THE BEDLAM IN GOLIATH

To be perfectly honest, I cannot understand why so many people are adversely critical to the many excellent sounds of The Mars Volta. It seems like, with the exception of their debut, each of the Volta albums has been the target of some animosity from prog fans and general listeners alike. So for the purpose of context, let me first of all tell you this: I think De-Loused (the debut) is their weakest album. It's a great album, to be sure, but they have only grown in leaps and bounds since its release.

I won't dip into a track-by-track. I'll just talk a little about the main ingredient that this album exhudes: pure power. Also I'll relate a few of the things that are just a little different on this album compared to their previous releases.

On this latest venture into to the mania that is The Mars Volta, the boys have really outdone themselves in terms of pure energy. You can feel the awesome power of this album just dripping out of every track, and most of the time you can't help but groove on it. This is thanks, in no small part, to the excellent new drummer Thomas Pridgen. Make no mistake, I'm a huge fan of Jon Theodore, and I thought replacing him in this particular band would be an insurmountable task. Well, how wrong I was. Pridgen may lack the precision and general cohesion of his predecessor, but it all comes back to that same word: energy. Pridgen sits on his stool, hitting every song on the album with a shot full of steroids to the ass. This guy just won't QUIT. It sounds almost as though he's being paid based on how many times he can hit the skins, and the result is just an awesome display of sonic drumming that will have you grooving around before you've even had time to digest the rest of the songs. But don't be fooled, its not just chaos. It's variety, and there is a less than subtle difference. Pridgen breaks out the right beats for the right songs, and he manages to sound in sync with the band, even when the album wants to break down into bedlam (excuse the pun).

The rest of the band performs excellently, aswell. I think in particular, the guitar sound benefits from the inclusion of BOTH Omar Rodriguez-Lopez and John Frusciante on this studio album. Previously, their first two albums had featured just Omar, while their third outing Amputecture featured only Frusciante. Here you get the best of both worlds, the awesome, reckless rock and roll assault of Rodriguez Lopez combined with the more seasoned, calculated wail of Frusciante's guitar. I won't go into specifics on the rest of the band here, but suffice to say that they are all in fine form and in a testament to the musicians and to Omar's bombastic arrangements themselves, each member gets their chance to shine and be noticed.

I'm not going to out right say this is my favourite Volta album. That choice is a little too difficult for me, as I really do love this band, so I'll just say this. Don't short change yourself on this album, spin it at least 5 times before you make your judgement. I know that sounds a little crazy, but just go ahead and trust me. Even with all my love for the Volta, I considered this to be a too-brash, too-damn-loud-for-too-long album when I first heard it. After 4 or 5 spins though, something magical happened in my brain and I've never looked back.

I guess genius just takes a while to digest. And all of you truly ardent prog fans already know that. After all, which album, of ALL the great progressive rock artists of all time, actually revealed all its secrets and wonders on the first listen? If you asked me, the answer would be NONE.

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