THE BEDLAM IN GOLIATH

As a huge fan of bands such as Transatlantic, Spock's Beard, Yes, King Crimson, Tangent and many others of the sort, it was a huge surprise when I first heard Deloused years ago. It was like nothing I had ever heard in music, it took great parts of many bands and amalgamated them into one piece of organized chaos. Over the years Mars Volta has certainly grown but has never matched Deloused, until now. The Bedlam in Goliath is broken from the same mold as Deloused but uses the precious experience they have gained in the years since to make it a prog masterpiece. One song that stands out is Cavalettas. I've read the other reviews here and it seems to me that I have a different understanding of the song. I'm not going to say I am right or wrong but here's how I saw it. Cavalettas is a piece of music split by moments of inaudibility. It is a song that has great musicianship and when it is broken down by these splits you have moments of inaudibility rescued by moments of musical clarity that sound even better because of the preceding bridge. The album as a whole continuously flows from beginning to end; the only moment of silence arrives at the last 3 seconds of the last song. This album is full of brilliance, the only way this album could get 1 star from anyone is if they don't understand the music, don't give it a chance, or just plain have it out for Mars Volta. This album is up there with the best prog has to offer.