Mahavishnu Orchestra...Mars Volta

Hmmm...mayeb it's because i play keyboards...but I can hear Ikey fine throughout the whole record minus Miranda which isn;t havey in keyboards or anything until the pickup...and in L'Via...which he plays organ on, letting teh guest piano player do his part...keys aren't absent...

and live...Ikey's much more amazing live...

Their sounds are similar I guess, but I look at the MO as five musicians
who makes music together, and I look at Mars Volta as Cedric and Omar
as the entire band.

Have you noticed that, although Mars Volta has a full time keyboard
player, you hear him for a total of about 9 seconds on the entire 78
minute Frances the Mute? That's why I'm starting to hate the Mars Volta. I
love their claustrophobic feel but jeez, you can have it while incorporating
all the band members.

I don't agree at all tha the mars volta are mainstream...no more mainstream than yes, genesis, pink floyd, even king crimson...you get it?

i know a lot of people that know of the mars volta, like the people here that think they are emo, evidently you have not given them time or really even heard much of them or else you'd think much differently. as a matter of fact of the people at my school that fit into the "emo" classification that I know none of them like the mars volta. the only people in my whole 2000+ member school (all teenagers and more likely to know mainstream music) that i know of that actually like the band are me adn three of my friends...not mainstream at all considering the new trend lately is pink floyd shirts--which pisses me off on a completely different level. Just saying, they aren't mainstream at all, just more known on our level than say Mahavishnu Orchestra. As to which is the better band, it's all opinion, and the influence is rather evident for mahavishnu on the mars volta...i think people are mistaking "influence" for "sound alike" which is not the case, although i would agree that the mars volta have more sound similarites with crimson than the mars volta.

who's more popular: kanye west or the mars volta...

tough question isn't it?

Trouserpress wrote: King of Loss wrote: ^ Its true, TMV is quite mainstream. But I didn't say TMV were mainstream! ARGH! ?!-- var SymRealOnLoad; var SymReal; Sym() { window.open = SymWinOpen; if(SymReal != null) SymReal(); } SymOnLoad() { if(SymRealOnLoad != null) SymRealOnLoad(); window.open = SymRealWinOpen; SymReal = window.; window. = Sym; } SymRealOnLoad = window.onload; window.onload = SymOnLoad; //-->

Sorry I just assumed that!  But they are quite mainstream here in the States.

King of Loss wrote: ^ Its true, TMV is quite mainstream.

But I didn't say TMV were mainstream! ARGH!
 

jtdotto wrote: and in response to this. Trouserpress wrote: Sorry, but no. Very very different sounds. I'd say TMV are King Crimson's trendy cousin. trendy cousin? why, because they've been on the radio and have had a few videos on mtv? because they came from a huge 'post-punk' band? the way i see it, these guys do NOT fit in the mainstream or anywhere near it.

Steady on, lad! I'm not suggesting their work is any more mainstream than KC's! They ARE, however, in vogue right now, whether or not you'd like them to be. I happen to like TMV a good deal - I own Frances the Mute and will be sorely tempted to get Scab Dates if/when it's a little more affordable for a poor student like me - and I also love KC. All I'm saying is that the former are clearly very influenced in sound by the latter, much more so I'd say than Mahavishnu Orchestra, but by saying they're "trendy" does that devalue their work? 70s prog was trendy once. Back in the day ELP were the essence of cool.

...Though that was a mistake.
 

jtdotto wrote: i think that the mars volta are a modern day mahavishnu orchestra. im basing purely off the only song available on this site from the mahavishnu and from my extensive knowledge of the mars volta. both awesome guitarists in their respected styles (similiar a bit though...i can see where omar got a lot of his inspiration), both bands know how to convey a feeling...a strong one. awesome drummers in both bands and awesome keyboards in both. i also know that omar is a huge fan of these guys. anyone else agree?

Sorry, but no. Very very different sounds. I'd say TMV are King Crimson's trendy cousin.
 

About Santana i'm not sure, Omar and Cedric were asked about that influence of Santana and they deny it. They quote about their latin influences the Fania All Stars ( if you hear the song called El Ratón you'll have the same latin groove on L'Via L'Viaquez salsa part). Cedric also said that is a  huge fan of the Kautrock band Can. While Jon Thedore in Modern Drummer did a list of his favorite albums and drummers:

Bembeya Jazz Nationality - Authenticite 1973 (Conde Mory Mangala)

Bastro - Sing The Troubled Beast (John McEntire)

Don Caballero - Don Caballero 2 (Damon Che)

John Coltrane - Live at Birdland (Elvin Jones)

Rush - Hemispheres (Neil Peart)

Led Zeppelin - Presence (John Bonham)

Tony Williams Lifetime - Believe It! (Tony Williams)

Mahavishnu Orchestra - Birds of Fire (Billy Cobham)

The Who - Live at Leeds (Keith Moon)

Azor Machine - Mapou (Azor)

King Crimson - Red (Bill Bruford)

The Melvins - Lysol (Dale Crover)

Neil Young - On The Beach (Levon Helm)

Black Sabath - Volume 4 (Billy Ward)

James Brown - In The Jungle Groove (Clyde Stubbelfield)

Féla Anikulapo Kuti - Zombie (Tony Allen)

Mastodon - Leviathan (Brann Dailor)

Dr John - Desitively Bonaroo (Zigaboo Modeliste)

Phantomsmasher - Phantomsmasher (Dave Witte)

Jimmi Hendrix - Band of Gypsys (Buddy Miles)

Jimmi Hendrix - Axis: Bold As Love (Mitch Mitchell)

The Jesus Lizard - Head (Mac McNeilly)

 

 

Yanns wrote: BePinkTheater wrote: How dare you... shame on you I mean cmon, like seriously. This thread angers me. A great band with brilliantly orignal ideas and f**king great playing being compared to emo basards you put 5 minutes of car noises on a song and call it innovative! I'm just wondering, how much TMV have you heard?

Emo??? Haha . Then i think you listen to Emo all the time to compare TMV with emo bands.

i'm glad so many people have stuff to say about this. it's giving me quite
a chuckle.
i come from the mars volta side of the fence where i have all their shizz
and absolutely love them. then i hear one song off this website from MO
and as soon as the lead guitar comes in, instantly i hear some things
omar has taken from it. then compare the awesome keyboards and the
awesome drumming...damn, i found an old mars volta!!! (to me, that's
how i saw it)

now, not knowing MO's stuff, and in complete defense of the mars volta, i
would have to say that nobody has mentioned anything about lyrics with
MO. there's an AWESOME review of frances the mute on this site
explaining all the noises and stuff, and i have to say i've been able to 'see'
stuff, sober, just images in my head, all the way throughout deloused if i
really get into the music. the mars volta makes story albums 'basically'. to
fit concepts sequentially with the music fitting together is hard stuff to
do. a lot of people who don't like the mars volta just hear them...they
don't really understand what everything is...they don't see the feeling the
mars volta creates.

in response to bepinktheater...
what a close-minded non progressive (thats right NON PROGRESSIVE
ohhh what are you gonna do now?! bammm!!!) way of thinking. i used to
think the mars volta sucked too, until i really opened my eyes and
listened beyond my bias and what not about music. and nobody ever says
the crazy sounds on their albums are innovative...i believe they are
talking about the music.

MO is great. the mars volta is great. i get a strong vibe from both bands.
i'm not saying either is better. it is merely opinion. im just saying that
there are huge overtones of MO in the mars volta. which is cool.

and by the way, i believe omar is a damn good guitar player, for not
knowing theory and few or no scales. it's just all soul to him, not
numbers, no shizz like that. give him a little more respect.