The Mars Volta dilemma...

Amputechture and Noctourniquet are the more mellow side of TMV, I really dig both records. TMV is really tough to get into, but being a longtime fan of At The Drive-In, I felt the transition was semi-smooth for me. I started out with Frances and Bedlam, which was a sort of crash course. But, I really think Amputechture and Noctourniquet are what you're looking for. 

I picked up their new album used for $4 today (a steal, really), so I'm giving them another chance.

Mirror Image wrote: Blacksword wrote: dreadpirateroberts wrote: ^ check out De-Loused one day (if you haven't already), it's the least grating in terms of endless chaos etc - having very little on it overall I think I have a copy of it somewhere that I borrowed off someone I used to work with, and never gave it back. I'll try and find it.   How about giving the album back to the person you borrowed from? Sheesh.....   I never understood people who borrow things and don't return them. This is the very reason why I don't lend original copies of my CDs to people. If they want to hear an album I have, I'll burn them a copy of it.

I don't find their debut to be very hectic at all, it's just after that album the vocals start to irritate me.

dreadpirateroberts wrote: ^ check out De-Loused one day (if you haven't already), it's the least grating in terms of endless chaos etc - having very little on it overall

I think I have a copy of it somewhere that I borrowed off someone I used to work with, and never gave it back. I'll try and find it.

richardh wrote: Based on Frances The Mute I would probably define TMV as brilliant musicians that give me a headache. That said I did rate it 5 stars (maybe because I didn't want to feel left out) . One of those bands I will just file under 'I wish I could like them a lot more than I actually do'.

Similar for me. I have FTM and TBIG. Really good musicians, but I find the chaos a little overwhelming and after a while, quite grating and annoying. They're not a band I've been inspired to explore further.

tamijo wrote: zappaholic wrote: I am the only person on this forum who likes The Bedlam In Goliath. Then again, I'm a bit of a weirdo.   You are not the only one, I like everything they did, Bedlam is a split no.1, with the debut.    NB: For me, if an album is easy to get into, as in I love it at first sight, 80% says its forgetable, and im not comming back to it much, after a few months.

My favorite album is Amputechture which was not mentioned here, but by what you're looking for I agree with the rest, go for Noctourniquet which is really superb or Octahedron which IMO is their weakest. They are worth getting into, that's for sure.

Based on Frances The Mute I would probably define TMV as brilliant musicians that give me a headache. That said I did rate it 5 stars (maybe because I didn't want to feel left out) . One of those bands I will just file under 'I wish I could like them a lot more than I actually do'.

I'm in the same situation as yourself, I have only their first 2 and although I find them interesting (for lack of a better word...) they did not excite me enough as to make me spend more money on their other albums.