Be-gone all you post-Comatorium Volta Haters

I think the transition from ATDI to the Mars Volta does make sense, especially if you listen to the Tremulant EP. Having listened to King Crimson since hearing the Mars Volta also helps to make sense of their sound.

I am a fan of all of the Mars Volta's stuff. I think that they are growing and changing. Bedlam would not be possible without Amputechture. I like Bedlam too. Some of the songs are not so good but that is the nature of it, it is a bit hit and miss. I think the fact that people are so divided over Bedlam is a sign that they are still progressing.

Your sig just caught my eye, is that Geography?

ProgBagel wrote: Only have Relationship... and only listened to it once. I didn't think anything negative of it. Invalid Litter Dept. was such a stand-out. It sounds like Volta a bit. I'm going to look further into that band.

check out my thread here

Only have Relationship... and only listened to it once. I didn't think anything negative of it. Invalid Litter Dept. was such a stand-out. It sounds like Volta a bit.

I'm going to look further into that band.

Everyone rags so much on Amputechture.

Whoever made a remark about John Zorn and 80-minute albums, I salute you!

heyitsthatguy wrote: its the stupid octaves he uses that get so grating, although I've noticed his vocals have gotten more aggressive on Bedlam.....perhaps to suit the music as it seems to be their "aggressive" album. The effects on Bedlam are somewhat ridiculous at points too- not that them using effects is bad (its the norm) or even the amount, but just the choice. There was some effects choices I enjoyed too- the subtly ringmodded guitar (I think) in the buildup in Cavallettas helps add a really abrasive edge to it

I think the word "production" to Omar is synonomous with "layered effects" perhaps, or it would seem at least...

moreitsythanyou wrote: I can't understand Amputechture hate. At all. It makes no sense. I like all of their albums really, but Amputechture is their masterpiece.

yeahhhhhhhhhh!


but change "like" to LOVE....

I have the agree with the vocal point too. They come so effortlessly on the first two album, on FTM they even have sort of a soulful feel to me.

They sound strained, forced, unnatural on the latest two.

russellk wrote: Agreed, The Antique , I don't think Omar is anything like the producer Rick Rubin is, but I suspect the trade-off is weaker production against the freedom Omar gained to do exactly what he wanted.One of the difficult things about the mixing in 'Bedlam' is the much fuller drum patterns. There's barely a moment when Pridgen isn't hammering the skins, which rather overwhelms the sound. To counteract that, he's been set back further in the mix. In 'Amp' Cedric's voice is strongly features, and much of the production gloss seems to have been stripped from it, leaving it raw and sharp-edged - much closer to his live sound. It's an acquired taste.This is all part of why I don't understand people who argue that TMV are simply trying and failing to reproduce their first album.As for the lyrics, I find Belam's more satisfying as they adhere (loosely) to a concept, while Amputechture's were far looser. The nearest I could work out was that Amputechture used occult imagery to structure a rant against orthodox religions, but I may be wrong. Probably am.

Well see I do not think that the Volta are just trying to reproduce their first album. It seems much more like they are trying to distinguish themselves as an entirely different entity than the one which made De-loused. This is good in my opinion, I just feel like with every album they drift a little in directions that seems kind of wasteful, and when they drift, they drift to the extremes of whatever polar direction they drift in; thus Amputechture's intentional disjointedness, Bedlam's intentional in-your-face energy level, FTM's over-the-top ambience (which I don't agree was over-the-top at all, but then again I LOVE ambience), and etc. It seems as if they are experimenting with all possible mediums of their sound (and thus the planned "acoustic" album they are working on).

Unless they quit once they've explored all of these venues, I think their best albums will come when they begin combining all of these sounds, much like was done on De-loused, and using their obvious talent in all of these areas to create a more cohesive whole as albums rather than albums practiced in extremities.

This is why I still listen to this band, and will still greatly anticipate every album they release. No single album of their has been awful, but every album they release is seems to be either fundementally flawed or flawed in practice, whether or not this practice is intentional or not. I look forward to every release they might put out, because they are indeed an exciting band, despite the fact that I have been relatively disappointed by their last two releases. This doesn't mean they've lost it. They seem to be experimenting, and likely one of these experiments will float my fancy perfectly, or at least I can hope.

One thing I'd like to point out that kind of bothers me about Amp and Bedlam (moreso, again, Amp) is the vocals, or rather, how they are treated. Cedric's best vocal moments, to me, all seem to be contained on FTM--where the vocals are hardly ever dubbed with effects, but are mostly raw (at least in how they sound, though they are likely treated in some mannor) and emotionally driven. The vocal arrangements on Cygnus.... and Cassandra Gemini are astoundingly good in my opinion, and are a huge contributor towards the tone and emotion of those songs as well.

On Amp and Bedlam (though less a problem here as the music calls for it more than the music on Amp does) the vocals got a seemingly permenant push into the foreground of the mix, and Cedric seemed to grow self-conscious, and thus began hiding behind layer after layer after variation after variation of vocal effect, distortion, or other augmentation. This startled me, and still--to this day, annoys me a bit.

Most of my favorite tracks on the two albums, I've noticed, are those that are not overly-treated in the vocal department (although I think the vocal effects are used to good effect on Metatron, some in Tetragrammaton, and in Agadez). I hope in the future--an acoustic album mayhaps...--the vocals are both less prominent in the mix and less lathered with effects, as I think this alone is one of the biggest differences between the band's first two albums and their latest two. Well, that and the guitar tone.

Anyways, until my next TMV rant-post,

The Antique (a.k.a. King Volta if you failed to make the connection )