I'm sick, so I'll critique Frances the Mute.

Baba O'Reily · Post by **Baba O'Reily** » Wed Mar 02, 2005 6:15 am

The flu is ghey.
Anyways, for those of you who live under a rock, or simply don't get out much when it comes to music, The Mars Volta released their second CD, Frances the Mute, in the US yesterday. I, musical whore that I am, went to Best Buy, scrounged up $7 and bought it. Overall, the album is very long (5 tracks, 75-odd minutes, but mercifully, the last two are divided into portions), and it reminds me of old concept albums, mostly Animals, from the extreme switches between style with little to no warning.
Now, the actual songs:

Cygnus....Vismund Cygnus- This is my favorite song. Classic prog rock with a Nine Inch Nails feel? You betcha. And then a lovely melt into psychadelic-free jazz, followed with absurd psychobabble. Plus, nonsensical lyrics! Yay!

The Widow- This is the only single off of the album, because it was the only one that could be condensed into a 3 and a half minute format. Frankly, I'm not a big fan of this one. Very weird.

L'Via L'Viaquez- The track that reminds you that everyone in this band is Puerto Rican. Bilingual lyrics, like most of these songs. Plus, soloing from John Fruiscante (RHCP)! Yay! Also, very interesting piano. And uptempo changes, again. Yay!

Miranda, That Ghost Just Isn't Holy Anymore- The other track that reminds you that everyone in this band is Puerto Rican. Mariachi-style gloom, and trumpet playing from another RHCP member, Flea. Fun is had by all, except the other half of RHCP, who are angry that they were left out.

Cassandra Gemini- This sucker's all over the place. Everywhere from punk to free jazz to accoustic ramblings. Overall, a fairly nice ending.

SuperKnux · Post by **SuperKnux** » Wed Mar 02, 2005 10:27 am

I find The Mars Volta to be very overrated. However, this little review you've concocted has me some what interested in them. I only found one, or two songs that I liked from their first album, and the rest to be very repetitive, and rather lame. I ainÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t a fan of At The Drive-In, either. I hear these guys being phrased left and right all over the internet, but I donÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t know what makes these guys so terrific. It must be all those damn annoying indie kids.

Still though, the Frances of Mute album sounds appealing to me, after reading what you had to say about it.

Baba O'Reily · Post by **Baba O'Reily** » Wed Mar 02, 2005 1:52 pm

Everyone says De-loused in the Comatorium is better, but I prefer this one.

bcdcdude · Post by **bcdcdude** » Wed Mar 02, 2005 3:27 pm

I think the album is awesome. One of the best i've heard so far this year.

Found it a bit annoying that the last track was split into different tracks instead of a 32 minute song, especially as it's supposed to be a 5-part song but is in fact 8 parts. But then i guess it's neat to skip to part 2 with the hella-good guitars and stuff.

But yeah - Cygnus and L'via are brilliant songs. Even old John F sounds good on there and i think he's a very overated guitarist (Give me John Petrucci, Axel Rudi Pell or good old Senoue instead)

Baba O'Reily · Post by **Baba O'Reily** » Wed Mar 02, 2005 7:10 pm

Argh! You began a sentence with overrated and Petrucci wasn't the direct object.
Petrucci and Dream Theater are overrated to hell. Seriously. Personally, I prefer Omar Rodriguez-Lopez's unique stylings for my modern prog solos.

Blue Gibbon! · Post by **Blue Gibbon!** » Thu Mar 03, 2005 1:04 am

Not that it matters, but Pitchfork wasn't particularly kind to it... I haven't heard much of it yet, but I'm a lot more partial to ATDI.

Baba O'Reily · Post by **Baba O'Reily** » Thu Mar 03, 2005 6:42 am

I have to disagree with that interview. Everyone tries to stick music in a genre so that they can compare it to other things in that same genre. But they aren't Dream Theater, they aren't The Dandy Warhols, they aren't Pink Floyd, they aren't The Stooges, so stop trying to treat them as such.

bcdcdude · Post by **bcdcdude** » Thu Mar 03, 2005 2:50 pm

But i didn't say that Omar was overrated - i said that John from the RHCP was. What i said was that all the guitars on the album were brilliant, and that John's guest soloing was also good - better than his RHCP stuff which i find to be overated.

To be fair, i am a bit bored of Dream Theater at the mo - but there's no denying that he's a pretty damn good guitarist. And after the rather dull previous album, the news of a new album released in a few months is a rather exciting prospect.

Baba O'Reily · Post by **Baba O'Reily** » Fri Mar 04, 2005 6:11 am

I didn't say that. I meant that I felt Omar's solos were more interesting than Petrucci's, because technically they're in the same 'genre'.
Anyways, that's that.

j-man · Post by **j-man** » Sun Mar 06, 2005 1:20 pm

I just bought some Mad Caddies albums. They are 200% better than anything previously mentioned.

Baba O'Reily · Post by **Baba O'Reily** » Sun Mar 06, 2005 5:16 pm

...I concede my point and stick my head between my legs.