the Mars Volta: known for 10 min+ songs, insane musical interludes, and being born from at the drive-in, a much loved post-hardcore band. Opinions of tmv are varied, some view them as musical geniuses worshipping every release they've put out, others think they are pretentious crap. And there are those who just think they are highly talented musicians who consistently put out quality material with the odd misstep ( ahem scabdates). I would probably fall into the last one, I think Frances the mute is brilliant and its my fav album, but at the same time I would say some of there stuff is...not very good.
When they announced that this was an acoustic album, people were divided: People wanting another de-loused were obviously disappointed and probably just dismissed the album. People who saw the band as pretentious were hopeful that they'd finally become a 'normal' band. And everyone else was...interested.
Would they fail? could this change in direction bring something as great as de-loused or Frances? would it be any good?
The answers are no,no and yes
Despite what everyone said, this isn't an acoustic album,really. But if you listen too the first section of 'since we've been wrong' (after the synth intro: I don't count that as music) you'd been forgiven for thinking that. Its a mellow track for the most part, totally different too anything on bedlam. put after 5 mins drums come in and play for the last two mins. wtf? acoustic my left bumcheek!
Indeed, the next song, 'Teflon' starts with a cool drumbeat. And it is all the better for it. its a brilliant track. Cedric is as cryptic as ever (although from what I’ve gathered, the lyrics on this album are about kidnappings and such) and Juan is brilliant as always on his bass. This song is a pretty typical rock song though, its undeniably Volta, but its been toned down and doesn’t feature any musical interludes tmv are known for.
Of course, the whole acoustic thing gets thrown out the window with 'Cotopaxi'. This song is more like the songs on bedlam (i know a lot of people have said that). Its a great song but doesn’t fit with the rest of the album, its just kind of randomly placed there.
All in all, this is a great album. All the songs on the album have something going for them. Although, people expecting an acoustic album are going to be dissapointed. But so are people expecting a typical Volta album. I personally think change is good. If this was bedlam 2.0 it'd been crap!!
recommended songs:
Teflon
cotopaxi
Copernicus
Luciforms (for an awesome outro :D)
please be constructive with your criticism
thank you
hoped you all enjoyed this review please comment on what you think needs improving, otherwise I can't improve!!
