FRANCES THE MUTE

i am a HUGE Mars Volta fan. I hated them at first, but de-loused grew on me til now, where the cd is constantly playing in my head. when i got frances the mute, it took a while to grow on me yet again, but i still love it. i am fairly new to the 'progressive scene' if you can call it that, and i would say that this is not a must have for everyone. de-loused is. my...problems i guess you can call them is that the mars volta tried to go too big with this album. i've read many of these reviews, cheered when five stars was put up and booed when there was 1 star (especially the review from that one guy who couldn't even finish the album...what happened to open minds?) if you guys had heard the song, frances the mute which was not released on this album but eventually as a single with the widow, you might have been a bit shocked. the song is AMAZING, and should have been put on the album. i think the mars volta definitely know how to convey emotions through music and to their listeners, but i think they tried to go too 'weird' with it i guess. the production is good, not as good as de-loused though, and the musicianship has grown, and the vision is definitely evident, although it feels a bit....not the best word but 'forced'. de-loused came natural, i think, this is a bit more 'trying to make an epic with conception and feeling.' they have progressed though. this review, by the way is for this website, a progressive music website. any other website, i would rate much higher. i think the mars volta should not be labeled 'The progressive band of our generation' but more as the 'Led Zepellin of our generation' because it's so new, to us at least (16 years old for me) and it really hits the 'OH SH*T!' factor hard. anyways, for those who hated it for one reason or another, the mars volta are trying to make you cringe your face and spit in disguist. they grew up on black flag and that's their nature. for people who are into 'weird' or 'different' music, yet still enjoy king crimson and yes, this is for you.