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The Monodrone 
Forum Senior Member
Joined: March 21 2010
Location: Indiana, USA
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Points: 4489
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 Posted: May 17 2010 at 10:27 |
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hmmm... I seem to personally prefer Jon over Thomas... I believe he had more style and sublety
Edited by ptkc123 - May 17 2010 at 10:28
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Synchestra
Forum Senior Member
Joined: April 07 2009
Location: New Zealand
Status: Offline
Points: 734
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Posted: May 17 2010 at 06:28 |
 ptkc123 wrote:
Yeah, Octahedron surpassed my expectations. It was very mellow but was very beautiful as well. I really like the songs "Copernicus" and "Cotopaxi."
On another note, does anyone know about their new drummer? I wonder what he's like compared to Jon and Thomas... |
I think hes a relatively new name. But I thought nobody could ever match TMV like Jon, but then Thomas came and blew my mind, so lets hope this new guy fits just as well 
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'Yeah, thats.. Whatever you're talking about for ya' - Zapp brannigan
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The Monodrone
Forum Senior Member
Joined: March 21 2010
Location: Indiana, USA
Status: Offline
Points: 4489
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Posted: May 16 2010 at 19:31 |
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Yeah, I definitely think we'll see a much different album next time, with Octahedron being very much a transition album... I'll even go as far as to say that I believe their next will be their best... Let's wait and see what happens, though...... I really want to hear want kind of a drummer Dave is. I've heard he's the middleground between Jon and Thomas, and that sounds potentially great.
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javier0889
Forum Senior Member
Joined: March 21 2010
Location: Chile
Status: Offline
Points: 170
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Posted: May 16 2010 at 17:06 |
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Octahedron isn't as crazy as the earlier albums, but if you compare them with those records, you may notice a sense of continuity between all them. Every album seemed to go in a different direction, but Octahedron works like a "missing piece" in TMV's sound, in my opinion. They are just getting better.
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Oliverum
Forum Senior Member
Joined: April 30 2010
Location: Estonia
Status: Offline
Points: 132
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Posted: May 16 2010 at 15:15 |
The Mars Volta is a band of great character. I am realitvely new to their music but i must say, Octahedron is my favourite. Earlier albums are a bit eccentric for my taste 
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Sckxyss
Forum Senior Member
Joined: May 05 2007
Location: Canada
Status: Offline
Points: 1319
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Posted: May 14 2010 at 07:59 |
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These guys are definitely a modern favourite of mine. My kind of predictable order of their albums:
De-Loused (5)
Frances the Mute (5)
Octahedron (4)
Amputechture (3.5)
The Bedlam in Goliath (3.5)
I've seen them twice live too. Once was after Bedlam and a lot of their songs were played out into extended jams which was awesome. The second time was after Octahedron, and it was much more of a typical song-oriented rock concert, but they did sound very good and Cedric's vocals sounded a little better.
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The Monodrone
Forum Senior Member
Joined: March 21 2010
Location: Indiana, USA
Status: Offline
Points: 4489
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Posted: May 13 2010 at 15:52 |
^^ That's awesome! They actually played about 2 hours away from where I live last year but I wasn't able to make it...  I wish I could have, I know it would've been great
Also, in a different topic, Does anyone know if TMV have any plans on releasing a DVD any time soon? Their website is not very up to date...
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zerothehero76
Forum Newbie
Joined: November 01 2009
Location: italy
Status: Offline
Points: 34
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Posted: May 13 2010 at 02:57 |
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I love the first two albums, and also like some of ORL's solo stuff (probably "Se dice bisonte" is my favourite one). And I've seen them twice, two great shows with tons of improvisation and fun!
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The Monodrone
Forum Senior Member
Joined: March 21 2010
Location: Indiana, USA
Status: Offline
Points: 4489
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Posted: May 12 2010 at 15:55 |
Omar has some really good solo stuff... Try The Apocalypse Inside of an Orange for some awesome craziness! I believe it features some members of the Mars Volta as well, but no Cedric so you might like it more.
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rushfan4
Special Collaborator
Honorary Collaborator
Joined: May 22 2007
Location: Michigan, U.S.
Status: Offline
Points: 66755
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Posted: May 12 2010 at 09:46 |
harmonium.ro wrote:
rushfan4 wrote:
Since this is an appreciation thread I don't wish to disparage the band here, but I do have a difficult time listening to them. When I first heard about them, it was reading a review that said that they would appeal to fans of Rush. I'm not quite sure why that is, except for being heavy prog bands and having vocalists with strange high pitched voices which take time or fortitude to get use to. At any rate, I've read where many people don't like Rush because they don't like Geddy Lee's voice. I had the same problem at first but got over it and now generally, I don't have a problem with it. Right now with The Mars Volta I am still at the stage where I do not like Cedric's voice and it detracts from me enjoying their music. Because of this I don't listen to them all that often, but I am hoping that over time one of these times I will play an album and his voice will click for me, or at least I will be able to tolerate it. I'm pretty sure that I will be able to get it to grow on me eventually, but until then, I have a hard time listening to them. |
Great post 
BTW, you were exploring Omar's solo output sometime in the last couple of months, did that lead anywhere?
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Didn't really lead anywhere. Just listened to the songs that were posted and I thought they were pretty good, but I've not followed up on anything there yet.
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harmonium.ro
Special Collaborator
Honorary Collaborator / Retired Admin
Joined: August 18 2008
Location: Anna Calvi
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Points: 22989
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Posted: May 12 2010 at 09:43 |
rushfan4 wrote:
Since this is an appreciation thread I don't wish to disparage the band here, but I do have a difficult time listening to them. When I first heard about them, it was reading a review that said that they would appeal to fans of Rush. I'm not quite sure why that is, except for being heavy prog bands and having vocalists with strange high pitched voices which take time or fortitude to get use to. At any rate, I've read where many people don't like Rush because they don't like Geddy Lee's voice. I had the same problem at first but got over it and now generally, I don't have a problem with it. Right now with The Mars Volta I am still at the stage where I do not like Cedric's voice and it detracts from me enjoying their music. Because of this I don't listen to them all that often, but I am hoping that over time one of these times I will play an album and his voice will click for me, or at least I will be able to tolerate it. I'm pretty sure that I will be able to get it to grow on me eventually, but until then, I have a hard time listening to them. |
Great post BTW, you were exploring Omar's solo output sometime in the last couple of months, did that lead anywhere?
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AtomicCrimsonRush
Special Collaborator
Honorary Collaborator
Joined: July 02 2008
Location: Australia
Status: Offline
Points: 14258
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Posted: May 12 2010 at 09:39 |
ptkc123 wrote:
TheClosing wrote:
AtomicCrimsonRush wrote:
I have not heard Octahedron. Is it really worth getting . I have heard mixed reactions........ that they merged into acoustic territory and its not very prog. Is that true?
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Depends on what you're looking for I suppose. It's an album that had to be done imo. Things got overly convoluted on Bedlam, and it wasn't really a progression from the prior record. With Oct they stripped things down, and it worked for the better imo. If you enjoy their simpler more emotionally gripping songs like "Televators" then you'll probably dig it a lot. It's nice to have something in their catalogue that I can just sit back, and relax to instead of being overly analytical. It still has a nice prog feel in a traditional sense with this Pink Floydish synth between tracks. Actually the cd can be compared quite nicely to PF's "Animals", which is probably my favorite of theirs. Also "Luciforms" has to be their best track yet imo.
Great record for those who just want quality music, and could care less about labels. |
Yeah, "Luciforms" is such a great song!! It sounds like something from Frances.. to me. |
Thanks all who posted responses
i will get hold of a few tracks to listen to this week and see how I feel. I guess i just dont want to be disappointed as I was slightly on thir previous album 'Bedlam...'
I love the band really but they are an acquired taste
Cheers
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rushfan4
Special Collaborator
Honorary Collaborator
Joined: May 22 2007
Location: Michigan, U.S.
Status: Offline
Points: 66755
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Posted: May 12 2010 at 09:33 |
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Since this is an appreciation thread I don't wish to disparage the band here, but I do have a difficult time listening to them. When I first heard about them, it was reading a review that said that they would appeal to fans of Rush. I'm not quite sure why that is, except for being heavy prog bands and having vocalists with strange high pitched voices which take time or fortitude to get use to. At any rate, I've read where many people don't like Rush because they don't like Geddy Lee's voice. I had the same problem at first but got over it and now generally, I don't have a problem with it. Right now with The Mars Volta I am still at the stage where I do not like Cedric's voice and it detracts from me enjoying their music. Because of this I don't listen to them all that often, but I am hoping that over time one of these times I will play an album and his voice will click for me, or at least I will be able to tolerate it. I'm pretty sure that I will be able to get it to grow on me eventually, but until then, I have a hard time listening to them.
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Epignosis
Special Collaborator
Honorary Collaborator
Joined: December 30 2007
Location: Raeford, NC
Status: Offline
Points: 32580
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Posted: May 12 2010 at 09:25 |
All of their studio albums are four stars for me, some more so than others. 
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tamijo
Forum Senior Member
Joined: January 06 2009
Location: Denmark
Status: Offline
Points: 4287
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Posted: May 12 2010 at 09:17 |
ptkc123 wrote:
PS: I would really like to hear about any live performances!
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Was in Copenhagen last november, did a great show, mixing up tracks from diffrent periods, starting out with the first 6-7 min of "De-Loused In The Comatorium"
Had people with me not even into nither Metal nor Mars Volta, but even so, everyone was happy, and it was
clear, this was a bunch able to PLAY.
Only sad thing to say, a few Accustic guitar parts was pre. recorded, not a great way to deal with that, would be better to just leave 'em out, if not able to do it live.
But with the quality of the set in general, a minor problem.
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Prog is whatevey you want it to be. So dont diss other peoples prog, and they wont diss yours
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Blacksword
Prog Reviewer
Joined: June 22 2004
Location: England
Status: Offline
Points: 16130
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Posted: May 12 2010 at 02:43 |
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So far, I only have 'Frances the Mute' and 'The Bedlam in Goliath' Both 3 star albums for me. Every now and then they pull something brilliant out of the bag, but sometimes I find them unlistenable. I also think they waste too much time on long passages of just atmospheric noise. I find this really irritating on FTM.
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Ultimately bored by endless ecstasy!
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Kojak
Forum Senior Member
Joined: April 03 2010
Status: Offline
Points: 264
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Posted: May 12 2010 at 02:21 |
AtomicCrimsonRush wrote:
My order is
1 Frances the Mute
2. Amputechture
3. De-loused in the Comatorium
4. The Bedlam in Goliath
I have not heard Octahedron. Is it really worth getting . I have heard mixed reactions........ that they merged into acoustic territory and its not very prog. Is that true?
. |
That would be my order too, I think.. As for Octahedron - it is worth getting - it has some beautiful moments on it, Cedric's vocals are so tender and feminine in some of it, and there's some great lyrics, get it, I'll give it to you if I can.....
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The Monodrone
Forum Senior Member
Joined: March 21 2010
Location: Indiana, USA
Status: Offline
Points: 4489
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Posted: May 11 2010 at 23:29 |
TheClosing wrote:
AtomicCrimsonRush wrote:
I have not heard Octahedron. Is it really worth getting . I have heard mixed reactions........ that they merged into acoustic territory and its not very prog. Is that true?
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Depends on what you're looking for I suppose. It's an album that had to be done imo. Things got overly convoluted on Bedlam, and it wasn't really a progression from the prior record. With Oct they stripped things down, and it worked for the better imo. If you enjoy their simpler more emotionally gripping songs like "Televators" then you'll probably dig it a lot. It's nice to have something in their catalogue that I can just sit back, and relax to instead of being overly analytical. It still has a nice prog feel in a traditional sense with this Pink Floydish synth between tracks. Actually the cd can be compared quite nicely to PF's "Animals", which is probably my favorite of theirs. Also "Luciforms" has to be their best track yet imo.
Great record for those who just want quality music, and could care less about labels. |
Yeah, "Luciforms" is such a great song!! It sounds like something from Frances.. to me.
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The Monodrone
Forum Senior Member
Joined: March 21 2010
Location: Indiana, USA
Status: Offline
Points: 4489
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Posted: May 11 2010 at 23:25 |
AtomicCrimsonRush wrote:
My order is
1 Frances the Mute
2. Amputechture
3. De-loused in the Comatorium
4. The Bedlam in Goliath
I have not heard Octahedron. Is it really worth getting . I have heard mixed reactions........ that they merged into acoustic territory and its not very prog. Is that true?
. |
They definitely did venture into acoustic territory, but in a very tasteful way. They created a very transitional album with Octahedron, and I very much like the album. If you're a fan of softer prog, definitely check out Octahedron.. I really don't think you'l be disappointed. "With Twilight as My Guide" is a great and mysteriously dark song with some very good and concentrated vocals by Cedric. "Halo of Nembutals" and "Cotopaxi" are some of my favorite songs by the Mars Volta, and I see them as being pretty prog. Yeah, definitely check this album out! 
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TheClosing
Forum Senior Member
Joined: May 11 2010
Status: Offline
Points: 527
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Posted: May 11 2010 at 23:02 |
AtomicCrimsonRush wrote:
I have not heard Octahedron. Is it really worth getting . I have heard mixed reactions........ that they merged into acoustic territory and its not very prog. Is that true?
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Depends on what you're looking for I suppose. It's an album that had to be done imo. Things got overly convoluted on Bedlam, and it wasn't really a progression from the prior record. With Oct they stripped things down, and it worked for the better imo. If you enjoy their simpler more emotionally gripping songs like "Televators" then you'll probably dig it a lot. It's nice to have something in their catalogue that I can just sit back, and relax to instead of being overly analytical. It still has a nice prog feel in a traditional sense with this Pink Floydish synth between tracks. Actually the cd can be compared quite nicely to PF's "Animals", which is probably my favorite of theirs. Also "Luciforms" has to be their best track yet imo.
Great record for those who just want quality music, and could care less about labels.
Edited by TheClosing - May 11 2010 at 23:03
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The bedlam that is the Mars Volta.
