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[Alkatyl]

I can just say, after listening to listening to the first track* of Frances The Mute, The Mars Volta new albulm, it's an epic masterpiece. And when I say epic, I mean roughly 80 minutes from five songs. I am getting this the moment it's released. Any other convinced fans out there?


*It was a half-hour long, so go listen to it yourself and then diss me.

[Spencer]

Odd. The copy of Frances The Mute I have is something like 11 or 12 songs....

[GNI]

I havent heard it yet, but i look forward to it.

Yeah, only five songs, but each song has movements (or whatever they have termed them) so its probably a few more tracks.

[GNI]

I think they are an aquired taste... i stumbled across them accidentally and was lucky enough to like them and keep the CD rather than hate it and have wasted £13.

[Euicho]

My friend Evan works at a record store sold me the cd early and it does indeed rock my world.

[Johnny C]

The Mars "No, ta"!!!???!!!!

roffle.

I plan to buy it. My mind needs a good exploding now and again.

[Apathy]

I don't quite know what The Mars Volta are trying to accomplish, but it's certainly 'interesting' music.  Not bad, though.  I quite like some of it.

[Conatonc]

Yeah, only five songs, but each song has movements (or whatever they have termed them) so its probably a few more tracks.

I saw an interview with Cedric (or Omar, whatever) and he said something about 5 songs only counting as an EP, so they felt it was necessary to split the last track up to avoid contractual difficulties later on.

I like TMV well enough, I thought De-Loused had some wonderful songs on it, and a lot of pointless noodling. But since Frances is also coming out at a low, low price, I will be picking it up this week for sure.

[Staplegun]

I happen to think that they noodle and meander quite well.

[Johnny C]

Yeah, apparently Cedric leaves, uh, something to be desired.

And apparently the new album's meanderings do not include two-minute segments of dripping noises and open guitar clicks (see "Cicatriz ESP"), and instead focus on shifting melody! Hooray!

[jeph]

I hated At the Drive-In, I hate the Mars Volta, and Sparta are just kind of boring.

[Jooooosh]

i just listened to the Mars Volta online, it was..................
interesting, yea, interesting

[Staplegun]

I challenge you to go see them live, and resist the urge to tear your own jaw off.

I couldn't!
*insert skeleton here*
(Also I'm a skellington, apparently.)

What exactly are they like live?

Do they jam out a lot? Because I like that. I saw RxBandits live and they jammed a lot and it was pretty awesome.

[Alkatyl]

If you don't like concept albums then it's something you won't agree with, becasue it's certainly the type of music you'd follow on from At the Drive In with that psychadelic twist. I didn't buy the original Mars Volta albulm because I know this time they actually have a sound instead of just playing around crazily.

But you gotta either love or hate them.

[Spencer]

I hated At the Drive-In, I hate the Mars Volta, and Sparta are just kind of boring.

I bet you also hate America too, don't you!

TMV s definitly an aquired taste, and not what one would call "good" in a live setting. They're sorta like Coheed and Cambria in that distinction. But I like 'em. I like 'em a lot.

[Staplegun]

You just sound like you were having a bad night, James. But it's not for everyone anyhow.

When I saw Coheed And Cambria live, (NOT by choice, mind you), I was very miffed with them. They just talked a lot about how hairy they were.

I have to admit though, even if I hate their music, they were pretty tight as far as not screwing up a lot goes.

[Psiogen]

I love me some good prog rock, but the only thing separating the Mars Volta from hundreds of other laughable B-list neo-prog outfits is their indie rock "pedigree".

[Alkatyl]

I hated At the Drive-In, I hate the Mars Volta, and Sparta are just kind of boring.

I bet you also hate America too, don't you!

I could have sworn they are from places like Cuba, Lebanon and Mexico.

Edit: I found this on an old reveiw, and it sums up my feelings exactly;

Cedric's wailing vocals are a huge trademark: the band's detractors call it tuneless wailing. For my part, I am won over by the pure passion in his voice. Have you ever heard someone's voice described with a line like "she could sing a page out of the phone book and make your cry"? Cedric's lyrics sometimes read like an abstract technical manual, but he still overpowers me with his emotion. The rest of the band doesn't slouch either and I could spend paragraphs talking about any aspect of the band's sound, but it all comes down to the fact that it's original, powerful and compelling.

[jal-vani]

i picked up the new album last night, and i was hoping that having a second album worth of material would make the live shows less... painful (15 minutes of whammy isn't that fun) unfortunately, that's not the case.

but, i do love frances. it's just not going to help the live shows much.

[happybirthdaygelatin]

Yeah, you're right Staplegun, I tricked myself into being bored because I was having a bad night. In reality, I couldn't have enjoyed the self-indulgent stylings of the Volta more! SHITTT!

This I will have to remember for my description of when I saw Sonic Youth!

[Tinjessla]

I was a little obsessed with 'De-loused..' for a while, because for some reason, it was awesome to paint to. So, i'm very eager to get my hands on Frances The Mute.

[czar0406]

im listening to the new album and now and enjoying it.  so there.

[Deformagraphy]

It's alright.  Nothing bad, nothing good.  I've been listening all afternoon and my only conclusion so far is that it was worth buying.

[czar0406]

for $6, hell yeah its worth buying.

[Johnny C]

James, did... did you not expect them to noodle for ungodly lengths of time? Look at Cicatriz ESP; the album version has a two-minute segment of dripping noises.

[Empty Friend]

Yeah I kinda like it too, definitely good music for the long walk in the brisk cold today, I concur that it was worth buying.

Also, when you listen to it straight through it's gives a sort of creepy feel when it wraps up the same way it started after a long trip. (See: Fantastic Planet with the strange xylophone-ish sounds.)

So I like it? Oh Noes!

[Empty Friend]

To each his own, Napoleon :-p

[ozzi]

they have about one song that i can stand and i happen to like that one song alot, but thats about it. house of the roulett dares.

also, James wins all of the prizes for this thread. all of them.

[mAlice aforeThought]

there were prizes?  bast, why doesn't anyöne ever tell me these things?

[Revenge_Therapist]

Art rock is indeed an aquired taste, especially a band defering to both progressive and no wave. I like this record. Not in one dose mind you, but each track is rather great. The record just reaches so far it's vary hard to digest.

[asterisk.]

one thing about the mars volta is that their lyrics make absolutely no sense. at all. i don't see how they can have concept albums because they make no sense, and if you don't make sense, how can you have a concept album?

i have one of their cds -- deloused in the something or another -- and i like maybe two or three songs on it, and the rest is just kinda like ... eh.

[Tartar Martyr]

one thing about the mars volta is that their lyrics make absolutely no sense. at all. i don't see how they can have concept albums because they make no sense, and if you don't make sense, how can you have a concept album?

i have one of their cds -- deloused in the something or another -- and i like maybe two or three songs on it, and the rest is just kinda like ... eh.

They make a little bit of sense if you read into them... but the coolest part of them is their playing, not their lyrics.

I am someone who is impressed by the music on an album, loves overprocessed noise, and can listen to something several times without making the slightest attempt to put the lyrics together.  tMV was made for me.

If you focus on the lyrics more than the music, they will probably frustrate you and piss you off... because the lyrics don't really make sense at all.

[Empty Friend]

Kinda reminds me of Sigur Ros.  Since there is no way I will ever understand the lyrics I just treat the vocals as another instrument.

[MilkmanDan]

I like Francis the mute, and I though they were ok live. A lot of noodling, yes. Too much noodling, also yes. However, when they did finally kick into gear they rocked it out. This being said, At the Drive-in were about a trillian times better. Maybe not quite a trillian, but quite alot.

[Sturge]

To be honest, the mars volta are pretty shit.

Bunch of pretentious cunts.

(And im basing the shitness on the music, not on the fact that they're pretentious cunts.)

Though they are pretentious cunts.

[Robbo]

Mmmmm, a bunch of "anything beyond a simple chord is evil and solos make your bits fall off" indie kids slandering this album? Right, seems I should start listening ot Mar Volta then...*orders copy of the album*

[Outshined]

The first time I heard this album, I didn't really like it.  Of course, I had pretty high expectations going into it.

I had practically listened De-Loused to death because I enjoy it so much... I agree with what other posters said about Cedric's voice being really awesome/interesting to listen to (on the album at least, I don't know anything about the live show).  I'm a firm believer that an album's interest is not just about the content of the lyrics or the chords themselves, but also about their -execution-.  And Cedric is, at the very least, extremely passionate about his lyrics and executes them with surety.  The album was also one of the most intense, emotional albums I have heard.  

Getting back to Frances the Mute, I have to say it has grown on me quite a bit. There were a bunch of people complaining about the surrealistic lyrics not making sense, but I disagree.  It is my opinion that those people are stuck-ups that were too elitist to actually bother trying to figure anything out before complaining that it was "lyrical ineptitude" on TMV's part.  The lyrics, to me, are amazing, and delightful.  They have an abstract, poetic quality that I can't get enough of.  They leave you free to imagine a scene or fill in the blanks instead of force-feeding you a cut and dry story.  And, if you consider them long enough, they actually do make quite a lot of sense, especially if you consider the bands stated concept or framework.  If you don't believe me, cut me an excerpt of lyrics from any song and I can give you an interpretation.  

In regards to the "noodling", I think it was done quite well on De-Loused.  The noodling served to break up the pacing between the more furious segments of the album and balance it out as a whole.  I even enjoyed the long segment of "dripping sounds" in the middle of Cicatriz...  for lack of a better description, it conveys the feeling of being completely silent in a dark space for a very long period of time, without being totally quiet (and thus boring).  When I hear that segment, I feel as if a great deal of time has just passed in a what felt like an instant, as if waking after a coma in a dark room.  However, I think the noodling got a little too carried away on Frances, it overtakes the denser segments and shifts the balance too far in the way of the ambient direction, making the album a little vacuous.  

Frances is really not an album I can listen to straight through.  I tend to skip around between tracks, as some segments contain extremely thought provoking lyrics or sound, while others are irritating or too far out to be accessible.  I can't recommend it as fully as De-Loused, but if you can aquire the sound, as it were, you may be able to grab some meaningful bits out of this album.  (As a side note, I've already gotten ideas for 3 new drawings based on inspiration from this album's lyrics, it's great for artist conceptualization)

[Praeserpium Machinarum]

I bought De-Loused in the Comatorium and was mystified, because I had never heard anything like it. I agree that it is too long-winded at times(fx. Cicatriz) but also has some gorgeous melodies, here I am especially thinking about Televators and Take the Veil Cerpin Taxt. Then as many times before I moved on to other stuff and iy infected my little brother, who is now a TMV junkie and even bought Frances the Mute in France before me.
I have heard Frances the Mute once, and I don't think it has the same impact as De-Loused, it wasn't bad but I probably have to listen to more to decide. All in all I like TMV, but not fanatically

[marenpoop]

i tried to listen to them but i got really sleepy and bored...lyrics make no sense, which isn't bad by itself, but when they try to claim they make epic concept albums, that kind of pisses me off.

[Kai]

Ugh. The Mars Volta are horrible. I mean, I love strange music as much as anybody, but jesus christ, when you get to the point of filling songs with static noise and water droplets, It's gone too far. I'm listening to it because I want to hear MUSIC, not so I can hear feedback from your goddamn guitar playing along with some stupid horns.

[MilkmanDan]

Pfft. Aphex Twin made a song entirely out of static noises and dropping a marble in a sink. it's about 5 minutes long as well. The Mars Volta are amateurs.

[Sturge]

Gotta love the twin.

[Robbo]

Listening to this album as I finally have a copy. I think it's the best non-metal album of the year so far for me and it's probably gonna be one of my most loved albums as well. No small effort considering it's the first time I've ever heard any of their stuff.

Thank you all for hating on it so much, I now really like Mar Volta. (Yes, that's right, you lot slagging them off so much made me want to check them out and now they have another fan)

Oh, and how can youunderstand the vocals?  EDIT Ok, I've train my ear because I listen to Death Metal and I wouldn't be able to understand if I hadn't done that. Not that many people do or see a point to doing it, but they all seem clean and easy to hear to me.

[mahlon]

I hate when people try to justify their horrible taste in albums or a bands horrible music by saying "it's an aquired taste" It's annoying as hell. Just shut up about it. You saying it's an aquired taste doesn't make you look any better for listening to them, and it doesn't make the band respectable or better. The Mars Volta suck. Concept albums died (or should have) with "the wall." I am sick of seeing all these new bands attempting to make concept albums, like Green Day.

[Robbo]

Concepts albums should have died with The Wall.....I'm sorry but what? Please tell me why Prog (and other) bands shouldn't be making concept albums anymore.

So that means everyone that's ever said "it's grown on me" or something to that means has horrible taste, sure they do. No, it doesn't stop a band from sucking of they do, but it doesn't mean they do suck either.

Like I said, it's this view of "anything beyond simple chords is evil" that drove me to listen to at all. Hey, it's got a niche set of listeners, but I'm one of them.

[Praeserpium Machinarum]

well in my experience that phrase has some validity, for example I heard You are Free by Cat Power a long time ago and thought it was excruciatingly dull. Now I picked it up again and it's fantastic, a real gem of an album, odd innit?

[mahlon]

Concepts albums should have died with The Wall.....I'm sorry but what? Please tell me why Prog (and other) bands shouldn't be making concept albums anymore.

So that means everyone that's ever said "it's grown on me" or something to that means has horrible taste, sure they do. No, it doesn't stop a band from sucking of they do, but it doesn't mean they do suck either.

Like I said, it's this view of "anything beyond simple chords is evil" that drove me to listen to at all. Hey, it's got a niche set of listeners, but I'm one of them.

Because no one can make good concept albums anymore. Albums can grow on anymore, but when you say to some one that they have to listen to it more than once to really like it, it's annoying as hell. I know what I like and don't like, I give bands a good 2 or 3 times listen to chance, if I don't like it, don't tell me I need to listen to it more. It's annoying. I have aquired likings for bands that I used to hate (namely, Bright Eyes), but that's only because my music taste had changed, not because I needed to listen to it more. Maybe it's different for other people, I just find it extremely annoying when people try to tell me that it's an aquired taste, or that I need to listen to it more.

Also, Please do not assume that I am one of those hipsters you so easily say have this "anything beyond simple chords is evil" opinion.

[Robbo]

Still Life and Metropolis Part 2: Scenes From A Memory are some of my top albums of all time and they're concept albums. And I'd rate SFAM as one of the best albums of all time.

Hey, no one is saying you have to listen to the band, but clearly some people grew a taste for it (and Art-Rock I think it was said) or otherwise they wouldn't make comments like that. I've never said such things, but then I've been a Progressive and Extreme music fan pretty much from the start and I'll know if I like something, however complex or distorted, straight off.

But no one here told you it was aquired taste. People said they think it is one. If you'd had to sit and listen to people in real real life telling you that, fair enough.

 I'll see what your musical tastes and personality are like before I laid you a hipster, but it was  general comment about some people (mostly from real life) and as to why I listend to the album in the first place.

[hippiejonny]

i feel like the only reason anyone cares about the mars volta is because they're two latino guys playing rock.  granted, it's decent music, but it's nowhere near as progressive as they would have you believe.

[KharBevNor]

Because no one can make good concept albums anymore.

Apart from like, Star One, Ayreon (Try 'The Human Equation'. It is un-unlikeable), Opeth, Dream Theatre, Borknagar, Sigh, ...And Oceans, Bal-Sagoth, GraveDigger, Therion, Bathory (Blood on Ice is the finest musical story ever told. Ever.) not to mention all the old-school prog and space bands like Yes and Hawkwind...

Man, I do LOVE concept albums.