On Frances, however, Cedric has gone nearly balls to the walls, delivering countless memorable performances, such as the cry of “ I count the days to find what was left behind.”, or the soft crooning of “ And I’ll never.never sleep alone”, perhaps even the sudden crash of “ Bring me to my knees!”. Previously, he was an emotionally driven vocalist he made you feel what he was trying to impart, but in all honesty, it was never that smooth of an intake. Opting out of trying to be some kind of keyboard virtuoso, Ikey has adopted the philosophy of “build, don’t break.” Every song has some sort of sweeping piano, organ, or synth that only builds the mood of any said song.Īnd the moods of any said song are often created and finished by Cedric, singer for TMV. Ikey Owens also contributes his part to the album, but its often (and unfortunately) overshadowed by the extreme technicality of the rest of the members. Contributing solid basslines throughout the entirety of the album, its undoubtedly L’via L’Viaquez where he makes his strongest mark, giving a rather simplistic, yet altogether infectious piece of work that not only fits the song perfectly, but also gives an already entirely too danceable song even more danceability. Of course, Juan Alderete has been a solid bassist for years upon years, but he certainly made his mark here as well.
Jon Theodore is, in addition, one of the most talented musicians I’ve heard in quite a while, with his arguable tendency to overplay overshadowed by the fact that Goddamn, that boy can play. While occasionally sloppy, you cannot deny the absolute insane quality of his work (which is only heightened when you realize he wrote most of.well, everything on the album). Guitarist Omar Rodriguez-Lopez is quite possibly the most promising guitarist anywhere near famous enough to make a lasting impact on up-and-coming guitarists everywhere, and his work on here is indicative of such.
The previously mentioned Cygnus.Vismund Cygnus features one of the most intricate guitar lines I’ve ever heard, and instead of sticking to a solid rhythm, the drum and bass work are equally technical and impressive. The playing field musicianship-wise was also tremendously increased on this album. However, that is probably what makes this album what it is. The scenario with most of the other songs is extremely similar in structure, yet executed so differently, that it’s a wonder The Mars Volta didn’t just take each of these ideas and mold entire separate songs about them. Songs such as Cygnus.Vismund Cygnus are broad and multi-faceted songs from a soft acoustic intro, we find a highly intense standard verse-chorus section, which ultimately and sublimely flows into a sweeping instrumental, only to be brought to a near operatic-section as vocalist Cedric Bixler-Zavala shows off just how much he improved on this album. Opting out of the sudden explosiveness of their previous ventures (for the most part), The Mars Volta instead practice sweeping epicness. The album, both as a whole and broken into pieces, works flawlessly. What is important is what makes this album so brutally brilliant. But all of that is relatively unimportant. The Mars Volta had, of course, entranced me with the highly energetic De-Loused in the Comatorium, which in retrospect sounds just as close to their At the Drive-In days as it does this album. On a purely personal level, Frances the Mute nearly accomplishes that with me. And yet, somehow in the midst of this overindulgence, The Mars Volta created their most accessible song, The Widow, as a reminder that this band confounded expectations even when delivering excess.There are some albums that change lives.
But there’s simply too much of everything here, meaning it’s not quite the match of its perfectly pitched predecessor.
At its best it contains much of the band’s most hypnotically beautiful music (Cassandra Gemini) and slickest examples of genre-bending (L’Via L’Viaquez). And while they were subsequently cut into smaller pieces, meaning 12 tracks overall, that formalised the scope but couldn’t contain an album bursting at the seams with creativity – for good and for bad. This follow-up was the subject of some compromise, though, with the record label balking at the original plan for it to have only five tracks, with the final two being lengthy movements. What do you do if you’re a band with an incredibly uncommercial sound and your debut album becomes a commercial success? If you’re The Mars Volta then you push further, wider, deeper and stranger to see if those same fans follow you onwards and outwards.
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