THE MARS VOLTA

While I enjoyed De-Loused In The Comatorium, it was this album that really made me a fan of the band.

When they burst on the scene in 2003, they received such a buzz that I had to purchase the CD. Mixing extremely energetic hard rock, punk, and, yes, prog rock sensibilities, it took more than a few listens before I began to ge what they were doing. At first, I really disliked singer Cedric Bixler-Zavala's high pitched vocals, and discounted the album because of that. It wasn't until Bedlam In Goliath that I actually appreciated the style of music they created.

The songs here are somewhat more straightforward than on Bedlam, but at the same time, there are more experimental noise sections on this album. But still, there are enough odd time signatures and challenging riffs to excite most heavy prog fans.

To me, new drummer Thomas Pridgen makes a difference on this album. His tight, complex drumming drives the album constantly and consistently throughout. And since most of the songs blend together, it becomes difficult at times to know where one begins and the next ends, making this album appear to be a single epic piece.

I love using this album for an after work attidude adjustment. The only problem I find is that the high pitch vocals are often difficult to understand.

4.5 stars to me.

Their notorious 2008 album was so dense it became practically opaque: a runaway 16- wheel juggernaut of rocket-fueled psychedelia (I continue to admire the album for its uncompromising intensity, but find it almost unlistenable for exactly the same reason). In startling contrast, the music of "Octahedron" is polished to a rare (for this band) transparency, through which the boundless creativity of a unique ensemble can once again be distinguished.

It's a fitting title for such a multi-faceted album. Having purged the fury of "Goliath" from their collective system, the band was able to dial back their usual manic energy toward a (most of the time) more manageable level. But the result is another polarizing effort from an always unpredictable group, blindsiding many fans by daring to sound halfway accessible, in songs often having a (gasp!) traditional verse-chorus-verse structure.

The change of pace is best heard in the trio of ballads here. "Copernicus" features a few moments of actual acoustic piano, in its own way more shocking than anything on the "Goliath" album. The haunting "With Twilight as My Guide" dips, in its final moments, into the same "Saucerful of Secrets" once served by PINK FLOYD. And the album opener "Since We've Been Wrong" has probably the most beautiful melody in The Mars Volta catalogue so far.

Elsewhere the album is no less powerful or loud than earlier efforts. But even during the more typically aggressive rockers ("Cotopaxi" is a classic Mars Volta adrenalin kick) the band is careful to maintain firm control over the material, rather than allowing (again, as they did on "Goliath") the music to control them.

Albums by The Mars Volta usually require a lot of time and persistent replays to be digested properly. The band's fifth studio effort is really no different, despite the more user-friendly style (which is one reason why I allowed more than a year to pass before even trying to form an opinion of it). I can't entirely dismiss the thought that it's the perfect Mars Volta album for people who don't really like The Mars Volta; one misses the arcane extremities of concept and composition that animated earlier efforts like "Frances the Mute" and "Deloused in the Comatorium". But there hasn't been a Mars Volta album yet made that didn't leave me anxiously wondering where the band would turn next, and the velvet- lined knuckleduster punch of "Octahedron" is no exception.

This is quite a lo fi album, with more acoustic material out weighing the jazz rock tunes, but If your thinking, "acoustic Mars Volta, is it possible."

Yes it is, and it works really well.

The songs are quite beautiful and the vocals are in a step in a new direction for Cedric, exploring a more lower register.

The songs are easier digestable than their previous material, and this album is far better than their last.

1. Since We've Been Wrong - Beautiful chorus with some amazing melodies and harmonies from Cedric. The accompaniment is really beautiful as well. 10/10

2. Teflon - A return to rock. This song does kick major ass and the chorus is excellent. 10/10

3. Halo Of Nembutals - Quite an odd song with even odder lyrics. Some fantastic images being made though. 8/10

4. With Twilight As My Guide - Almost like an aria, even the accompaniment is very unpercussive. Amazing vocals. 9/10

5. Cotopaxi - Another return to the rock. 8/10

6. Desperate Graves - Pretty catchy chorus. Easily could have been the single for the abum. 10r/10

7. Copernicus - Amazing arrangment and the lyrics are pretty cool, dealing with kidnapping. 10/10

8. Luciforms - Has quite a doomy quality. Amazing outro. 9/10

CONCLUSION: Alot stronger and more mature.

The songs were alot shorter, alot quicker and more in your face. Their was a little less tomfoolery, but most people liked them for their tomfoolery.

Although, it does have some not as strong material, but the stronger material does out weigh the weaker.

This album is also conceptually based on a oujia board mishap between the band, and thats why the lyrics are quite weird.

1. Aberinkula - The intro is pretty cool, and the hook is really catchy. The instrumental passages are werid as hell, but pretty proggy nontheless. 10/10

2. Metatron - I have only gotten into the mythology of Metatron, and I am pretty interested in the idea of him being the "voice of god". Great chorus, and some amazing vocals from Cedric. 10/10

3. Ilyena - The melodies and harmonies in this song are pretty interesting. 9/10

4. Wax Simulacra - The cathcy song. Short and sweet and some phenomnal vocals and instrumental work. 10/10

5. Goliath - Quite soul meets jazz inspired riffing, and the chorus is pretty cool. Whenever Cedric says "watch me now", like James Brown, it always makes me laugh. 10/10

6. Tourniquet Man - I get the song, I just think it's trying to become somthing it's not. 7/10

7. Cavalettes - This song changes so much, it does confuse you a wee bit. It's a bit like a brain buster. Pretty cool though. 9/10

8. Agadez - Quite an experimental feel to it. The lyrics are quite odd, as usual. 9/10

9. Askepios - Pretty cool vocals. 8/10

10. Ouroborus - Great chorus, and some fierce riffing. 10/10

11. Soothsayer - Quite doomy and droney, and beautiful in an odd manner. 10/10

12. Conjugal Burns - Pretty cool ending. 8/10

13. Candy & A Currant Bun - This is a bonus track, but it's a Pink Floyd cover, how can you not like these meeting of minds. 9/10

CONCLUSION: By far not their best, but very enjoyable nontheless.

The guys in the band even consider as their "autistic child" which I thought was a wee bit harsh, but does make alot of sense, because their are moments that are evry different and almost sound random, but to me it doesn't, or maybe thats just my psychopathic mind.

To be honest, I wasn't the biggest fan of this album when I first heard, but after the 3rd time I started to understand it.

This album sounds alot different from their previous albums, but each album does have it's own unique quallity.

1. Vicarious Atonment - Very Pink Floyd. This can be considered as an intro, but it is rather beautiful. 9/10

2. Tetragrammaton - In my opinion, the guys best song. This song is just so captivating, the music which is just fractal and the beautiful and crazy vocals from Cedric. The lyrics also grabbed my attention, beacsue it is about a women who is possessed, and it uses quite dark religious imagery, which I have a boner for. Haha. 10/10

3. Vermicide - Great chorus. This song also just flows extremely well. 10/10

4. Meccamputechture - Very crazy, and the chorus is amazing. Again, instrumentally flawless. 10/10

5. Asilos Magdalena - A nice spanish acoustic ballad, in Spanish as well. Some lovely melodies. 9/10

6. Viscera Eyes - Another amazing chorus. The instrumental section at the end is also incredibly groundbreaking. 10/10

7. Day Of The Baphomets - Yay, Baphomet, my favourite occult character. This song is very crazy and the most jazziest moment on the album. 10/10

8. El Ciervo Vulnerado - Basically track 1. Might as well end it the way it started. 9/10

CONCLUSION: I just love this abum so much. This would be in my top 20 albums of all time definetly.

The moment I put on the first song, I knew this album was something special.

This album was incredibly different from their debut, but way better in my opinion. Taking song writing into more experimental paths and even using noises to create atmosphere, it's just breathtaking.

This album is just perfect, and I would even say it is one of the greatest albums ever made (it's in my top 10)

1. Cygnus....Vismund Cygnus - The intro does suprise you. Amazing instrumental work, very catchy and some amazing vocals from Cedric. One amazing piece of music. It's also in Spanish & Englisgh, how cool is that.10/10

2. The Widow - Having loved the song and video for Televators, I loved this song and video. But the album version does end with a lot of noise, which is pretty cool, and the production does make it sound like out of this world. 10/10

3. L'Via L'Viaquez - This was the song that got me hooked on the band. I can repeat each word of this song, even the Spanish parts and even know the translation (thats what 2 years of Spanish taught me). John Frusciante's guitar work is amazing in this song. The atmosphere is also incredible. 10/10

4. Miranda That Ghost Just Isn't Holy Anymore - The intro is ver solemn and noisy, but when Flea's trumpet (which is played phenomonoly) comes in, the ture beauty of this song comes intro frution. The arrangement is also amazing. 10/10

5. Cassandra Geminni - Wow, 30 minutes. This one massive mind mess, and it does take alot out of you. This song doesn't loose intrest in it's slightests, just a mammoth of amazing insturmental work and some incredible improv noise sections. 10/10

CONCLUSION: It's in my top 10 albums of all time, I would strongly advise you to buy it.

The style of the album is incredible, something that TMV were never able to repeat in their following albums. Shattering, confusing and incredibly wild moments played with guitar, keyboards and vocals are alternated with bizarre electronic soundscapes or calm moments that are heavily influenced by Spanish and central American music.

The unbelievable opener is "Cygnus....Vismund Cygnus", a 13 minute masterpiece. After the one minute intro, the song explodes, and the band has one of their wild moments, moments that really blow your mind. After a few minutes it get's calm and spacey, and when 8 minutes tick it returns wild again, even though not as much as before, but there is an unbelievable moment when the singer does some high pitched vocals, so beautiful that it gives me goosebumps every time I listen to it. When only three minutes are left, the song fades away and some bizarre electronic samples that I mentioned earlier reign supreme. Definitely the best song of the album, and maybe the best Mars Volta song.

"The Widow" was the only song that got a bit of success (it was released as a single), probably because it;s the shortest of these songs, almost 6 minutes. The song for the first three minutes is a great ballad, very touching but interesting at the same time. The second part of the song is completely dedicated to electronic weirdness, a great intro to the following song.

"L'Via L'Vaquez" is a very interesting song. It starts almost immediately, and it's probably the most Spanish influenced song of the album, thanks especially to the lyrics, which are in Spanish, but also thanks to the music, which isn't as wild as "Cygnus....". After a while, we hear for most of the song some piano accompanied by the singer, who now whispers, making the atmosphere tense and creepy.

"Miranda That Ghost Just Isn't Holy Anymore" is the most experimental song of "Frances The Mute". It takes a couple of minutes before some music shows up (the intro is just the sound of birds). When the music kicks in, the song isn't wild at all, and before you know it you are once again immersed in experimentation until the end of the song. Nobody really likes this song, I personally think it's extremely interesting, a song that is quite different from the rest, a 100% progressive song in my opinion.

"Cassandra Gemini" is the most epic Mars Volta song: more than 30 minutes of wildness, crazy time changes, amazing experimentation, weird calm parts, and of course a great melodic chorus that echoes that comes up in some parts of the song. The first ten- fifteen minutes are the most wild, with many changes of themes, making the song a 100% suite. After a while, the music gets mellower, and the massive use of electronics returns once again, even thoug the guitar has an important role too. Only when thirty minutes pass the bands starts to get more enlivened, and the last couple of minutes are a reprise to all the previous madness.

What more can you say about an album like "Frances The Mute"? An album that in my opinion must go down in prog history, since it did bring back some elements that were trapped in the seventies and never exposed again. An essential masterpiece.