Picked up "The Bedlam in Goliath" today.

Well, if you like that song then you're probably more likely to like De-loused then

and also, give Bedlam another chance, if you see past the mixing, it definitely grows on you

I mentioned it, and someone else did too in another post: the drums and vocals are almost all you hear.  It's really hard to pick out the guitars, keys, and sax.  They have their moments, but for the most part they're buried.  Usually I don't care about the details of a mix (a lot of people didn't like the production aspects of Rush's Vapor Trails, but it never bothered me), but the mix makes it very hard to listen to.

p0mt3 wrote: I'm sorry, but how can anyone think this is any good? It seems I dislike this album for the same reason that I dislike anything I have heard from Zappa; it's just, well, frankly, too much.   I am fond of music that leaves space and really let you take in the movement that you have just heard (much like an orchestral arrangement), and I have found none of that here.   Now, I'm not trying to be mean about this, blease don't bash me, I really am trying to like it, but as of right now, I feel like I have wasted a good $15. :(  Maybe I should give it time to grow on me...? I can always change my mind, but with these guys, I feel it will take quite a while.   Anyone else agree? Dissagree? Please, any TMV lovers out there, help me to try and look at this from another perspective; you see, I don't want to hate The Mars Volta, but I am fearing that I will end up doing just that.

The question is: Why did you pick it up then? They had Wax Simulcra on their myspace for several weeks ...

My advice: Even if you really don't like the music ... give it some time. Listen to other stuff which you like, and put on the CD every now and then and listen to a few tracks. If you still don't like it after a few months, you can still sell it.

I'm not quite sure why anyone is saying TMV don't give you a lot of breathing room, when that really only describes their most recent album..

Edited by p0mt3 - February 03 2008 at 18:56

Yeah, dude, it's pretty much a matter of taste.  If you don't like their kind of music, you don't like it, you just have different priorities in music.
  There is very little 'space', as you say, in TMV's music.  Basically what they do it throw a ton of music in your face and make you deal with it.  The new album is particularly aggressive, so you might want to try earlier stuff.... but the basic style is the same.  I fully recognize that what TMV does is 'too much', but I think that's what they're aiming for.

like kibble_alex said, maybe try putting it on when you're ready to just rock out with abandon.  It's what they do, and I for one think they do it well

p0mt3 wrote: I'm sorry, but how can anyone think this is any good? It seems I dislike this album for the same reason that I dislike anything I have heard from Zappa; it's just, well, frankly, too much.   I am fond of music that leaves space and really let you take in the movement that you have just heard (much like an orchestral arrangement), and I have found none of that here.   Now, I'm not trying to be mean about this, blease don't bash me, I really am trying to like it, but as of right now, I feel like I have wasted a good $15. :(  Maybe I should give it time to grow on me...? I can always change my mind, but with these guys, I feel it will take quite a while.   Anyone else agree? Dissagree? Please, any TMV lovers out there, help me to try and look at this from another perspective; you see, I don't want to hate The Mars Volta, but I am fearing that I will end up doing just that.

I think the whole idea of the album is the intensity. I've said it once and i'll say it again: different music for different moods. Next time you feel very angry about something, listen to this album again, i think it will go down a lot better. I'm practically furious all the time so its always good for me

I really don't get it... There are lots of bands around I don't like, even if people praise them to high heaven.  I'll give you a  personal example: many members here consider Scenes from a Memory by Dream Theater an absolute masterpiece. I bought it, listened to it once, and was so underwhelmed I never wanted to put it on again.

Is there anything wrong with me?  Of course there isn't.... It's called individual taste, and trying to force ourselves to like something that goes against the grain is useless. Liking TMV (or DT for that matter, or Genesis, or whatever) is not mandatory, far from that. I do love them, but I also recognize they are not for everyone.

@ Laplace: perhaps you should write that bad review. It may be that the album grows on you with time, but then again it may not.... I rarely write bad reviews, but if you check my 2-star reviews, half of them at least are of albums many consider to be masterpieces.

Okay, so, I have listened to the "Take the Veil Cerpin Taxt" song available on here about five times in a row now, and love it even more each time I do. I have a feeling I will like the early Mars Volta stuff; I just wish they could have progressed in that direction rather than a completely different one as evident on the new album. Very tragic.

Dunno, for me Bedlam is about as progressive as music gets these days.  Agreed they don't exactly let the listener up for air.  But looking back to the original post, if you don't like Zappa then MV may not be a good choice.