f13.net forums - The Mars Volta- Frances the Mute

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July 20, 2025, 03:05:04 PM

we're back, baby

If you know much about The Mars Volta, chances are that you've already formed an opinion about this album. If not, you might as well read on. Hell, you're already looking to kill time at forums, it might as well be in this post.

After going back and forth for a while, I've decided that I do like this album. It's not without its flaws. You can't listen to it like you listen to most music. I'd really say that it's got 4 songs on it... just that one of those songs happens to be across several tracks and is probably about 45 minutes long.

If you're a music art-fag, then you'll love this album. It's not safe. It doesn't conform. IT BREAKS RULE AND DOES SO WITHOUT EVEN TURNING BACK TO LAUGH AT THE POOR BROKEN RULE LAYING BEATEN ON THE GROUND. If you like being different for the sake of being different, this album does that.

Let's get to specifics.

The most annoying thing on this album are the long, long periods where there is no music, just noises. I'm not even talking about noises made with instruments and a bass line going in the background. Track 4, for example, is about 7 minutes long if I recall. 4 minutes and 20 seconds of that comes before the actual song starts, and it's just noises of what sounds like birds chirping. That's cute for 10 seconds. If I just didn't like the song it wouldn't be so annoying, but the song that follows is actually pretty good so I find myself fast-forwarding through the noises.

With that said, there are some tracks that are entirely instrumentals with a sort of dissonant style to them. Those I like. It makes good thinking music. A soundtrack to whatever it happens to lead your mind to. (Note that I say tracks and not songs: again, tracks 4-12 are pretty much all one song and you'd be hard-pressed to notice when the track changes unless you're specifically looking for it... the transition is pretty seamless, it's rare that the music even pauses).

The best song on the album is L'via L'viaquez. It's about 11 or 12 minutes long, and it's what I can only describe as latin progressive. I've listened to this song several times a day since I bought the album. It's ruthlessly catchy, and most of the lyrics are in Spanish which appeals to my inner "Look, I'm not THAT white" personality.

The song you've heard on the radio is called The Widow. I think it's a pretty good song, but it is followed by 2 or 3 minutes of, again, noises. Not music, noises. Thankfully, you can just skip the track ahead to the next song, but it's still irritating. The song itself doesn't really represent the album very well. The Widow comes off as a Portishead-inspired moper of a song, while the rest of the album is pretty fucking far from Portishead.

There's one last thing about this album that seems odd: I bought it for $6.99 on the day of release at Circuit City. My brother told me they'd be selling it for so little, so I specifically went there. I went back the next day to get a copy for my girlfriend, but it was sold out. I went across the way to Best Buy, and it was also $6.99 there. So it's not just a deal Circuit City was running, it's something that someone on the Mars Volta side of things is doing. You really can't beat $6.99 for an album like this, it's easily worth that. If you can find it for that little, pick it up without a second thought. If it's back up to a more typical price, you might want to this about it. This isn't music for everybody. A lot of it is very weird, and you have to just let it run and not try to find the pattern. This isn't an album with many singles. I'm not trying to come off as hardcore/hipster/underground/whateverthefucktheycallthemselvesnow, because I'm pretty fucking far from that. I like singles. Despite that, I like this album a lot.

Check it out if you want something a little different.

I was gonna say "sounds too art-faggy" but if you can find me a demo somewhere I'll listen to it. :P

Quote from: Calantus on March 07, 2005, 11:49:37 PM

I was gonna say "sounds too art-faggy" but if you can find me a demo somewhere I'll listen to it. :P

They're not art faggy at all. If it was, they wouldn't be on a major label (Heh. Don't even get me started). While I've only heard the last album and some of the new, I'd say Mars Volta would only sound "experimental" to someone who's only been exposed to the most formulaic shit all their life. They're still Screamo basically (comprised of some of the members of At the Drive-In), just trying to branch out a bit. They can't help from being catchy every once in a while.

That being said, not really my thing. It's not bad, I'm sure a lot of people would like it. I'm just more of an "in your face" kind of guy myself.

I still haven't got around to buying it. But I give it a try when I'm in holiday next week. Reviews are a bit mixed though but I am a huge fan of their last album "de-loused in the comaterium" so I'll buy it anyway.

Jeff, who has a huge backorder of records he intnds to buy in the next two weeks.

Well. I'll be able to talk about the album in a few days, I just ordered it. It was $7.99, $3 rebate, so I paid a total of $4.99 for the CD. I wanted to check it out, that sealed the deal.

I'm not sure if I'll dig it. I really liked At the Drive In, got to catch them while I was in Seattle a few years ago, with a librarian who played bass in a punk band (great week, thanks Mr. Gates!). Their live show was stunningly good. I wouldn't quite put them at the level of my favorite live bands, Pantera and Blues Traveler, but they were up in that league (the "man I gotta get a ticket and a day off" league).

But then, on the cusp of "making it" (I hate that phrase), they ditch the band and form a new band for the major label debut. A pretty despicable move in most cases, but since I don't know the particulars I guess I can't judge. But I hate when people do that, even Will Smith keeps Jazzy Jeff around.

So yeah, I'll get back to this thread, hopefully by the weekend (super saver shipping, gratis). But I also bought the last ATDI disc, a John Lee Hooker album, and Miles' Bitches Brew. I'll put it on before Bitches Brew, I don't think I'll be listening to much for a few weeks after I put that one on...

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This isn't music for everybody. A lot of it is very weird, and you have to just let it run and not try to find the pattern.

I guess I can admit that one of my heroes when I was growing up was Gibby Hanes from the Butthole Surfers :)

I caught one of their show in the mid 80s (I'm thinking 85-86...psychic powerless but before rembrandt pussyhorse), he was amazing. They were all tripping, we were all tripping, small metal club (my favorite club in the world, I've seen everyone from Slayer in the day to Deftones there). Gibby just sat on a stool at the front of the stage in front of his effects rack and noodled away, making some simply amazing stuff happen. One of the cats in Radiohead was doing the same thing (johnny iirc) when I saw 'em on SNL, it's what got me into them (well, and the great music) as well.

Weird can be great, but sometimes you have to be in the mood for it. Indeed, that's why I can't be limited to one genre of music, I like different music to suit my different moods, some days I hate metal, some days I hate anything non-crunchy.

Quote from: Sky on March 08, 2005, 06:29:22 AM

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This isn't music for everybody. A lot of it is very weird, and you have to just let it run and not try to find the pattern.

I guess I can admit that one of my heroes when I was growing up was Gibby Hanes from the Butthole Surfers :)

Hometown Heroes! (for lack of a better word). Heh. Gibby Haynes and Paul Leary (Surfers' guitarist) used to live not far from where I grew up.

I was too young to see them during their better albums, but when I was finally old enough to start seeing bands, the Surfers were one of the first shows I went to. It's still one of the best shows I've ever seen. Just too bad it ended abruptly. During one of the songs, with his steel guitar set in flames (among other things), Gibby pulls out a shotgun and starts blasting it off in the air a dozen times. Cops were called, the band bails the stage, and from what I heard, the Surfers took off in their car and egged on the police for 3 hours in a highspeed chase.

Heh, and this was just when they started hitting the mainstream, in the early 90's. I can't imagine what the hell they might have been like 5 years before that.

edit: clarity

I get annoyed when bands start with the noise trip. It can work, but only in short doses. When you waste 5 minutes of my time listening to crickets chirp, it better be for a good goddamn reason. Trent Reznor I think uses it well enough. Others... not so much. Tool's use of crickets on Undertow was ok because you get that great little story at the end of it.

I come to albums to listen to fucking music. If you want to break it up with noise, fine. If you want to spice it up with noise on top of music, fine. But don't test my patience. If I get a 60 minute album and anymore than 20 minutes of it is noise not even related to musical instruments with no discernible melody, harmony, or beat, fuck you and your album.

Quote from: HaemishM on March 08, 2005, 07:40:45 AM

Agreed. That's my one major gripe with this album. And regarding Tool, I don't really mind it because it's an "extra" song at the end of the album. They didn't do it in front of the album's main songs.

I'm not sure how to respond to calling Mars Volta "Screamo", except to say that you're pretty far off base there... unless you're talking about The Widow which, as I noted, isn't a great representation of the album. Not that the song is bad, mind you- I like it quite a bit- but the rest of the album doesn't sound similar to it at all.

Quote from: Calantus on March 07, 2005, 11:49:37 PM

I was gonna say "sounds too art-faggy" but if you can find me a demo somewhere I'll listen to it. :P

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/clipserve/B0007GAEW6001003/0/103-0267026-8650272
That's the best song on the album

Here's the rest.

Quote from: Llava on March 09, 2005, 09:33:13 AM

I'm not sure how to respond to calling Mars Volta "Screamo", except to say that you're pretty far off base there.

I said they're Emo musicians trying to branch out a bit. Big difference.

"Post Emo Salsa Prog Jazz" -- Is that good enough then? wink

That ain't no emo I've ever heard. I wouldn't bother categorizing the album.

Got in my music order this morning. Still haven't ripped two of them. Been listening to the Mars Volta most of the day, my first impression is shocked

Hell, yeah. This is some good shit, mon. Energy, musicality, spirit, melody, it's a great album. Meanders a bit, which may grow on me or I may grow to dislike. But one thing is for sure: I'll be spinning this album quite a bit, some real interesting stuff in there.

First impression 9/10, only dinging them for the amount of ambience on the album.

Quote from: Sky on March 09, 2005, 11:39:05 AM

That ain't no emo I've ever heard. I wouldn't bother categorizing the album.

Jesus. Last time: I didn't mean it that way.

Someone expressed disinterest thinking that they were merely an "experimental" band. I said that they're really not that at all. It's still music. Not noise. They still sound like the guys that they were before Mars Volta. They still have the same sensibilities, guitar riffs, same anthemic choruses, and similar song structure from the stuff they've done in their previous bands. Just because the soundscape has changed doesn't necessarily mean the style has changed.

Take a song like "Televators" for instance. It's not all that different from what they were doing before. Just because it's "ambient" now and that they've broadened their pallette with funny horns doesn't put it in "artsy fartsy" land. "Experimental" is Keiji Haino, Glenn Branca, Miles Davis, the Swans...Not this.

I was trying to say "buy it, you'll probably like it", but somehow that message got lost.

Hey, easy now. I never thought of ATDI as emo, but I see what you're getting at. I can see why they got new band members, the musicianship is insane on the Mars Volta disc. I intend to get the rest of their MV stuff eventually. Doesn't hurt having one of my favorite modern guitarists, John Fruisciante (yeah, sp), on a track.

Those funny horns? Flea.

Sorry, dude...Been edgy all day. And yesterday, I think.

Listening to Bitches' Brew...it's a bit too chaotic and disorganized for my liking. I like a lot more melody in my jamming. Still a good album, just not my thing.

Now, Frances the Mute...on more listening at home on my slightly less crappy system, I was able to get a better view of the full freq range going on, as well as sit and listen through instead of being called away every few minutes at work....and my estimation has raised even higher, though I'm loath to give anything a 10/10, this comes pretty close to being a fairly perfect album. While the 'ambient' stuff (using the term loosely) isn't the Orb or Aphex Twin, it's well done and fits the music in every case. The pacing of the album is excellent, gives me a Dark Side of the Moon vibe, which is extremely high praise from this old Floydhead. Not quite the Wall...but they easily have the potential to make such an album, imo.

Dropping the guys from ATDI is something I normall would frown on, but hot damn...those new cats just rip into those tunes. I had to plug in and jam along with, something I normally only do with classic rock or blues. That last suite of tunes is very jammable.

Me likee.