THESE FORUMS NOW CLOSED (read only)
Fun Stuff => BAND => Topic started by: just-another-andy on 17 Jul 2007, 18:50
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Mars Volta
Dream Theater
Sound of Animals Fighting
These are my top 3 bands for soo many reasons
They're all incredibly original.
They all have their very distinctive sound (being original and all)
They love what they do and put REAL effort into their music
for anyone who doesn't know the bands here's some very short descriptions
Mars Volta
* Rock/prog
* first formed in 2001
* band members include Cedric Bixler and Omar Rodriguez from At The Drive-In
* songs to download:
Inertiatic ESP
The Widow
Meccamputechture
Dream Theater
* Heavy/prog
* Been around since 1986!
* Acclaimed by critics but disregarded by charts (stupid mainsteam)
* Songs to download
A Change of Seasons <--- Absolute must!
Scene 6 - Home
Funeral For A Friend/Love Lies Bleeding
Sound of Animals Fighting
* Experimental/heavy rock
* 2 cds with radically different sounds
* A collection of masterclass musicians
* Songs to download
Act I: Chasing Suns
The Heretic
My Horse Must Lose
This Heat
Well that's all I had to say.
Hope you check out these bands, I'm sure you won't be disappointed
unless you don't like sounds
or music
or you're deaf
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I believe that nary a one of us here has ever heard of such a band...do go on, good sir.
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I was just looking into this Dream Theater band you mentioned, and its mentioned that they were discovered by a man called Bruce Dickenson who plays in a band called Iron Maiden
I swear, I have heard of Iron Maiden before, but I've never heard any actual songs by them, what are they like?
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They are like Iron and Wine mixed with Fred Astaire. Pretty good.
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So, kind of like Tool?
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So, kind of like Tool?
Nay, think of a the unholy love child of Black Sabbath and The Ramones.
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What kind of stuff do you want me to play? Fast? Slow? Major? Minor?
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It will just be good music, played well by men.
Sir, I shall boycott your band and the patriarchal hegemony it promulgates!
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Just play a good song like a man would play at a concert.
Alright, I gotcha
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It will just be good music, played well by men.
Sir, I shall boycott your band and the patriarchal hegemony it promulgates!
Oh no, there will be a chick on bass, so it's all egalitarian and shit.
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You'll replace me with eye candy over my dead body!
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Mister Band FTW \m/
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is this thread about Slint yet
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is this thread about Slint yet
That's Mister Slint to you.
I propose all bands have the suffix "Mister" or "Missus" added to them, like so:
Mister Beatles
Missus Sleater-Kinney
etc.
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May I play guitar in this band called "Mister Band" as I believe I have nailed all the basic principles of playing guitar. In addition I believe I have nailed a small number of advanced principles of playing guitar.
I would very much like to play in this "Mister Band" band.
Thank you for considering my application.
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Guys I have not learned guitar yet but may i play guitar in Mister Band I would learn guitar or maybe bass and I could play them for you
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I propose that this new band, "Mister (Mr.) Band," as it were, should be the official representation of all that which - musically speaking - is well and good amongst we denizens of this fine land (that 'land' being represented - in a fair metaphorical fashion - by the forum, which manifests itself as a collective conscious spread between many divisions of terra firma) given the implied demise of our previous collective, "Beautiful Wang & the Ally's."
I will play the drums.
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Hey hey hey, don't get too eager on this "demise of Beautiful Wang and the Ally's" stuff. BW&tA's will always live. In our hearts.
That being said, I'll play stylophone in Mister Band, and I'll play it in a workmanlike manner such as the people enjoy hearing in their musics.
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This is how I imagine The Polyphinc Spree was formed.
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Bitch I will cut you.
Do not mess with the Spree.
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I call the electric triangle.
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WOW, there's actually someone else on these forums who likes Mars Volta... I don't feel so alone anymore.
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I PLAY HARMONAPHONICORD.
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I can play the musical saw.
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That's Caucasian boy.
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May I do the kazoos in Predominately Caucasian and Male Traveling Band of Minstrels?
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Ooh, I'm a white male! And I call harmonium!
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I've never heard anything by the third one, but the first two aren't original.
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I nominate myself to play the cow bell for either group. I believe I can make a decent contribution to each band.
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I can play the musical saw.
Why do you always have to rub that in our faces? Some of us can't afford a musical saw.
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Yeah, that actually makes me intensely jealous. That's the instrument I want to learn most. Really. When I saw Amiina in NYC their encore song was all four of them on different saws (three of them weren't even real musical saws). It was really cool.
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Almost. You almost got it right.
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I don't have an actual musical saw yet, although they are relatively cheap (seen some around $50), I just use a saw i bought from a trusty shop for about $15
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Awesome Bands how about some Fall of Troy? :-D
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Mister Band Presents Mister Band Played Space Age Bachelor Pad Music.
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well i'm glad someone else here knows of Mars Volta, I was a little worried for a second that I might be the only person on the ENTIRE forum
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Well, it's no surprise, since there are a bunch of music nuts on here with widely different tastes. Think of a genre. Someone who posts on here probably knows a good deal about it, be it Country(though not nash trash so much), Metal, Prog, Post-rock, Indie Rock, electronic, whatever. It's an Eclectic music lover's dream.
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I for one, am the resident expert on Tenacious D, and bands whose name starts with "F"
All of them
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Dude, Ukranian Death Polka is where it's at.
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Pffft, you obviously haven't heard much Post-Ukranian Death Polka
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Is that different from Ukrainian Post-Death Polka?
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No, but it has roots in Norwegian Black Polka.
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Yes, but its silly, the genre describes the sound of the music, not its heritage, you might as well differentiate between Malaysian Choose Your Own Adventure-Core art-funk, and Indonesian Choose Your Own Adventure Core art-funk, they're both easy to identify with their throbbing rhythms, brutal breakdowns and their malleable thematic content, but they grew out of completely separate scenes.
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well i'm glad someone else here knows of Mars Volta, I was a little worried for a second that I might be the only person on the ENTIRE forum
What the hell?
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The Mars who?
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The what Volta?
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That's a car, right?
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It is, but I wouldn't recommend it...the Mars Volta's CO2 footprint is HUUGE! You don't want to be seen as one of those jackasses that doesn't care about the environment, do you?
Well, I guess you could always wait for a hybrid model.
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Rather than bother to craft any kind of original, non-sarcastic response to the Mars Volta, I'll just copy and paste stuff from Something Awful.
"Mars Volta records, if you believe the people who are dumb enough to enjoy them, are ever-changing collages of noise and melody, filled with the sort of shit that hack music reviewers would call "shifting textures" and "mutating structures." Basically, that means that the album is not made of real songs, like real albums are."
"I think the general Mars Volta strategy is to inundate us with so much horrible noise that anything with half a tune stands out as pure glory. Sort of like a Guided By Voices record. Now the singer is yelling "will they feed us some hooves." Somebody feed this man some fucking hooves so he'll shut up. No matter what else is going on in this song, at least it'll always be anchored by irritating, nonsensical guitar arpeggios in the background, and plenty of cymbal crashes."
"Okay, the song is boring again, so pardon me while I go on a strange interlude: imagine somebody playing this in their car. That would be pathetic. Imagine someone cruising the streets with their windows down and the Mars Volta blasting out of their whip. If they wanted to impress anyone with their stereo, they'd have to drive around the block five times until they had something other than static, snatches of Tijuana brass, or forest noises. Eleven and a half minutes in, there's some marvelously annoying distorted hissing. Thank you for that, Mars Volta, you've won me over with your "textures" and your "structures." You know what else has textures? An iguana, and those motherfuckers will whip the shit out of you with their tails. And you know what else has structure? A nazi death camp, you anti-semites. Okay, I'm rambling because I'm bored. Did I mention this song is thirteen minutes long?"
"But the quality of the Mars Volta hate mail is incredible. These are people who say things like "The Mars Volta is not something to be taken lightly" without a trace of irony (yes, that's an actual quote from an e-mail, but it was mostly pretty boring so I won't print the whole thing here). They're absolute comedy geniuses and they don't even know it. You're just going to have to see for yourselves."
and finally
"Today, for example, there is a new Mars Volta album to wrangle. You may call be biased, but I'm predisposed to believe that it will suck. I'm sure that it will suck, and I'm comfortable with the fact that it will suck. The Mars Volta doesn't owe me anything. I'm not a fan of the band, I'm not in the habit of buying their albums, and I have no emotional investment in their existence other than a twinge of righteous irritation whenever I hear their name. It doesn't even particularly bother me that people like them. People are stupid. People like AM talk radio and urban-camo cargo shorts and Blender magazine. People are as entitled to their own aesthetically stunted taste as I am entitled to tell them how stupid they are, and as a good American, I relish the notion. Basically, I'd be fine for the rest of my life if The Mars Volta just stayed out of my way and I stayed out of theirs."
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I love those fake wind-up reviews, Your Band Sucks rocks. The Radiohead one was the best.
The what Volta?
I like Björk too.
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Scrambled Gregs, I hope you're happy, you just completely ruined our carefully crafted illusion.
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It is, but I wouldn't recommend it...the Mars Volta's CO2 footprint is HUUGE! You don't want to be seen as one of those jackasses that doesn't care about the environment, do you?
Well, I guess you could always wait for a hybrid model.
I don't want to be a jackass, I guess I'll stay away from this Mars Volta.
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meh.
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Mars Volta are very very good band! you're implying that i'm a jackasse for liking and appreciating their music?
atleast form your own arguments rather than taking a snippet from another source.
Wow you really are new, ain'tcha.
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Mars Volta are very very good band! you're implying that i'm a jackasse for liking and appreciating their music?
atleast form your own arguments rather than taking a snippet from another source.
Have you ever written a research paper? Or even an essay?
On another note,
(http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q171/elobue1/cedric.jpg)
"This task belies a combine cornhole! My liver's contingency plan is erudite!"
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http://forums.questionablecontent.net/index.php/topic,16517.0.html
Go back and read this thread; you will find me defending the fact that I listen to, and enjoy, the Mars Volta. What's happened here, son, is that you started a new thread about two bands that are A: fairly well known across the scope of music fans everywhere, and B: often discussed on these very same forums. Now, often times, one of the forum elders will retort with a scathing "use the search feature" and the thread will die...occasionally, however, we old-timers like to derail threads that have been done time and time again, and turn them into something not at all pertinent to the original post. It gives us a bit of a laugh, and relieves the tedium that comes with seeing the same topic 'discussed' over and over again, ad nauseum. Perhaps before taking offense, you could spend some time observing the interactions that take place between forumites as a daily routine, wherein friendly jabs are often taken at the expense of others' varying tastes in music that differ from one's own.
Y'know, LURK MOAR!
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Well, now that the joke is fucked (Thanks, Scrambled Gregs), you might as well know I'm a massive Dream Theater fan, and I still thought this was a shit thread.
Honestly, are you sure you're not just trolling us?
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Since the whole thing's fucked now, I might as well say what I really think about the first two. I only listen to The Mars Volta if I just want the silence to be drowned out. They're not really worth my time.
Dream Theater I just seem to not like at all. I couldn't stand their singer before food poisoning, or after it. Their songs generally consist of everyone taking turns playing solo bits, which I can't fucking stand. Everyone I've known personally (which excludes people from the internetz) that is a fan of this band thinks that everyone in it is a living god when it comes to playing their instrument/singing, which is just not the truth. I know they're a prog-metal band, and prog-metal bands are supposed to incorporate tons of musical theory into their songs, but that's only half of the process. You still have to attempt to write something with a catchy phrase. Basically, I hate Dream Theater for the same reason I hate a lot of prog-bands, they pile on the theory and not a whole lot else. Don't get me wrong, they're good at what they do, I just don't like them very much. Liquid Tension Experiment, on the other hand, while still not being a whole lot better in the songwriting department, at least doesn't have a singer, which makes them marginally better in my book. (In case you didn't know, although I'm sure you do, LTE is DT minus the bass player and vocalist)
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Don't worry man, I learned the hard way as well. If you could find the thread containing my first post, it's hilarious. They gave me so much shit, but I sat there laughing my ass off until I got pissed at them. So then I payed attention and learned stuff from browsing around.
Still, however, most of my posts are rather irrelevant and/or bland and unfunny. I guess. In person I guess I'm more amusing. Or something. I know I have sense of humor...
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(http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q171/elobue1/marscrop.jpg)
My cerebral phalange decries a conspiracy of calendars! I lie on your heart azure angle sexual surgery!
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Basically, I hate Dream Theater for the same reason I hate a lot of prog-bands, they pile on the theory and not a whole lot else.
I like how prog-metal is the only genre where if the music doesn't reach you, and do that thing where you realise that the album you are listening to is fucking awesome, it's obviously the musics fault, and not just you know, personal taste.
I mean, to say theres not really any feel to the music and its just a bunch of guys wanking as hard as they can is a pretty silly argument. The reason this is the case is that I can actually negate that argument with complete objectivity, and the way I can do that, is by enjoying the music they make. I don't have a background in musical theory at all. I don't enjoy people playing difficult music just because it is difficult. I enjoy music that makes me happy! I can get the same feeling from a Dressy Bessy album that I can from listening to Awake, or Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence (which by the way is a fantastic example of Dream Theater writing emotive music, with barely any wank whatsover)
I mean, I get if you don't like DT because the wank is distracting to you, or because it just doesn't sound good (Hell, I'll admit, I would cut all those silly honky-tonk piano solos out of every song if I could be bothered), but to say its just a giant load of theory is, well, a giant load of crap.
(P.S. This thread was still a stupid idea, please don't stop talking about polka genres and weird fucking Mars Volta lyrics just because I had a brief serious moment here)
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I never clarify things on the internet. It's too much work. But I'll give it a shot. So, my problem with a lot of prog-music is indeed the wankery. DT was never just about the wankery, but they spawned a bunch of wankery-infested clones. Whenever a decent band spawns legions of really gay shit, I just stop liking them so much because I hear a lot of the shitty bands when I try to listen to them. Which is basically what happened to DT. The whole 'Jon Petrucci and Mike Portnoy are gods' thing kinda pisses me off too. You shouldn't listen to a band based on whether or not they have people who are amazing at their instruments. Remember Mike Patton and Fantomas? Prime example. The same kind of thing happened to me with At the Gates and all the crappy metalcore acts there have been. I like Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence, but most of their other stuff dredges up memories of other horrible music I've heard.
So that's why it seems like I don't like them based on what they play, instead of personal taste. If I could blank my mind when listening to music, I'd probably like these guys a lot more.
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The act of enjoying music is a wholly subjective experience. I don't think you can get any LESS objective than that.
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Jeph, while a bands actual worth is entirely subjective, the fact that I enjoy Dream Theaters music is an objective fact, that is what I am trying to get across.
The whole 'Jon Petrucci and Mike Portnoy are gods' thing kinda pisses me off too.
Me too actually. As far as I'm concerned Myung is the most talented member, because he is ridiculously solid, and if Dream Theater didn't have that quality in their bassist, I would probably get extremely bored very quickly.
I actually really dislike Liquid Tension Experiment for the same reason that you dislike Dream Theater, proving once again that its a funny old world.
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John Petrucci is one of my favorite guitarists, so I really can't relate to that. Portnoy I can take or leave, honestly.
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I really would prefer it if neither of them sang though, what the hell guys, you are not very good singers, please stop it.
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Guys what the hell are you talking about. LaBrie is great.
Also I personally prefer the guitarwork of Steve Vai to Petrucci when it comes to those virtuosic type guys.
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Can't quite get into Mars Volta - my last impression was that it was a bit like being pecked to death by geese on acid. Might try again some day, when I need to wake up very early.
Dream Theater... mixed. I thought they wrote really great songs, and the music worked to support the songs, but that went out the window when Jordan Rudess joined. He's a virtuoso, but in the context of a band, and songs, he made me appreciate the sensitivity displayed by their previous keyboardists! I thought Derek Sherinian got a rough ride: more than good enough technically, but he also brought in a sense of progressive history e.g. really effective use or organ and piano, plus some very modern synth madness with the Korg Prophecy.
However, most progressive metal has never sounded quite right to me since I first heard Thought Industry (http://www.bnrmetal.com/groups/thin.htm), and the way they fell apart was a freakin' calamity IMHO. :x
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One fact of notes is just how hard-working and prolific it seems Mars Volta are gonna be for years to come. Who doesn't love a band that gets so involved and dedicated, with a new cd every year for the last 3 years?
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This thread's no fun any more.
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Has there ever been a Mars Volta thread that was both serious and fun?
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Look, fuck you guys, OK?? I joined these forums with the express purpose of ruining everybody's fun.
What I meant to say was, charades can only be upheld so long before somebody's gotta break the gooey film of comedy and get real.
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But Bush is still in power!
And yes, before anyone comments, that was a pathetic attempt, kthanx.
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Has someone killed LaBrie yet?
Actually, when LaBrie keeps out of the ridiculously high range his voice is quite good. His guest appearance on Ayreon's The Human Equation was much more subdued than a lot of his DT work, and it turned out very well in my opinion. Arjen probably reined him in a bit.
I'm not nearly as fanatical about Dream Theater as I was, say, a year and a half ago, but I still like them. They are the first band I ever saw live, though. Part of the reason I refute the prog-music-has-no-emotion cliche so vehemently is because of that show. They played Learning to Live as the encore, and LaBrie hit the high note as the band reached the crescendo behind him with the crowd going batshit, and it was genuinely one of the most emotional experiences of my life to date.
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I'm not nearly as fanatical about Dream Theater as I was, say, a year and a half ago, but I still like them.
I'm in the same boat really, if I listened to them again I'd only really bother with a couple of CDs (when I was first getting into metal I used to lap up everything they did).
Some individual tracks are still awesome though, especially 'A Change Of Seasons', parts of which are a clear example of songwriting being preferred to 10-minute guitar masturbation sessions.
The verse ending
'...Untie these strings
I'm climbing down
I won't let them push me away'
and the solo that follow are a perfect example, it's not a fretwanking ten-billion-notes-a-second Malmsteen style solo, but a slow, sweeping masterpiece.
Even though I find 3/4+ of DT's material too cheesy for my liking these days, I don't think I'll ever not love that song.
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If someone could list the non-wanky songs for me, I'd appreciate it.
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That depends on what you consider 'wanky'. Your definition and mine might not coincide.
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Oh we're talking about our actual opinions now? Right then.
The Mars Volta are one of my favourite bands, but it's a rarity that I'll get through the whole of Frances the Mute without skipping bits. Amputechture was terrible except for 'Viscera Eyes' and parts of 'Tetragrammaton.' The first album I love as well.
Dream Theater, however, I can barely stand. It's not that it's wankery - which would make no sense since I'm in a prog band and I love the Volta - but it just feels so heartless. The Volta sound to me like they're putting all of their emotion into every stupid recording of a frog as much as they are into every crazy guitar solo. Dream Theater just sound like they've been bolted together, to my ears at least.
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That depends on what you consider 'wanky'. Your definition and mine might not coincide.
Basically the material more along the lines of what amok whas talking about.
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I never clarify things on the internet.... etc
So to sum up, you're judging a band based on their fans, and their imitators. Yup, seems fair to me.
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The Snickers Volta just doesn't have the same ring, really.
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I never clarify things on the internet.... etc
So to sum up, you're judging a band based on their fans, and their imitators. Yup, seems fair to me.
As well as their music. Almost all bands I only judge on their music, but I've had enough DT fans in meatspace bug me about it that it gets factored in as an automatic minus 5 percent. I just don't like their music that much normally, either.
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The Snickers Volta just doesn't have the same ring, really.
Please try and think about things before you post them. The choice was between candy bars named after celestial entities, which means "The Milky Way Volta" was the only other option, and I think we can agree that it was never really in the running.
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(http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q171/elobue1/cedric_sick1.jpg)
SPRINKLE ME WITH EQUINE PRAISE! LIVE IN THE INTESTINE OF ESOTERICISM!
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I expect one of those every single day until Judgement Day.
Also why does he need two microphones?
I'm sorry Mars Volta, but I just do not get you.
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Perhaps he's compensating for something...
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There is nothing to "get" you must only experience them and stand in awe. I also find his shimmying around the stage to be incredibly amusing.
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Also why does he need two microphones?
If you look at where the respective microphones are positioned, it becomes quite clear that he is duetting with his own hair.
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Oh god inlander, what have you done. I can't stop laughing. Shut up, it's not the wine.
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I expect one of those every single day until Judgement Day.
I will do these with relative frequency.
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I hear The Mars Volta have a new album in the works!
Looking forward to that!
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TREMBLE BEFORE JORDAN RUDESS AND HIS MIGHTY BAT'LETH BLADE
(http://web.mac.com/charlestentindo/iWeb/ZEN%20RIFFER%20/PHOTOS_files/DSC01608.jpg)
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(http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q171/elobue1/13825903-13825905-large.jpg)
A PURGATORY DESCENDS TO WRATH OF COLON CRANBERRIES! BURY THE CORPSES PERFORMING SUITABLE FELLACIO!
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Someone needs to make some sort of random Mars Volta lyrics generator webapp. I'm sure it wouldn't be too terribly difficult, just take some vaguely morbid gothic poetry, throw in a splash of sci-fi and hit the blend button.
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so NO ONE has heard of The Sound Of Animals fighting then?
:mrgreen:
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I think it's just easier to ridicule Dream Theater and TMV than TSOAF.
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Wait...why is this thread still here?
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Because Flaming Ostrich is a prince of our hearts, and I wanted an excuse to post a picture of Rudess with an instrument that looks like a Klingon weapon.
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(http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q171/elobue1/9_1.jpg)
"BURY MY INSULIN WRAPPED IN FOIL TISSUE! MY MEMBRANE CONSTRICTS VAST BASTIONS OF CHURCH MICE!"
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See?
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It really is a lot easier to insult bands that have actual lyrics, as opposed to TSOAF, which is like putting to music the random thrashings of a keyboard. A computer keyboard.
WSDCAOKJSADW!
ASGHSHJSAlkSDFISA
SFKJSDLKS
SDLKSDFK
SFLKSADK!!!!
To be honest, I don't mind TSOAF, but they're most definitely not something I'd expect anyone who pursues The Mars Volta as real musicians would listen to. Also when the hell did this thread stop being about air guitar?
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Someone needs to make some sort of random Mars Volta lyrics generator webapp.
I second this motion. also with a randomised cedric picture selection to accompany it.
anyone?
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:mrgreen: :police:?
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Hey hey hey, don't get too eager on this "demise of Beautiful Wang and the Ally's" stuff. BW&tA's will always live. In our hearts.
NEVER DIE!
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(http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q171/elobue1/Osdois.jpg)
FLOW THE STANDARD ISSUE TERRAFORM POPSICLE BAND-AID! THE ESOPHAGUS PLASTIC FLESH FLIES APLOMB!