :lol
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and we're back! wooooooooooooooo.
what i can say, is that after listening to frances 3 times yesterday, and really listening closely, i definitely have a new found love for it. i've always loved the record, as i love every volta record, but it never really clicked all that much.
my fav thing about that record tbqh is juan's bass lines. they're usually super simple, but he just has this way with simplicity that really elevates the piece of music. he's just a master bass player i guess.
i'll post my full analysis tomorrow after people have a chance to discuss this record a little more.
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Like I said in my previous post, I definitely think this is their best album. Cassandra Gemini is probably the best prog epic (and their best song), and it's 32 minutes of pure joy and awesomeness. The other 4 songs ain't half bad either. I love the first 3, but I can see some complaints for the album, and Miranda does drag at points, but I can live with that since it pays off eventually. If Miranda was the final track of the album, that would have been a disappointment, but somehow the quiet and ambient parts of that song complements the pure chaos that is Cassandra Gemini.
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it took me a long time to deal with the amount of ambient/noise interludes, especially coming off the incredibly concentrated DITC. still today there are a few i think are too long (ends of "Cygnus" and "Widow," intros of "Frances" and "Miranda"). however, my enjoyment of ambient/noise has developed a lot over the last 10 years, and i can listen through the album without particularly hating those moments like i did before.
obviously the non-ambient parts contain some of their best moments. i would say every song, title track included, contains at least one top 10 TMV moment for me, which i can also say for DITC (so, err, top 20?) but not for the albums that follow – they have great songs and moments afterward, obviously, just not in EVERY song on the album.
i despise the screechy woman yelling when "Cygnus" is ending, though! talk about ear pain!
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i despise the screechy woman yelling when "Cygnus" is ending, though! talk about ear pain!
When I put the CD on iTunes, I put Cygnus into audacity and cut out the end. Can't stand it!
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Cassandra is such a masterpiece of a prog epic, and second only to Cicatriz ESP as my favorite TMV song. Even when I first heard this record, I wasn't too put off from all of the ambient and more abstract interludes scattered throughout. They really did a fantastic job at making it all sound purposeful and letting it just flow natural, as if every moment on this album happened as a stream of consciousness.
This album also excels in building such wonderful tension and letting the musical apex become as grand as it can be; case in point: Miranda. People will knock the opening ambient section till the cows come home, but there's no denying how explosive that song becomes towards its middle and just how haunting it sounds overall. The song as a whole really does play well into Cassandra as well; I often see it as the quiet prelude before the utter madness and chaos of Cassandra.
While I don't think this album has quite the frenetic edge that De-Loused has, it's still jaw-dropping to say the least. I couldn't live without either. :hefdaddy
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Funny thing is, that I don't like Cassandra that much. The first 10 minutes or so are full of 'oh man this is the best thing they've ever done' moments, but after that it get a little too jammy for my tastes. Of the other songs Cygnus and Miranda are my favorites. I like the simplicity in Miranda, I like the craziness in Cygnus. L'Via gets a bit too poppy every now and than, and Widow is just too short to compete with the other songs.
Overall you're looking at a VERY good album, so negative comments are relatively negative.
BTW, an interesting theory I've been thinking of, this album is the first where I think the album goes on too long. If they would've shorten it by maybe ten minutes it would've been even better. All the albums after this have that to an even greater extent. How do you guys feel about that?
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Good to have you back, James.
I will re-listen to the album tomorrow morning.
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Good to have you back, James.
I will re-listen to the album tomorrow morning.
Thanks, Hef. It's good to actually be able to access the internet.
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lol
I can imagine
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To borrow somewhat from a post I made on 5/8 a wee while ago:
Frances the Mute is at this point one of my favourite albums ever made, and almost certainly my favourite prog album (the only ones to even rival it are Close to the Edge and Lateralus).
As far as I know, it's the only album I ever bought because I heard it over the speaker system in a music store. Considering the amount of time I spent in music stores during my late teens/early twenties, that's an accolade in itself.
The entire album, ambience and all, is spectacular, every song is perfect where it fits into the larger work, but Cassandra Gemini is potentially the best prog epic ever written. The mindblowing thing about it is that at no point does it feel like separately written bits of music have been welded together to make a larger composition. Show me another prog epic of its scale that you could say the same about. Not to say epics done like that all suck, when that approach works, it works, but more often than not, it feels really contrived. With Cassandra Gemini, barring the album bookend at the very end, the whole thing feels seamless, like a single piece of music, even if there's an initial verse/chorus section at the start which it then leaves waaaaay behind. The whole way, it feels like it's progressively departing from that point, like the song is going somewhere and there's a singular plan, rather than "oh, here's another chunk of music we thought would go nicely after that piece and we'll arbitrarily chuck after it and call it one song". And it remains incredible the entire way.
If you like prog music in general and you don't like this album, you deserve to be tied up naked with every orifice in your body pried open, beaten all over with socks filled with cat food, and left to become intimate with a swarm of cockroaches.
/hyperbole
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If you like prog music in general and you don't like this album, you deserve to be tied up naked with every orifice in your body pried open, beaten all over with socks filled with cat food, and left to become intimate with a swarm of cockroaches.
/hyperbole
:lol
But again, I like the flow of the song, I don't like 6 minutes of dwelling on one riff just to build up a bit and go to another riff.
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With some prog epics, the song goes off rail and the jamming becomes almost self-fulfilling with the band trying to please their own egos, but with Cassandra I feel like everything is meant to be, and every second of it serves a purpose. It's just flawlessly constructed, and the way they go into jam mode and slow down the pace, only to bring it up a few minutes later into an explosion of energy and groove, is just amazing. It reminds me of a really tight jazz band where everybody is technically improvising, but they know each other so well that they all know exactly where to go with their music.
I honestly don't know if there is a single song I could point to, with better musicianship than Cassandra. From the guitars to the vocals, the bass (some of them grooves), the drums and the organ.. the song basically gives every instrument huge highlights, and sometimes I get sweaty even listening to the music, because it's like they are squeezing 150% out of their instruments.
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BTW, an interesting theory I've been thinking of, this album is the first where I think the album goes on too long. If they would've shorten it by maybe ten minutes it would've been even better. All the albums after this have that to an even greater extent. How do you guys feel about that?
i think their records are fine the way they are. people always complain about them going on too long, but i wish some of the stuff went on longer tbqh. although it does depend on the day.
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Great record. This is the record that got me into the band, and it has held up well. I don't listen to TMV much anymore, but when I do, it is usually something from Deloused or Frances, and Cassandra Gemini is definitely one of the best 30-minute plus rock tunes ever. :tup :tup
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Ah dang it. I'm gonna have to give this another listen through, you guys have made it sound so much sweeter than I remember.
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It has to be have been a few years since I've listened to this album. Brings back memories. I remember one time listening to the title track first before the album, and it ruined the experience for me. It was one of the last times I listened to this album I think. I'm glad that title track got relegated to B-sides status, it's OK on its own.
This used to be my least favorite album, though, before Octehedron came out. I just could not get into anything after the first 3 tracks, but now that I'm older, and more musically experienced, I really enjoy those epics, along with a lot of TMV stuff that I dismissed back when the band was around.
Anyone remember when The Widow was on the radio a lot? I'm talking between 2004 and 2006. People forget how big of a hit that song was.
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double post
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Anyone remember when The Widow was on the radio a lot? I'm talking between 2004 and 2006. People forget how big of a hit that song was.
Heard it once a few years back (maybe ~2010?) on a local station - just a request, though. I've never heard a station play it, unless they were forced to.
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I remember seeing the video on music television a lot over here, which was cool.
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here is a link to the "analysis" i did of frances the other day. i'm posting a link as it is pretty long, and i don't want to clog up the thread. (sorry for the shitty formatting. i usually don't post 1500 word essays on tumblr)
https://bumpercardriving.tumblr.com/post/121924539038/i-wrote-an-analysis-for-frances-the-mute-yesterday (https://bumpercardriving.tumblr.com/post/121924539038/i-wrote-an-analysis-for-frances-the-mute-yesterday)
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Great read PP!
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Yeah, great read. I feel like I should hand the reigns of this thread to you now. I am not worthy...
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You're doin great Jimmy.
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Finally finished listening to it.
Like several others, it was my first listen in some time. But it sounded fresh, and its reputation as a modern classic of prog rock is well-deserved. Just a fantastic album.
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Yeah, great read. I feel like I should hand the reigns of this thread to you now. I am not worthy...
nah, dude. it's chill. this is your thread. i won't have all that much time to do that kind of stuff now that i'm not on vacation anymore anyways.
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Yeah, great read. I feel like I should hand the reigns of this thread to you now. I am not worthy...
nah, dude. it's chill. this is your thread. i won't have all that much time to do that kind of stuff now that i'm not on vacation anymore anyways.
I have loads of time, but my ISP has chosen RIGHT NOW to be unreliable and slow, not to mention, their customer service is mostly made up of "Jeremy" - but "Jeremy" can't speak English very well.
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ha, well, if it gets to a point where it's too much of a hassle, i could do something, but as it stands, this was your idea, and i don't want to step on any toes over here.
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Lets someone do a great writeup on AMPUTECHTURE then. My second fave after Deloused.
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I won't be doing a GREAT write-up on it, I'm biased, as it's my least favorite album by TMV
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ffs jimmy
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Amputechture is awesome
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this guy gets it
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ffs jimmy
lol
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:lol I'm sorry.
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amputecture is fantastic. day of baphomets is the best song ever.
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Apart from that I've never heard the last TMV record, Amputhingy is the one I've listened to the least.
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amputecture is fantastic. day of baphomets is the best song ever.
This. I love Amputechture so fucking much.
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amputecture is fantastic. day of baphomets is the best song ever.
This. I love Amputechture so fucking much.
Right? Fucking Vermicide yo.
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Strange, I really thought it was generally being seen as the worst Mars Volta album. I guess I was wrong. Will listen to it this week, headphones on, full focus for 76 minutes, and I'll let you guys know.
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I mean, I'd say the last two albums are the weakest. Octahedron has some great stuff but Noctourniquet was really unmemorable to me. Their first 4 are all amazing albums, and Octahedron is an admirable effort.
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I mean, I'd say the last two albums are the weakest. Octahedron has some great stuff but Noctourniquet was really unmemorable to me. Their first 4 are all amazing albums, and Octahedron is an admirable effort.
Ah yeah, you're right about that, I guess I've seen those stories before Octahedron was even out.
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Okay, so Frances is quite the prog classic, it's a great album but De-loused is still better! The ambience drags too much. Oh, and there's no way I could rank the songs in this album since every song is just as great. Now, bring on Amputechture!
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My internet is down again (I'm using up all the credit on my pay-and-go phone to post this) I contacted my ISP, and they said it'll be up within 3-5 days. If anyone else would like to do a write-up on Amputechture, feel free. Sorry about this, but that's what happens when you live in the middle of nowhere. :angry:
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i mite be able to whip something up.
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I mean, I'd say the last two albums are the weakest. Octahedron has some great stuff but Noctourniquet was really unmemorable to me. Their first 4 are all amazing albums, and Octahedron is an admirable effort.
I prefer Octahedron to Bedlam,both are pretty "okay" but Bedlam is just too long and the songs are a bit unmemorable outside the couple excellent tracks.
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I mean, I'd say the last two albums are the weakest. Octahedron has some great stuff but Noctourniquet was really unmemorable to me. Their first 4 are all amazing albums, and Octahedron is an admirable effort.
I prefer Octahedron to Bedlam,both are pretty "okay" but Bedlam is just too long and the songs are a bit unmemorable outside the couple excellent tracks.
i don't understand this bedlam is too long thing. all of their records are long. it's the same length as frances and amputecture (technically it's shorter, but only by a minute or so), and octahedron is the only album under an hour, and even that one is 51 minutes.
although i guess if ur not a fan of it, it probably seems longer.
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i like amputechture second-best out of the TMV albums
but i utterly hate bedlam and haven't heard the last two so there's not much competition
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Listened to Amputhingy the other day. Full focus, proper headphones on, really made an effort. But there's not one thing that clicked. Oh wait, Viscera Eyes was pretty good. The rest is just... a lot of music I guess. No melody sticks, not like on the first two albums, I really think there's a lot less energy in this record.
And I must say that length in records is an actual thing. It takes a lot more effort to listen to 76 minutes of maniacal music like TMV's music is, than 55 minutes of this kind of music, or 76 minutes of middle of the road music, the reward could be bigger though. Especially with Ampu, the tracks nearly all segue, there isn't really a way to listen to a couple of tracks, and listen to the second half of the album later.
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...with Ampu, the tracks nearly all segue, there isn't really a way to listen to a couple of tracks, and listen to the second half of the album later.
most of the transitions are just sudden cuts, though, so it's exactly the same to just skip to a different song. in fact, it sorta pisses me off that most of the songs don't end properly.
i find a lot of it quite memorable, just not as immediately as DITC and FTM.
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Amputechture came, philistine praise, someone should make a writeup.
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BARE THEM! SEVENS!
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OH, FUCK... I'M SO SORRY!
Yeah... after my internet went down, it didn't come back up again until I'd went on holiday, then I was ill, and now it's now. I'm really sorry.
(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/7/7e/Scabdates2.jpg/220px-Scabdates2.jpg)
Scabdates (Live Album)
Released Date - November 8, 2005
Tracklist:
1. Abrasions Mount the Timpani (4:07)
2. Take the Veil Cerpin Taxt (5:57)
3. Gust of Mutts (2:34)
4. And Ghosted Pouts (4:52)
5. Caviglia (2:46)
6. Concertina (4:17)
7. Haruspex (5:24)
8. Cicatriz" 8:16
9. A. Part I (2:34)
10. B. Part II (7:39)
11. C. Part III (4:29)
12. D. Part IV (20:01)
Overview
Scabdates is the second live album by The Mars Volta (I missed the first - whoops) featuring recordings from the tours in support of "Deloused in the comatorium" and "Frances the Mute." Many call Scabdates a peculiar release, in that only 3 songs are recorded on the album, however, all of the songs contain extended or completely new segments. The album famously ends with lead singer, Cedric Bixler-Zavala telling the audience to "go home and take a bath." Some say the reasoning behind the album being in the style that it is (with extended versions of the songs) is as a result of the band's encouragement of bootleg trading. It has therefore been speculated that the band (or producers) felt a full live album wouldn't sell well, due to the availability of bootlegs.
Shows
The shows at which segments of the album were as follows:
05/12/2004 – Wiltern Theatre – Los Angeles, CA
Haruspex
Cicatriz
05/13/2004 – Wiltern Theatre – Los Angeles, CA
Caviglia
05/05/2005 – Roseland Ballroom – New York City, NY
Abrasions Mount the Timpani
Take the Veil Cerpin Taxt
05/06/2005 – Roseland Ballroom – New York City, NY
Gust of Mutts / And Ghosted Pouts
UNKNOWN
Concertina (most likely from a 2005 show, as Adrián Terrazas-González, who began performing live with the band in 2005, can be heard playing saxophone during this song.
Personnel
Omar Rodríguez-López - guitar
Cedric Bixler-Zavala - vocals
Juan Alderete - bass guitar
Jon Theodore - drums
Isaiah Ikey Owens - keyboards
Marcel Rodriguez-Lopez - percussion, synthesizers
Adrián Terrazas-González - wind instruments
Paul Hinojos - sound manipulation
Again, sorry for being away, and again, correct me if anything is wrong or missing or something!
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Haven't heard this one actually
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Haven't heard this one actually
TBH, I don't listen to it at all. It's pretty much my least played TMV album - probably one of the least played albums in my entire collection, actually.
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Who are you?
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I dig "Concertina" but overall Scabdates is a complete mess.
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Okay, so with Amputechture, I certainly don’t think it’s a bad album, or an average one by any means. I really like how they bookended it with the weird trippy intro and outro tracks.
The problem is, Tetragrammaton, while not bad, is far too long to justify how good it is for much of its length. There are great moments, but a lot of it flounders. And Vermicide is a throwaway for me. That means if I put on this album these days, I have little desire to listen to those two tracks, and almost never do, I’d rather just go straight to the solid awesomeness of Meccamputechture > Asilos Magdalena > Viscera Eyes > Day of the Baphomets.
So what happens to the bookend tracks? Because I normally don’t listen to the album right through, I normally don’t bother with those either. So this album has become one where I tend to only listen to four of the eight tracks. (And in fact, for people who tried the album and couldn’t stomach it, I would suggest focusing on those four tracks.) I think I should try adding the intro/outro back into my listening, though I don’t know how well the first track will jump into Meccamputechture.
Scab Dates is garbage. I tried the album so many times, and liked nothing. The album tracks (Cicatriz and Cerpin Taxt) had vastly worse singing, and generally not as tight performance, which I’m sure is fine for the live experience, but given a choice of what to play at home, I’m gonna go for the studio version every time. The jamming is pointless without something to ground it, and I found it totally uninteresting anyway.
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Who are you?
Hey, I apologised :laugh:
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scabdates is wild. i'm definitely into, but i really i have to be in the mood for it.
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That version of Concertina, the Cerpin Taxt jam and the Cicatriz jam are all excellent on Scabdates, imo.
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Amputechture:
Album Cover:
(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/e/e7/GSL126_cover_temp_461.png/220px-GSL126_cover_temp_461.png)
Released:
September 8, 2006 (Germany)
September 11, 2006 (Rest of Europe)
September 12, 2006 (Released Internationally)
Tracklist:
1. Vicarious Atonement (7:19)
2. Tetragrammaton (16:41)
3. Vermicide (4:16)
4. Meccamputechture (11:03)
5. Asilos Magdalena (6:34)
6. Viscera Eyes (9:23)
7. Day of the Baphomets (11:57)
8. El Ciervo Vulnerado (8:50)
Overview:
Amputechture is the third studio album by The Mars Volta. It was again produced by guitarist Omar Rodriguez-Lopez. It is also the final album to feature drummer Jon Theodore, and is the first studio album to feature guitarist and sound manipulator Paul Hinojos, although he was credited, it is not clear . Amputechture reached a peak of #9 on the Billboard 200.
Reception:
The album receives generally favourable reviews. Slant Magazine gave the album a score of 4 out of a possible 5, saying "shows a band honing their eruptive sound and bringing it into tight focus for the first time, routinely pushing their music to the wall without ever risking a breach."
The album did, however, receive some negative review, with Alternative Press giving the album two-and-a-half stars out of five and said that all the album did was to "test patience." Tiny Mix Tapes also gave the album two-and-a-half stars out of five, calling it a "a bumpy ride."
The album has a score of 61/100 on Metacritic, meaning that the reviews were genrally favourable.
Personnel:
The Mars Volta:
Omar Rodríguez-López – guitars, bass, sitar, tampura, direction
Cedric Bixler-Zavala – vocals
John Frusciante – rhythm guitar
Juan Alderete – bass guitar
Jon Theodore – drums
Marcel Rodriguez-Lopez – keyboards, synthesizers
Ikey Owens – keyboards
Adrián Terrazas-González – flute, tenor saxophone, bass clarinet
Paul Hinojos – sound manipulation
Additional Personnel:
Sara Christina Gross – saxophone on "Meccamputechture"
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One of the most difficult albums I've ever gotten into. There has been a few, and I've spoken about BTBAM's Colors a lot, and how it took me 10-15 listens to get into it, but I felt the potential there. That's different, Amputechture felt like it was making it as hard as possible for me to get into it. But I went through their discography chronologically, so when I reached the road block with Amputechture, I knew how much I loved the first two albums, and that helped me give it a few listens more.
It's definitely an odd one, for starters the album doesn't really have a beginning or end. It sort of just starts (I guess) and then eventually it just ends with that sudden cut. It really feels like a weird LSD trip where someone cut out the intro and outro and just captured the weird stuff in between. But there is great stuff on the album, and luckily I grew to really appreciate it. I feel like a lot of the songs stand strong on their own, and it's only really in the context of the album where it might become a chore to listen to it all. But still, I'd say it's a 8 or 8.5 out of 10. I have some minor problems with it, and it's definitely an album that challenges you to sit through it, but some great musical ideas. It's not as good as Frances or De-Loused, or even Bedlam for me, but it's not that far behind.
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Absolute highlights of the discography are on this – "Tetragrammaton," "Vermicide," "Meccamputechture," "Viscera Eyes," "Day of the Baphomets" – but the rest are pretty meh, and every single song except "Vermicide" is WAY too repetitive and runs way too long. It's funny that a reviewer called it "focused"... it's the same problem Frances had, just not up to half an hour at once this time.
And pretty much every track has a sudden start and end. The transitions, uhh, aren't. It's more like someone flips the slide out of nowhere. Very annoying.
However, this is the last time I was particularly impressed with this band at all.
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Tetragrammaton and Day Of The Baphomets are my favourite songs of TMV discography, Viscera Eyes is great, I like Meccamputechture.. but I completely forgot how are the other songs. Maybe I should relisten to them 6 or 7 years after the last time
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I'm looking at the tracks and i see no problems.
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this was the first of theor records that i listened to (followed by bedlam which blew my mind). i really love the diversity w/ the different styles of music. day of the baphomets is by far their best song. it's wild from start to finish. i've listened to it hundreds of times i feel like.
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First album I heard by the band, Vicarious Atonement and Tetragrammaton had me instantly hooked.
Day of the Baphomets is probably my least favorite on this one (which seems kinda odd considering the general consensus).
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Okay, so I listened through Amputechture again today, the bass line in the second half of Viscera Eyes might be one of the greatest bass lines ever. :hefdaddy
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Okay, so I listened through Amputechture again today, the bass line in the second half of Viscera Eyes might be one of the greatest bass lines ever. :hefdaddy
Yeah! I just listened to it again. It's bloody good.
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So, is this still a thing?
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Always fun when threads like these take a month between updates (for some reason).
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Yeah, maybe it wasn't a good idea for me to do this, after all. My progress slowed down whilst I was on holiday, and now I'm back at school, and extremely busy. If anyone wants to do something, feel free, but I don't know if I'll be able to carry it on due to my workload right now. :-[ Sorry guys
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I can keep this rolling if no-one else is keen, I guess. Only three more albums, after all.
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I can keep this rolling if no-one else is keen, I guess. Only three more albums, after all.
Fine with me. Go for it.
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Cool, I'll do Bedlam tomorrow.
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Thanks for stepping in, mate. Sorry to you guys for it being so slow. It was a bit of a let-down, this thread. :-[
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Don't worry about it. :)
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Alright, so I'll do this similar to how James Mypetgiress did the previous albums.
(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/6/61/Agadez.jpg)
The Bedlam in Goliath
Released: January 29, 2008
Tracklist:
1. "Aberinkula"
2. "Metatron"
3. "Ilyena"
4. "Wax Simulacra"
5. "Goliath"
6. "Tourniquet Man"
7. "Cavalettas"
8. "Agadez"
9. "Askepios"
10. "Ouroborous"
11. "Soothsayer"
12. "Conjugal Burns"
Personnel
Omar Rodríguez-López – guitar, synthesizers
Cedric Bixler-Zavala – vocals
Isaiah Ikey Owens – keyboards
Juan Alderete – bass
Thomas Pridgen – drums
John Frusciante – guitar
Marcel Rodriguez-Lopez – percussion, keyboards
Adrián Terrazas-González – flute, tenor saxophone, soprano saxophone, bass clarinet, percussion
Paul Hinojos – sound manipulation
Additional musicians
Henry Trejo – "Because"s on "Agadez"
Nathaniel Tookey – string composition and arrangement on "Soothsayer"
Sam Bass – cello on "Soothsayer"
Edwin Huizinga – violin on "Soothsayer"
Charith Premawardhana – viola on "Soothsayer"
Anthony Blea – violin on "Soothsayer"
Owen Levine – double bass on "Soothsayer"
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So I thought this album was really successful and great. The band had really explored the prog angle quite well, at least for the time being, and if they had gone on in that direction, it would have gotten samey, so I think the decision to dial things back and make a harder, more intense album was a really smart move. As I mentioned in my favourite albums thread: "On my first few listens, I was astounded by how this album sustains such high levels of energy across 75 minutes and stays interesting throughout.".
As I also mentioned there, though the album is mostly brilliant across its full length - there are only a few times that it slips back to merely very good - the album is made for me by the two trios of Ilyena/Wax Simulacra/Goliath and Askepios/Ouroboros/Soothsayer. The first three would all make my favourite songs by this band easily, and the latter three are also damn good contenders. The album opens incredibly strongly as well though.
Also, Thomas fucking Pridgen.
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Oh, and this was the first album where I really paid very much attention to the band's version of events that supposedly inspired the album and thought, "what the proper fuck?"
Here's a full account of it from back in the day that I copy-pasted and stored away (I'll add I haven't read it since the album first came out, I may re-read it later and comment again).
The genesis of The Mars Volta’s new album The Bedlam in Goliath is one of the weirdest stories in the history of modern music, a tale of long-buried murder victims and their otherworldly influence, of strife and near collapse, of the long hard fight to push “the record that did not want to be born” out into the world. And I swear we’ll get to all of that in a second.
But right now, before we drag any new passengers on the Volta Express into the lunacy of The Bedlam in Goliath, we’ve got to bring them up to speed. And so I present “A Very Brief History of The Mars Volta”:
Back at the turn of the century guitarist/producer Omar Rodriguez-Lopez and lyricist/vocalist Cedric Bixler-Zavala decided to form a musical partnership called The Mars Volta. They grabbed a few other intrepid musicians and recorded The Tremulant EP, which was incredible and weird and proved these guys were trailblazing far from the paths tread by their prior band, At the Drive-In.
Then they released De-Loused In The Comatorium, an astonishing album that served as both an elegy for and celebration of their friend Julio Venegas (as told through the fictional character Cerpin Taxt whose life-and-death travails are chronicled via the songs). The album was huge in terms of exposure, influence, and raw momentum.
Next came Frances the Mute, an album with a central plot, based, sadly, on the loss of another friend (this time fellow musician and bandmate Jeremy Ward). An equally bizarre and powerful album. For this record and the remainder since, Omar has produced solo, dropping some of the pop sheen that Rick Rubin brought to the first album in favor of more experimental textures and structures. If De-Loused… was a dark album, this thing is obsidian. And also inspiring. And majestic.
Most recently they released Amputechture, their first album with no central concept (aside from stretching the boundaries of their prior musical achievements). Omar worked as a director/conductor/visionary, writing all the music and providing motivation, while Cedric stretched his vocals and lyrics around multi-tiered songs about things like modern witch-burnings, cultural oppression, and madness. The soaring intensity of the single Viscera Eyes alone is worth the admission.
The tours supporting each of these albums have proven that The Mars Volta is an endlessly ambitious group intent on turning a standard concert into something transformative that can best be described as an aural blitzkrieg. Saul Williams, no slouch when it comes to rocking a stage, once joked that he rushed through his opening sets just so he could watch the Volta sooner.
Point Being: If you don’t have these albums, you need them. If you do have them then you know exactly what I’m talking about and you’re anticipating The Bedlam in Goliath more than any other record this year. And you know, as I do, that if the Volta comes to your town for a show that you have to be there or a little bit of your soul dies. That’s a science fact.
Which brings us to the now, on the eve of the release of The Mars Volta’s stunning new recording. Which brings us to The Story.
Perhaps it’s best to insert a prologue for this tale stating that some (cynics, pragmatists, people who would like their life to be more boring) may instantly respond with rolled-eyes and disbelief. And that’s okay. But others are willing to acknowledge that most metaphysics may just be the elements of physics our brains can’t quite comprehend yet, and that there is a great power in words, and in belief.
Quotes from two Volta compatriots offer a relevant lead-in:
“The things you speak to can shape your world. Look at Biggie. ‘Ready to Die.’ Dead. Word.”
— Saul Williams (again)
“This is the sound of what you don’t know killing you. This is the sound of what you don’t believe, still true. This is the sound of what you don’t want, still in you.”
—El-P
And so, all that being said, here is The Story (and various annotations): Omar was in a curio shop in Jerusalem when he found the Soothsayer. It seemed to him an ideal gift for Cedric, this archaic Ouija-style “talking board.” So it was then and there, in a city where the air swims with religious fervor, in a shop that might as well have carried monkey’s paws and Mogwais, that Omar changed the fate of The Mars Volta forever.
Had he known at that moment that the board’s history stretched far beyond its novelty appearance, that its very fibers were soaked through with something terribly other, that the choral death and desire of a multi-headed Goliath was waiting behind its gates… well, he might have left it at rest there on the dusty shelves.
The Upside of That Choice: No bad mojo unleashed. Erase the madness that followed. Erase the bizarre connection to a love/lust/murder triangle that threatened to spill out into the present every time the band let its fingers drift over the board.
The Downside: No Soothsayer means The Bedlam in Goliath never would have existed. And it turns out that this demented spiritual black hole of a muse has driven The Mars Volta to produce a crowning moment in their already stellar career.
So if Omar hadn’t given in to his curiosity and brought the Soothsayer home to Cedric then the band would probably have been happier, healthier, less haunted.
But you and I, Lucky Listener, we would have been robbed of one fucking amazing album.
More on that in a moment.
Back up to the last big tour. The Volta and the Red Hot Chili Peppers are tearing venues in half, retreating to their busses, rolling through the night. But instead of the normal Rock God routines the guys are sitting around Cedric’s new Ouija board, which they’ve dubbed the Soothsayer. And they love it— it’s the new post-show addiction.
The Soothsayer offers them names: Goliath, Mr. Mugs, Patience Worth, Tourniquet Man.
The Soothsayer offers them a story: It’s always about a man, a woman, and her mother. About the lust floating between them. About seduction and infidelity. And pain. And eventually, murder. Entrails and absence and curses and oblivion. Exactly the kind of spooky shit you’d want from your Ouija.
Now here comes the rub.
The Soothsayer starts asking the band what they have to offer. This connection that’s set up runs both ways, and the invisible voices begin to speak of their appetites.
They threaten oblivion and dissolution, or offer it as seduction. The voices merge as Goliath, a metaphysical quagmire and unfed saint whose hunger to return to the real world grows more urgent with each connection.
There are proper ways to close this union, but The Mars Volta have never been anything if not adventurous. They stay in contact— even taking phrases from the board and inserting them as song lyrics— but never offer themselves as surrogates. And so the starving Goliath extends its influence.
Inexplicable equipment issues abound while on tour.
Conflict with the existing drummer escalates and results in a change of guard. Ritual gives way to injury and Cedric is laid low by a randomly (and severely) gimped foot.
A completely reliable engineer’s mental composure cracks, pushing him from the project. The tracks he leaves behind are desperately tangled.
Omar’s music studio floods, threatening to send him right over the same precipice as the engineer.
Long-term album delays hit and people aren’t sleeping well.
Nonsensical words and phrases the board had previously spoken begin to pop up in things like documentaries about mass suicide.
The Soothsayer keeps telling the same story but the details are becoming more brutal.
One day the label on the board peels back revealing pre-Aramaic lingo written across weird cone shapes.
It’s bad mojo writ large, and things are crumbling quickly.
Worst of all, the board has shifted from pleas to demands.
To threats.
So they buried the fucking thing.
There are many ways to close a spiritual connection. Wear white for a whole year. Surround yourself with salt. Close a board and ask someone else to open it, thus transferring the ownership. Break the board into seven pieces and sprinkle it with holy water. Or bury it.
Omar wrapped the Soothsayer in cloth and found a proper place for it in the soil. Cedric asked that he never be made aware of its location.
And then their album found a new, more urgent purpose.
The Bedlam in Goliath is here to consecrate the grounds where the Soothsayer lies in wait. It’s metaphor vs. metaphysics. Its story will be told to you and I, Lucky Listener, and we’re the ones re-opening the board. Taking on the ownership.
Perhaps if Goliath is spread between us all its hunger will dissipate. Or, as it threatened, it could become our epidemic.
So there’s the story, up to today, but it’s not over. Because this thing is about to enter the hearts and minds of countless listeners. My hope is that the album will do exactly as The Mars Volta have engineered it to do, and lift the unseen burden that hangs over them.
When they first sent me The Bedlam in Goliath and asked me to write this, I was nervous. What if the music itself was somehow cursed, a sort of audio Macbeth?
But after over one hundred listens I can tell you with confidence that I’d risk a little spiritual vengeance for this album.
From the opening surge of Aberinkula to the Brobdingnagian blast of Goliath to the frenzy and near escape of Conjugal Burns, The Bedlam in Goliath is the sound of a band transformed. The Volta have never been what any sane person would call restrained, but in the heat of this bedlam, in their teeth-baring cornered animal response to an invisible entropy, they’ve created a truly relentless musical juggernaut.
The returning roster (Omar Rodriguez-Lopez on guitar and production, Cedric Bixler-Zavala on vocals and lyrics, Isaiah Ikey Owens on keys, Juan Alderete de la Pena on bass, Adrian Terrazas-Gonzalez on horns, Marcel Rodriguez-Lopez on percussion, Paul Hinojos on guitar and soundboard, Thomas “Holy Fucking Shit This New Guy is Incredible” Pridgen on drums, and Red Hot Chili Pepper/regular-Volta-album-contributor John Frusciante rounding out the guitar armada) have crafted a record that manages to contain the echoes of their considerable prior work and merge them with their uncompromising desire to carve out new territory in the musical landscape.
Wax Simulacra carries with it the energy of De-Loused’s This Apparatus Must Be Unearthed and elevates the tone with frantic looped vocals and a swirling mix of horns and drum rolls. The mind-melting freak-out crescendos of tracks like Frances the Mute’s Cassandra Geminni or Amputechture’s Viscera Eyes have always given the Volta’s albums and shows an air of transcendence, and there are moments on new tracks like Goliath and Cavelettas and Ouroboros that guarantee escalating listener paroxysms, if not Scanners-style exploding heads. The more relaxed new tracks, like Ilyena or Tourniquet Man, manage to encapsulate the strange lamentation of other Volta slow-burners while adding an eerie sense of menace. The entire Volta crew is pushing themselves further than ever before. And to anyone concerned about the arrival of a new drummer, rest at ease. The Bedlam in Goliath unveils Mr. Pridgen as a drum-pummeling berserker mainlining cheetah blood and snorting dusted mastodon bones, proving masterful with the elaborate and the explosive (and often melding both at the same time).
It’s worth noting, amidst all of this rhapsodic praise, how Omar and a crew of dedicated musicians have managed to breathe thrumming life into what was almost a stillborn album. The audio that the first engineer (who, on an up note, is now on the mend and feeling much better) had left behind was close to unworkably snarled. In his absence it became a scramble to rebuild what the band knew they had been creating in the studio. Robert Carranza kicked in heavy on the engineering, sinking himself into the whole project with an added focus on the drum sonics. Lars Stalfors and Isaiah Abolin were also called in, and along with Omar they dodged daylight for too-long stretches and slaved to rework each track. Shawn Michael Sullivan and Claudius Mittendorfer did their best as editors to keep the band from having to start all over again. The ever-reliable Volta-mixer Rich Costey tried to keep things positive and helped Omar battle what he called Goliath’s “quantum entanglement” (which even Rich saw evidenced by things like randomly disappearing drum tracks).
The depth of that entanglement becomes apparent when you realize that Omar, always at the center of these struggles, almost gave up on this record. The same Omar Rodriguez-Lopez that moved to Amsterdam and cut four solo albums while also working on Amputechture and a soundtrack for the Jorge Hernandez film El Bufalo de la Noche. The same guy that’s probably working on a DVD, his own film, and 10 new albums right now. But at certain points during work on Bedlam his nearly incandescent creative force was on the verge of being snuffed out. And he was sure Goliath was behind the chaos. After his studio flooded, Omar even banned all mention of the Ouija board for fear that simply acknowledging its existence might bring down some fatal blow. Despite the disallowance, he remained haunted. He’d wake to fits of late night inspiration only to find that there was a power blackout (but only in his loft), or that the parts he’d crafted in the midnight hour would later vaporize. Production work became so nightmarish and Sisyphean that he’d occasionally check on the Soothsayer’s burial site, to see if it had been exhumed and “reactivated.”
Knowing about the immense challenges faced in the creation of The Bedlam in Goliath only elevates my appreciation for Omar’s production. With this record he has laid out a blueprint for anyone else seeking to combine the complex with the primeval and make it all hit you where it counts. This is an album that’s electric for both the 3:00 AM headphone listener and the guy doing 90 on the interstate with the windows down. This is an album with an immense level of control and experimentation on display; for every section with intricately panning gut-punching drums and shimmering horn sounds and scorching guitars there’s another where you can sense a mischievous musical mind at play (e.g. the fuzzed out bass tones at the end of Ilyena or the real inserted recordings from Jerusalem or the sound of a live jack switching between demo and final versions on Askepios). As a filmic analog, picture Kubrick or Fincher working in tandem with Bunuel or Jodorowsky.
Actually, similar analogs could be extended to the whole of the album itself. The Volta have acknowledged the immense influence of surrealism and film on their work. In relation just to Jodorowsky, The Bedlam in Goliath manages to evoke the languid madness of Fando y Lis, the infidelity and murder and worship of Santa Sangre, the broad-spectrum religious imagery of Holy Mountain, the sheer guts-on-the-table awe of El Topo. Throw in the identity confusion head-fuckery of Lynch’s strangest films, Werner Herzog’s sense of obsession, a few dollops of Jonestown: The Life and Death of Peoples Temple, and pinches of The Exorcist and Don’t Look Now and you’re starting to get the right idea.
On the lyrical front, you should be warned: This is an unsettling piece of work. You’re welcome to take Cedric’s vocals at surface level— he sounds incredible, his range broader than ever, his energy and emotion undeniable.
Or you can begin to translate. Cedric Bixler-Zavala, like fellow musical mavericks Bjork and Ghostface Killah, uses primarily English words but speaks his own lyrical language. If you examine the meaning behind his shrapnel-burst imagery, his obsessions with the grotesque and the profoundly sacred, you begin to realize he’s created a complex associative tapestry that’s designed with spider-web precision. And before you know it you’re trapped.
The more you read the story he’s laid out (an intricate meta-fictional narrative reminiscent of Danielewski’s House Of Leaves, involving both the transgressions of the past and the desire of the Goliath parasite to infest the Ouija-using host), the more you research his allusions and the history of the spirit board, the more uncanny connections you are bound to make. You start to recognize a tie between certain vocal effects and messages from the board. You wonder if focusing on this story too much might invite Goliath into your world. Soon you’re jumping at shadows, shopping for salt and all-white outfits, surrounding yourself with graphs and counting words and letters and looking for codes, creating your own primordial cymatics using the album, feeling phantom tendrils in your bones. You begin to hope that all the positive elements Cedric covertly slid into the songs (a legion of religious references including snippets of Santeria-derived prayers, classic fables, the hidden name of a regal actress he holds in high regard, an underlying reverence for creation/menstruation, vague hints of redemption) really are helping to balance out and maybe even negate the darkness that has infested the album.
You’re bound to have questions. What exactly transpired in the tragic triangle? Who was really in control and who were the victims? Was anyone innocent? How did they die and what happened to the bodies? How did they come to rest within the Soothsayer? If they return to our world, what will they do?
Those answers (and more) are in there, fused at every level to songs of equal complexity and gravity. And the closer you listen, the further you voyage into The Bedlam in Goliath, the more disquieting and compelling the Volta’s brilliant audiocelluloid epic becomes.
This album is the sound of a band playing— magnificently— for its life. And it is a recording of such strange power that I believe the Goliath that haunts them will be forever struck down.
Word.
— Jeremy Robert Johnson, October 27th, 2007, Portland, Oregon
The Zayin Division— A Second Stage Burial
I. I am the simian martyr’s bullet-borne deliverance.
II. Ideomotor effect. Forced cryptomnesia. Your shroud returns stale whispers. Ropes tighten at each limb.
III. He half-woke to a wild leopard, to blood-pregnant air, the smell of his courted collapse. Laurel twigs crossed her hidden tools.
IV. The holy glyph floats close, its gray light angles suffuse the bones now dust, flesh now jelly. Every cell shakes loose its viral code. Supernus pacta sunt servanda.
V. Its hands swept through in the crooked mandible, the chemical lobotomy swung blind, the monoxide possessions. All of it annelid territory.
VI. Sandover light shone symbiotic until you saw it swallow-shift. Your retractions granted final grace.
VII. I will not follow your collapsing oblivion.
—JRJ, October 28th, 2007, Portland, Oregon (First print copy interment)
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I really love the energy of this record. The first 30-40 minutes are really good. But I never get past that. I listen to track 1-6, or track 7-12, I just can't make it all the way through. Apart from that, Goliath is one of the best things they've ever done, that buildup is insane!
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Probably my favourite TMV record. It's so energetic and fun to listen to! Love it.
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A really great album. Probably my third favorite from them. :)
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I really love the energy of this record. The first 30-40 minutes are really good. But I never get past that. I listen to track 1-6, or track 7-12, I just can't make it all the way through. Apart from that, Goliath is one of the best things they've ever done, that buildup is insane!
Yeah, occasionally when I listen to it, I’ll just play the first half. Just that on its own can be enough for the system depending on my mood.
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bedlam is by far my favorite volta record. i love everything about it. people really like to complain about the production, but i think the production fits the record perfectly. it's too loud, it clips a lot, some things get lost a bit, but that's the essence of this record; it's not called the bedlam in goliath for nothing. it really lives up to the name.
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Love this album. Probably my 4th favorite from TMV (which speaks more about how great the band is).
Only real issues I have with it are how divided some of the songs are themselves. I often see many of them as having two parts to them, which in itself isn't necessarily a bad thing, but seems maybe a little formulaic when looking at the album as a whole, especially compared to the eccentric structures of songs on previous records. It definitely felt the most "planned out" of their albums thus far.
There's only a few moments that don't do much for me. The majority is awesome, relentless energy. Goliath is unbelievable indeed. :hefdaddy
I'd go as far as to say that Soothsayer is the unspoken masterwork of this album though. I could spin that shit for hours. To me it's the most layered track on Bedlam and that Middle Eastern vibe I just can't get enough of.
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Only real issues I have with it are how divided some of the songs are themselves. I often see many of them as having two parts to them, which in itself isn't necessarily a bad thing, but seems maybe a little formulaic when looking at the album as a whole, especially compared to the eccentric structures of songs on previous records. It definitely felt the most "planned out" of their albums thus far.
Wow, I’ve never noticed that, but you’re totally right, there are quite a few two-part songs.
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Is this still going, or is it over with?
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There's two more albums to go, technically
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There's two more albums to go, technically
Yeah, I know. But it's been a month since the last post.
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I have some free time later (after I've finished revising for my music tech exam) so I guess I can do them both at the same time.
This thread is such a fucking mess.
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(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/d/d0/Tmv-octahedron.jpg/220px-Tmv-octahedron.jpg)
Octahedron
Tracklist:
1. "Since We've Been Wrong" (7:22)
2. "Teflon" (5:06)
3. "Halo of Nembutals" (5:32)
4. "With Twilight as My Guide" (7:54)
5. "Cotopaxi" (3:40)
6. "Desperate Graves" (4:58)
7. "Copernicus" (7:24)
8. "Luciforms" (8:22)
iTunes Bonus Tracks:
9. "Cotopaxi" (live) (3:26)
Personnel:
Omar Rodríguez-López – guitar, synthesizers, drum machine
Cedric Bixler-Zavala – vocals
Juan Alderete – bass guitar
Thomas Pridgen – drums
Marcel Rodríguez-López – keyboards, synthesizers, mellotron, percussion
Isaiah "Ikey" Owens (He was credited, however, did not actually play on the record)
Reception:
Received a mostly positive reception. A score of 66/100 on Metacritic. The New York Times and Boston Globe gave it mostly positive reviews. Boston Globe stated that "Guitarist Omar Rodriguez-Lopez and singer Cedric Bixler-Zavala are the creative duo driving the band and once again deliver on a standing promise to blow any mind that is willing to stay open." There were, however, some mixed and negative reviews, for example, The Scotsman gave the album a review of 3/5, saying "it employs stillness as a set-up for all manner of disruption: sharply pealing riffs, phantasmagorical metaphors, convoluted song structures. In many ways it's a typical effort from the guitarist Omar Rodriguez-Lopez and the vocalist Cedric Bixler-Zavala, who make up the Mars Volta's core. But that's not to discredit the more measured side of Octahedron. Presented as an eight-song suite, the album delivers a panoramic range of intensity, sliding along that range in ways both gradual and startling."
Sorry this is short. It's nearly 2AM here. I'm bloody tired, but, hey. At least this thread is back again.
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Even though it's not as good as their first 4 albums, I enjoy Octahedron as more of a laid back album. It's definitely good and a song like "With Twilight as my Guide" really stands out. :)
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Even though it's not as good as their first 4 albums, I enjoy Octahedron as more of a laid back album. It's definitely good and a song like "With Twilight as my Guide" really stands out. :)
I remember Cedric said in an interview that it was more pop-orientated as an album. It's the one Mars Volta album I don't own (never got round to picking it up) so I can't comment on it, but I can't imagine TMV releasing an album that is even kinda pop related :lol
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It's definitely not that progressive compared to their other albums. It's more straight forward structure wise and the songs are more chill. A lot of softer songs.
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This is a huge step up from bedlam in my opinion, not as great as the first three but it's still pretty awesome. With Twilight, Desperate Graves and Copernicus are probably my favorites here. I really like the laid back mood of this album. Oh, and Pridgens drumming is so much better here than on Bedlam.
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The Final Album...
(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/2/27/5127-marsvolta.jpg)
Noctourniquet
Release Date - March 26, 2012
Recorded - 2009–2011
Tracklist:
1. "The Whip Hand" (4:49)
2. "Aegis" (5:11)
3. "Dyslexicon" (4:22)
4. "Empty Vessels Make the Loudest Sound" (6:43)
5. "The Malkin Jewel" (4:44)
6. "Lapochka" (4:16)
7. "In Absentia" (7:26)
8. "Imago" (3:58)
9. "Molochwalker" (3:33)
10. "Trinkets Pale of Moon" (4:25)
11. "Vedamalady" (3:54)
12. "Noctourniquet" (5:39)
13. "Zed and Two Naughts" (5:36)
Bonus Tracks:
14. "The Malkin Jewel" (live) (5:08) (Japan Only)
Personnel:
Omar Rodríguez-López – guitar, keyboards, synths, bass, direction, arrangements
Cedric Bixler-Zavala – vocals, lyrics
Juan Alderete – bass guitar
Deantoni Parks – drums
Note: Marcel Rodríguez-López (Brother of Omar) is credited on the album, but only appeared on the Japanese bonus track.
Summary:
Noctourniquet is the sixth and final studio album by American progressive rock band The Mars Volta, released on March 26, 2012 on Warner Bros Records. As usual, production of the record was handled by guitarist Omar Rodriguez-Lopez, this is also the band's only studio album to feature drummer Deantoni Parks, who later went on to perform in the Omar Rodriguez-Lopez Group. It debuted on the Billboard 200 at #15 with 21,000 albums sold in its first week.
Reception:
The album so far has a score of 72 out of 100 from Metacritic, meaning it received generally favourable reviews. The Fly gave it four stars out of five and said that the band's narratives "have been stronger before, but 'Noctourniquet' remains abject absurdity masquerading as sexy heroism." Another positive review, from Spin, who gave the album a score of seven out of ten and said it "really does feel like the band's most accessible effort in years." Other reviews are average or mixed, such as Rolling Stone, who gave it three stars out of five and said, "Some songs explore emulsive alienation... but TMV are at their best dabbling in shades of aggro."
Thanks for reading what will (probably) be the last album post on this thread, unless the hoped reunion happens. Sorry there have been so many breaks.
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This is a huge step up from bedlam in my opinion, not as great as the first three but it's still pretty awesome. With Twilight, Desperate Graves and Copernicus are probably my favorites here. I really like the laid back mood of this album. Oh, and Pridgens drumming is so much better here than on Bedlam.
i wouldn't say better, just different.
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Never really got into Noctourniquet. Their weakest album IMO.
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Never really got into Noctourniquet. Their weakest album IMO.
I wouldn't say it's the weakest. Not their strongest either, though.
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It's either Octahedron or Noctourniquet, and I think the first one has redeemable aspects whereas the latter is mostly just forgettable. I've listened to it several times but I don't remember anything really.
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It's Noctourniquet
Better. :laugh: