[QUOTE=FillInTheBlankHere___]Awesome CD, and great review. :thumb:

To those who saw Mars Volta open for Red Hot Chili Peppers and Queens of the Stone Age and weren't impressed by them, give it another try. Their music doesn't translate very well on that tour. I saw it myself, and thought nothing of them, but later bought the CD after hearing good things about it, and the price was right (about 11 bucks CDN).[/QUOTE]

I thought that after seeing them live before Chilis- I gave them another chance and boy is it the best album ive heard in a long time. :thumb: great review threadstarter.

[QUOTE=tommyd_rhcp]omar plans to release a solo record which john frusciante and flea are both appearing on. I forgot the name - but its due out autumn i think. Im looking forward to it so much![/QUOTE]

it's something like "a manual dexterity soundtrack vol 1"

which is a good title, because it sounds like there'll be more than one solo album from him.

[QUOTE=manuscriptreplica]

There is nothing really to say about Son et Lumiere, except that ?son? in Spanish means ?are? in English, and that it is a great lead in song to Inertiatic Esp.

[/QUOTE]

This might have been mentioned already, I didn't have time to read the whole thread, but 'Son et Lumiere' means 'Sound and Light', I'm not sure what language it is, either French or Latin. This does explain the cover art a little though .

Excellent review though, and a great album.

Album Rating: 4.0

Omar Rodriguez writes pretty much everything but you can label Cedric as the genius. To me he is just the man with the inhuman voice.

Album Rating: 4.0

I think Omar and Cedric are just one of the best combinations of vocalist and guitarist you can find. From ATDI to The Mars Volta you can really see no matter what type of genre they play they excel greatly at it.

Album Rating: 2.0

I'm bored with it now. Too many cliches, not enough variation on timbre and basic style.

^^ Yeah same (im bored with it too). I only like 3 or 4 tracks on it now. Oh well... that's what happens if you listen to it too much!

Album Rating: 4.0

[QUOTE=pixiesfanyo]I think Omar and Cedric are just one of the best combinations of vocalist and guitarist you can find. From ATDI to The Mars Volta you can really see no matter what type of genre they play they excel greatly at it.[/QUOTE]



No. You're stupid. It's not like they are consciously shifting genres or they've made this drastic change into a territory they've never gone before. They've had De Facto and when in ATDI they wrote **** original stuff and in their spare time dabbled in a variety of music but were generally stifled but the more straightforward and less flamboyant musical directions of the rhythm section.

[QUOTE=BirdsOfFires]Ya know, I'm a huge prog fan and all, but I really don't like this band.
I basicially see them as crappy punk rockers who smoked too much pot so they tried to make a prog album. It has some nice moments, but as a whole it's really not that impressive to me. Especially musicially.

*comfortably awaits flames*
[/QUOTE]

Agreed, I'm listening to it now and it's really not that groundbreaking. It could be done easily with enough money for the studio time and effects. The concept however I love. The excecution isn't bad either, it's just not my cup of tea... Cedric's voice is annoying to me, I don't like it when I have to strain to hear/understand the lyrics. The guitar work is nice, but hey a bunch of echoes, a few reverbs, delays, phasers, flangers, and a nice amp and you could do it too. It's not that difficult. Fleas bass work isn't anything special.

And most importantly I'm not really enjoying the listen, it's not like when I put in The Wall or Meddle. It's cool if that's you're thing, but I just can't see listening to it often.

^^ No way. Omar is one of the most innovative guitarists around. With all that equipment you have listed, hardly anyone can create the mastery that he can create. But the Wall does own this album, as does many Pink Floyd albums. But remember, it is 1. their 1st album and 2. a concept album. They can only use limited ideas with their lyrics, as there is only really one subject they can discuss.

I had to re-buy this one after losing it in the train a few weeks ago. It's worth it...but I still don't think they are as original as many of the people in this thread claim.

I think "Cicatriz Esp/Cut That City" is their best track...lots of "rock"-purists hate the ambient part...but in my opinion the ambience in the middle is what makes that track a gem.

I saw TMV the other night, they opened for A Perfect Circle. They played 2 songs in an hour. I was torn. They were very high energy, stage presence was like that of the doors, especially the singer, jim morrison on a whole lotta crack, lol. They had some good old classic rock sounds workin for them, but no structure. It was as if everyone was playing a solo all at once. for a really long time. Overall I was not thrilled with their performance, but I saw the potential, so based on these reviews, I'm buying this album tonight.

[QUOTE=firedancer]I saw TMV the other night, they opened for A Perfect Circle. They played 2 songs in an hour. I was torn. They were very high energy, stage presence was like that of the doors, especially the singer, jim morrison on a whole lotta crack, lol. They had some good old classic rock sounds workin for them, but no structure. It was as if everyone was playing a solo all at once. for a really long time. Overall I was not thrilled with their performance, but I saw the potential, so based on these reviews, I'm buying this album tonight.[/QUOTE]
I've downloaded a few boots off of STG of the Mars Volta and it's really like one big jam session. In a lot of the shows Cicatriz take up a good 20 minutes or more; one particular concert I have is two songs in 40 minutes, with Cicatriz taking up 30 minutes of that. Mixed feelings on that, but it is great to know that they can actually play live and that the album isn't just an overproduced studio work, although some may argue that it still is.

[QUOTE=manuscriptreplica]^^ No way. Omar is one of the most innovative guitarists around. With all that equipment you have listed, hardly anyone can create the mastery that he can create. But the Wall does own this album, as does many Pink Floyd albums. But remember, it is 1. their 1st album and 2. a concept album. They can only use limited ideas with their lyrics, as there is only really one subject they can discuss.[/QUOTE]

With a studio full of the stuff I listed it could be done. The guy IS good, but in all honesty prog. isn't that difficult to play. I'll half-way agree with you on that. I still think it's interesting, but just no fun to listen to.

Prog isn't hard to play!??! !L@KHOIP#@HT!!! What you say, boy?!

I'd say it's one of the hardest. Look at most genres today. Take thrash for example, my favourite. All it is is playing the E about 50 times then filtering in a riff. OK, it is done at about 240 BPM, but it's not that hard to play. Punk. OK, again it can be relatively fast, but few solos and all they do is play chords, and riffs (probably more, but the only punk I've heard is the Ramones - sorry punkers) but PROG! All the different time signatures, the jam sessions, the tempo changes, the solos, it's one of the hardest genres to play. I can't even play one dream theater song on bass (I've attempted only two, but that's beside the point) I can play most of Floyd's stuff, but it is harder for guitar. And while Flea's bass work is not rocket science to figure out, it does fit the music superbly, especially on the track Eriatarka.

Oh well, their new album is due out this year. It's not a concept album, so it will be interesting to see what they can do. And Omar's got a solo album going. Should be good!

in taking a real risk (all of 10.00) and havibng never heard anything by THe Mars Volta before, I bought this cd, based on this review, and other comments about this band made in these forunms, and all I can say is I agree 100% with your review and rating.

While it was sad to see At the Drive-in break up, it may have been the best thing that ever happened to late 90s, early 00s music, because it gave way for The Mars Volta. I am obsessed with this band. I saw them play at the Big Day Out festival on the Gold Coast, Australia. Wow. At the Drive-in played the same festival a few years earlier (missed them unfortunately, they walked off after about 10 minutes playing in Sydney because everyone was crowd-surfing and they kept telling them to stop cause they were hurting people but no one listened. Their loss), then Sparta played the year before Mars Volta, and Mars Volta blew them away. An hour set, which comprised of only 3 songs, roulette dares, drunkship of lanterns and cicatriz esp, and a hell of a lot of improvisation. cedric's live energy is unmatched by anyone ive seen play before, ranging from fear factory, to metallica, to RHCP, audioslave, james brown, michael franti and spearhead. he has more energy than any of these bands. Incredible. I cant express how much i love this band. Geez, am i rambling or what.

PS. i love the mars volta

incredible..... one of the most musical cds out.. everything about it is good.. it was goin to be hard changing from at the drive in but they pulled it off with an excellent cd

This album sounds like a hampster screaming while being grounded up in an amplified blender. The band's not popular, except in little indie circles, is because they're not accessible by any means, their lyrics are nonsensical and cryptic like an unwanted game of Jenga, and the music is so random, there's so sense of rhythm to any of their songs. I admire them for trying to do something different, but this falls on its face. All I'll say is that when they opened for the Red Hot Chili Peppers, about ten minutes into the set, there was approximately 10 people paying attention to them. I invite you to roast me and ask me questions about what I like, I just don't think this is good by any means.

Album Rating: 4.0

^ At all the concerts I've seen I have always seen people drawn in by TMV and the few outcasts bashing because they can't deal with 10 minute jams