This album makes me wish I was in a rock band. I may ACTUALLY buy this one.
― Roger Fidelity (Roger Fidelity), Tuesday, 18 January 2005 05:30 (nineteen years ago) link
― a. begrand (a begrand), Tuesday, 18 January 2005 08:39 (nineteen years ago) link
― chaki in charge (chaki), Tuesday, 18 January 2005 09:23 (nineteen years ago) link
That's right. The rhythm section.
― a. begrand (a begrand), Tuesday, 18 January 2005 10:09 (nineteen years ago) link
― derrick (derrick), Tuesday, 18 January 2005 19:20 (nineteen years ago) link
Best description of The Mars Volta yet!
Also...who would knowlingly, consciously emulate Primus?
― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Tuesday, 18 January 2005 19:25 (nineteen years ago) link
The band that practices in the room next to us....Primus and Mr. Bungle
― M@tt He1geson (Matt Helgeson), Tuesday, 18 January 2005 19:31 (nineteen years ago) link
― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Tuesday, 18 January 2005 19:32 (nineteen years ago) link
This sounds great! But they're doing it over the course of a 30 min track?
― Jordan (Jordan), Tuesday, 18 January 2005 19:34 (nineteen years ago) link
― Jordan (Jordan), Tuesday, 18 January 2005 19:35 (nineteen years ago) link
A) Giant unfocused mess
(then 2 weeks later)
B) His favorite Mars Volta eva!
Personally, I can never find the door to walk into their music. It's like I'm looking at it, I know it's there, but I don't feel anything. No desire to hum along or tap my foot or anything. I see it though.
― David Allen (David Allen), Tuesday, 18 January 2005 19:47 (nineteen years ago) link
Third track = the shit
― Roger Fidelity (Roger Fidelity), Wednesday, 19 January 2005 04:15 (nineteen years ago) link
― chaki in charge (chaki), Wednesday, 19 January 2005 04:25 (nineteen years ago) link
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Wednesday, 19 January 2005 04:27 (nineteen years ago) link
this could be the coolest album cover in a while
― Aerodynamic (Aerodynamic), Saturday, 22 January 2005 02:33 (nineteen years ago) link
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Saturday, 22 January 2005 02:38 (nineteen years ago) link
― Aerodynamic (Aerodynamic), Saturday, 22 January 2005 02:41 (nineteen years ago) link
― briania (briania), Saturday, 22 January 2005 02:45 (nineteen years ago) link
― charleston charge (chaki), Saturday, 19 February 2005 03:52 (nineteen years ago) link
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Saturday, 19 February 2005 04:00 (nineteen years ago) link
― charleston charge (chaki), Saturday, 19 February 2005 21:38 (nineteen years ago) link
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Saturday, 19 February 2005 21:52 (nineteen years ago) link
John Frusciantes guitar solos are blistering, and Cygnus... Vismund Cygnus is like nothing i've ever heard before. Despite what most people have said about it i think The Widow is great, and obviously the only single.
The tracklisting makes no sense and its tough to work out when the different suites start and end, but after about 20 noodling minutes it finishes strongly with the Sarcophagi reprise.
Omar said with every bit of improvisation they lose another At the Drive-in fan, and that is why they improvise so much. I doubt they'll have many ATD-I fans after this, but i think its pretty mind blowing.
― dmun, Tuesday, 22 February 2005 17:12 (nineteen years ago) link
― Jordan (Jordan), Tuesday, 22 February 2005 17:17 (nineteen years ago) link
― Don't Ever Antagonize The Horn (AaronHz), Tuesday, 1 March 2005 15:06 (nineteen years ago) link
It does lose focus slightly with the last track, i'd say track 9 could have been cut and track 10 could have been halved, but the rest of the album is gold.
Cedric has matured a hell of a lot since At the Drive-in. He doesnt shout so much anymore and the production of the album is a huge improvement with Omar is charge, (though some of my friends think its a little over produced).
10 bucks, buy it man.
― dmun, Tuesday, 1 March 2005 16:17 (nineteen years ago) link
― JaXoN Hole (JasonD), Tuesday, 1 March 2005 17:59 (nineteen years ago) link
― A hurtling cone of blue Cherenkov light, Tuesday, 1 March 2005 23:32 (nineteen years ago) link
they kick about a third as much ass as a Dream Theater side project.
ouch!
― Don't Ever Antagonize The Horny (AaronHz), Tuesday, 1 March 2005 23:55 (nineteen years ago) link
― charleston charge (chaki), Wednesday, 2 March 2005 00:00 (nineteen years ago) link
Everyone's reporting that the album is five tracks long, including every review, so I picked it up today, only to find that my copy is 12 tracks. Now I know that it's a bunch of "suites", but everything has been said that the final track clocks in at 31 minutes, while it's all split up on mine.
-- Chris Roberts (silveras...), March 1st, 2005 1:54 PM. (link)
Answers_________________________ I heard that the reason they couldnt make it a 5 track album was because legally they'd still owe the record company another album, as a 5 track cd would be an EP. Still i dont know why they chose 12 tracks. If they had split it into all the suites it would have been 18 tracks, but as it stands the tracklisting looks like this.
1. Cygnus...Vismund Cygnus 2. The Widow 3. L'Via L'Viaquez 4. Miranda that ghost just isn't holy anymore 5-12 Cassandra Gemini
It is very difficult to see where the suites change over especially on Cassandra Gemini, and i think its just a rushed poorly thought out final tracklist.
-- dmun (a_s_fishe...), March 1st, 2005 3:00 PM. (link)
That's fucking retarded if it's true. "Close to the Edge" has three tracks on the CD, though you could split it into suites if you went by the liner notes. "Thick As A Brick" has 2 (technically would be one track if that was possible back in '72). Is Universal gonna tell us that those are EPs?
― Don't Ever Antagonize The Horny (AaronHz), Wednesday, 2 March 2005 00:10 (nineteen years ago) link
wtf? writers be stupid!
― charleston charge (chaki), Wednesday, 2 March 2005 00:12 (nineteen years ago) link
― A hurtling cone of blue Cherenkov light, Wednesday, 2 March 2005 00:13 (nineteen years ago) link
― Don't Ever Antagonize The Horny (AaronHz), Wednesday, 2 March 2005 00:13 (nineteen years ago) link
― from the scarp, Wednesday, 2 March 2005 00:20 (nineteen years ago) link
Anything they hate this much HAS to be good.
― Hari A$hur$t (Toaster), Wednesday, 2 March 2005 00:27 (nineteen years ago) link
― Don't Ever Antagonize The Horny (AaronHz), Wednesday, 2 March 2005 00:29 (nineteen years ago) link
― skin pocked like cantaloupe rind, Wednesday, 2 March 2005 00:32 (nineteen years ago) link
― JaXoN Hole (JasonD), Wednesday, 2 March 2005 02:48 (nineteen years ago) link
yes, L'Via L'Viaquez has a few latin/salsa/psych/prog moments.
― JaXoN Hole (JasonD), Wednesday, 2 March 2005 02:57 (nineteen years ago) link
― green uno skip card (ex machina), Wednesday, 2 March 2005 09:07 (nineteen years ago) link
I'm guessing thats deliberate, Cedrics lyrics on Deloused were pretty much nonsensical gibberish, whereas on Frances hes trying to tell a story and Omar overcompensates by sticking the vocals real high in the mix.
― dmun, Wednesday, 2 March 2005 09:12 (nineteen years ago) link
― green uno skip card (ex machina), Wednesday, 2 March 2005 09:19 (nineteen years ago) link
Also, the last song is called "Cassandra Geminni", not "...Gemini". Don't ask me about the conceptual significance of that particular spelling.
― JoB (JoB), Wednesday, 2 March 2005 12:42 (nineteen years ago) link
― blawa (blawa), Wednesday, 2 March 2005 12:50 (nineteen years ago) link
http://www.stylusmagazine.com/review.php?ID=2789
― A hurtling cone of blue Cherenkov light, Wednesday, 2 March 2005 17:50 (nineteen years ago) link
― Mickey (modestmickey), Wednesday, 2 March 2005 19:59 (nineteen years ago) link
― Space Is the Place (Space Is the Place), Wednesday, 2 March 2005 20:18 (nineteen years ago) link
― M@tt He1geson (Matt Helgeson), Wednesday, 2 March 2005 20:29 (nineteen years ago) link
― Jordan (Jordan), Wednesday, 2 March 2005 20:49 (nineteen years ago) link
Listened to this album from beginning to end last night and felt totally exhausted by the end of it in the best way possible. Surely there can't be just me that considers this their finest work?
― the hair - it's lost its energy (Turrican), Monday, 29 August 2016 21:52 (seven years ago) link
yeah I think this is their best album
― who is extremely unqualified to review this pop album (BradNelson), Monday, 29 August 2016 21:59 (seven years ago) link
rare me and turrican convergence
turrican, brad and me!
correct the album title tho pls already
― imago, Monday, 29 August 2016 22:30 (seven years ago) link
I think it's their best, too. Love everything about this record. Saw them open for System of a Down 11 years ago this month, they played four songs in an hour, it was so great. Setlist was Cygnus / L'Via / The Widow / Drunkship. Really bummed that Cedric and Omar, of all people, got on the reunion train full-time with ATDI this year. Booooooring!
― flappy bird, Monday, 29 August 2016 22:56 (seven years ago) link
The way that 'Cassandra Gemini' is split up on the CD is absolutely batshit, isn't it? I understand that they divided it up that way simply for publishing/payment reasons, but if they were going to do that, surely it would have made more sense to divide it up into 5 rather than 8!
― the hair - it's lost its energy (Turrican), Monday, 29 August 2016 23:03 (seven years ago) link
Yeah, that always drove me nuts. I actually bought the thing again on iTunes because their version had Cassandra as one 32-minute track.
― flappy bird, Monday, 29 August 2016 23:25 (seven years ago) link
My god, the drumming on this record and on De-loused in the Comatorium is just amazing. So relentless and punishing, but at the same time so incredibly intricate. Jon Theodore was as irreplaceable in this band as Omar and Cedric were, IMO. Ikey Owens, too.
― the hair - it's lost its energy (Turrican), Wednesday, 7 September 2016 19:48 (seven years ago) link
Agreed, love Jon Theodore to death. Was so excited to hear that QotSA picked him up, but he's only on one track of the latest record, and it's a slow one. He sounds fine live, but I wish Homme would could give this guy something to do already. Why pick him up at all if you weren't fixing to make a heavy psych-freak-out rock n roll record?
― erudite beach boys fan (sheesh), Wednesday, 7 September 2016 19:58 (seven years ago) link
When The Mars Volta split up and Omar was doing his Bosnian Rainbows thing, I think Cedric said he had hoped to get to the point where Jon Theodore and Ikey Owens returned to The Mars Volta, which would have been great. Sadly, Ikey Owens is no longer with us and I can't really forsee Theodore working with Omar and Cedric again - apparently The Mars Volta's music wasn't really Theodore's thing, as much as he did a sterling job and gave his all.
I really do hope Homme makes good use of Theodore, though... I'm hoping for drum fills galore!
― the hair - it's lost its energy (Turrican), Wednesday, 7 September 2016 20:05 (seven years ago) link
I remember the story around the time that Theodore was fired (jeez, 10 years ago...) was that he was smoking too much pot and didn't have his heart in it anymore. Not necessarily that the music wasn't his thing, he was just sick of Omar's dictatorial recording style & not being able to play with the band while tracking.
Also, dunno if it was posted here but either Cedric or Omar said earlier this year that they want to get back together w Jon and Eva Gardner (!!)
― flappy bird, Wednesday, 7 September 2016 20:19 (seven years ago) link
― erudite beach boys fan (sheesh), Wednesday, September 7, 2016 3:58 PM (twenty-eight minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
Something to look forward to in 2017, probably.
― how's life, Wednesday, 7 September 2016 20:28 (seven years ago) link
xpost:
It was Ikey Owens that hated the way that Omar wanted to track the songs up, particularly on Frances The Mute. Theodore and Alderete enjoyed working that way, but it's possible it wore Theodore down over time. I've heard numerous things - Theodore didn't like the music, he didn't like playing live etc. etc.
― the hair - it's lost its energy (Turrican), Wednesday, 7 September 2016 20:40 (seven years ago) link
Listening to this again, and it's still a masterpiece.
― Coolio Iglesias (Turrican), Friday, 17 March 2017 23:04 (seven years ago) link
yes
can someone correct the thread-title already
― an uptempo Pop/Hip Hop mentality (imago), Friday, 17 March 2017 23:40 (seven years ago) link