I have to admit, Octahedron has not aged well at all. It is nowhere near being on the same level as Deloused or Bedlam at this point for me.

I was at that show and while I thought it was incredible, everyone there who had seen them before said it was a bad for show them. Plus they only played for like an hour and 15 minutes. A waste of cash for most, but the Mars Volta are one of my favorites and Ive been wanting to see them terribly for like five years so I was happy with what I got.

Ahh another Clevelander... where ya from, specifically?

Mars Volta are arguably my favourite prog band of the 2000's.

the mars volta really do make great songs and mind bending music. nothing is yet to match the last At The Drive In release. that was one for the ages.

I gotta be honest, I was not really taken too much by At The Drive In. It just didn't sound as tight to me.

And I don't think the Volta have really put anything out yet that has as much collective fire since Frances the Mute. Amputechre, The Bedlam in Goliath and Octahedron are in no way bad albums. They're all well thought out, tight and have their share of good songs, but there was a certain manic feel to Deloused in the Comatorium and Frances the Mute that I don't think they've captured throughout on their more recent releases.

Wikipedia says Pridgen has left the band...anyone confirm this? If so, that sucks ass, because he was the #1 reason Bedlam was such a great album.

there's a mention about that in the Chili Peppers thread, seems he's been replaced by John Frusciante.

^ I probably could have worded that better in the CHili peppers thread, my bad.

After the release of The Mars Volta's newest album Thomas Pridgen (drums) left and was replaced by Dave Elitch.

John Frusciante (former guitarist of the chili peppers) has played a minor role in the studio for The Mars Volta since 2002 and now I'm guessing he will take on a bigger role since he recently left the Chili Peppers.

Josh Klinghoffer will be taking John Frusciante's spot as lead guitarist for the Chili Peppers.

John and Josh used to play in a band together called Ataxia with fugazi's bassist in 2004 releasing one album.

Hope that clears things up.

That's interesting, I hadn't heard that. I'm glad John will be more involved in the Mars Volta as opposed to just the studio but I wonder how Josh will fair in RHCP. Ataxia were great, John and Josh also released an album together.

no no, this is most definitely MY bad haha i just assumed it was a replacement situation and never checked up on the TMV side of things.

Have you guys checked out Vato Negro?

http://a1.phobos.apple.com/us/r30/Mu...170x170-75.jpg

It's Juan's side project and it's pretty damn good.

I don't have anything with The Mars Volta, but I wish to change that. Is their debut album a good place to start?

definitely...de-loused in the comatorium. get it...i got this the day it came out only because i liked the cover. i'd never heard of them at all and once i put that cd in my player...wow. it didn't leave my cd player for a couple months after. a true masterpiece imo

That's actually quite funny because that's what happened with me word for word. It really was the catalyst to my musical perception. Made me think outside the box.

I agree with the both of you. I started out at De-loused in the Comatorium and it was pure brilliance. Their latest work, I feel, isn't up to par with the older albums. They are good, and I like them OK, but it just doesn't sound as raw. Omar's first solo album definitely caught me off guard, too. It, too, was fucking brilliant, but again, the albums he put out after that ... Just wasn't feelin' it.

I liked The Bedlam In Goliath the most, which is an unpopular pick, but yeah, De-Loused is where I started and I can't think of anywhere better to start.

Bedlam is my favourite as well.

Gotta say De-loused was the **** along with Frances the mute. There first ep was pretty awesome too. anyone check out Omar's solo stuff?

Defacto is where its at.

I actually think the later albums were more raw than Deloused. Maybe it's just me, but it just felt like Omar got everyone together, they jammed like crazy, and released the album. I have enjoyed all of them to a certain extent, but they have never topped the debut. I also give them a lot of credit for how far they take the progressive thing. The way Omar made one of the albums (can't remember which...maybe it was more than one I'd have to look it up) is he gave the band members a time signature and key and without hearing anything the other guys came up with, he told them to just go nuts. A really interesting way to make music.

Lmao

I love The Mars Volta, loved every album so far. Seen them 8 times now and got to meet them too.:hphones:

Am I the only one who liked his voice WAY more in ATDI an De-Loused than in the newer stuff? It definitely changed, and definitely for the worse.

I`m with you and also think that his voice was best on De-Loused.

I love The Mars Volta and the Strokes:) Both great bands in my opinion..

****in' A. Still a blast to see them when they come in-town, I could watch Ikey jam on the keyboards all day. Love their energy so damn much.

I heard the Mars Volta for the first time a few months ago and they're a much different band than I imagined them to be.
All in all, I really liked what I heard.

They certainly are a unique and interesting mix. They`re one of those bands that anybody seriously into music just has to hear. Whether they like them or not is another matter though.

I don't know why anyone on the planet wouldn't like Deloused. Unless they have like ADD or something...but still they go all over the place despite having long songs so I would still be a bit confused.

Favorite Mars Volta Tracks
 

I absolutly love The Mars Volta, latino progressive rock at its finest!

Tell me your fave tracks and why!

Il start off, my fave track is off The Bedlem in Goliath and its 10 Ouroborous

That song sings too my drumming so much, the vocals work perfect with the rhythem and melodies

This band gets a lot of ****, but I still find Frances the Mute to be really quite good.

As much as I listen to them, I just can't get into them!!!
Maybe I'm just listening to the wrong tracks.
Anyone know any good songs?
What about instrumentals?

If you can't start Deloused in the Comatorium and then instantly be sucked into that album, you just won't like the Mars Volta. That album is their masterpiece, so I recommend pretty much every song off of it.

Will check it out, I'll let you know what I think.

*cough*FrancesthemuteisbetterthanDe-loused*cough*

Though to be fair, they're two completely different albums. Frances being a carefully-woven story and De-loused being a song-after-song banger of sorts.

It depends on whether one is looking for something which stands out as a complete album or an album which has awesome songs, I guess! I would be fairly sure that my favourite songs (were I ever able to choose) wouldn't be on my favourite albums.

Deloused is excellent. I really, really love that album, from start to finish(except I can't really get myself to listen to the 70 mins of static noise at the end of Take the Veil or however long that went). Seriously, it's an amazing album.

I'm stressing that point because I'm just gonna say that I though Octahedron was even better(again, except for the 90 mins of silence at the start of Since we've been wrong... Seriously, stop doing that :\ ).

Don't know, but that album, while different from their other stuff, just flows really well for me, and I really like the vocals.

Couldn't agree more!

I like De-loused best, the way the album starts is amazing, Son et Lumiere and Inertiatic ESP blow my mind.




I haven't heard the last one yet, I'd read it's not as good as the other ones, but now that you say that I'll get it!



Btw Omar has recorded a song with Calle 13 not long ago and it sounds great!

nice TMV thread here

Im a huge fan

Frances the Mute must be my fav album.. but Deloused represent more the total idea of TMV I think..
About octahedron.. first I didn't like it.. but then it grow on me and actually it's quite a cool album...
Anyone knows when they start on their new album?
I searched on wikipedia and such but no new info yet...