Cool interview. The Volta's one of those bands that I love but every time I hear something new I think it's a step backwards until I hear it many times. Bedlam keeps the trend going - it sounds way too fast and chaotic - right now. You really need to know your way around any of their albums to enjoy them.

I liked them better when they played songs, had a decent guitarist and called themselves At The Drive-In

/it takes the weight out of this
//it takes the weight out of living

i've been listening to that album nonstop for three days. i like.

/i REALLY like their new drummer.
//likes fast and chaotic

singmetosleep: I liked them better when they played songs, had a decent guitarist and called themselves At The Drive-In

who, jim ward? omar runs circles around him. check out the new album. its actually all songs for once. the new drummer is amazing.

dontbreakthebend: who, jim ward? omar runs circles around him. check out the new album. its actually all songs for once. the new drummer is amazing.

I would have to respectfully disagree. I've seen both Sparta and The Mars Volta in concert, and Jim Ward is superior to Omar. At least he is live...and based on on the AtDI shows I've downloaded, he was better there, too. Omar is sloppy live. I'd be the first to admit his studio stuff is great, but he's sloppy as hell live.

I'll admit I haven't heard the new album, and that their first album was spectacular. Still, I don't see anything that competes with In Relationship of Command.

Then again, maybe I just like screamo.

yes yes yes

fark yeah, the mars volta

What is the Mars Volta?

mistahtom: What is the Mars Volta?

This is (new window)

I have listen to random song by them for a while but never actual got an album by them. Can anyone recomend a good one with interesting bass lines?

Interrupted Infinitum: I have listen to random song by them for a while but never actual got an album by them. Can anyone recomend a good one with interesting bass lines?

Day of the Baphomets off of Amputechture.

singmetosleep: I'll admit I haven't heard the new album, and that their first album was spectacular. Still, I don't see anything that competes with In Relationship of Command.

i used to be in the same boat. i loved atdi and didnt want to have anything to two with the two spin offs because i was pissed. i love relationship of command. eventually i loved the mars volta but really didnt care for sparta.

as for jim ward and omar, i suppose some of the differing opinion can be attributed to an extreme difference in styles. i will say though, that in some of the new mars volta videos, omar seems to really have tightened up his playing. hes still sloppy in the jamming parts, but thats also kind of his thing.

I liked their first album a lot but wasn't that into Frances The Mute. Didn't even know they had a new album... I haven't heard Amputechture either. How do the two more recent albums compare to the others?

I saw them open for A Perfect Circle a while back. Most people in the crowd didn't really get them, and by the time the crowd was getting warmed up their set was over... They are a tough opener if you aren't into them...

Picked up The Bedlam In Goliath when it dropped on Tuesday. Awesome album.

Like someone up above said - you have to listen to it a bunch of times before you can see how it all fits together.
Point of odor (sic): When I first got Frances The Mute, I listened to it once, said "Bleah." and didn't listen to it again for 6 weeks. Then I listened to it once...then once more...then again and again and again...Holy shiat! This is a great album!

I suspect it'll be like that with this new album. I get bored around song 9 and can't sit through the rest...but it's frenetic and up tempo and their new drummer is tOight...like a tOiger.

Normally I hate prog rock with a passion, but I have to admit the Mars Volta's first album was pretty good.

The ones after it, not so much.

I prefer three-chord music to endless studio noodling.

Necrosis: I liked their first album a lot but wasn't that into Frances The Mute. Didn't even know they had a new album... I haven't heard Amputechture either. How do the two more recent albums compare to the others?

I saw them open for A Perfect Circle a while back. Most people in the crowd didn't really get them, and by the time the crowd was getting warmed up their set was over... They are a tough opener if you aren't into them...

I saw them opening up for System of a Down of S.O.A.D.'s last tour. It was the only time since I've been going to concerts that the headliner has been absolutely blown away by one of the opening acts.

/Saw them again opening up for R.H.C.P. on Halloween '06
//There sound techs for that show should've been hung.

ClicheGuevara07: I saw them opening up for System of a Down of S.O.A.D.'s last tour. It was the only time since I've been going to concerts that the headliner has been absolutely blown away by one of the opening acts.

And here I thought the exact opposite.

I really wanted to see S.O.A.D and I had to talk myself into not walking out multiple times while Mars Volta played. It was a struggle to hang on until System came out.

If I hadn't been getting free beer, I would have been gone.

rka: ClicheGuevara07: I saw them opening up for System of a Down of S.O.A.D.'s last tour. It was the only time since I've been going to concerts that the headliner has been absolutely blown away by one of the opening acts.

And here I thought the exact opposite.

I really wanted to see S.O.A.D and I had to talk myself into not walking out multiple times while Mars Volta played. It was a struggle to hang on until System came out.

If I hadn't been getting free beer, I would have been gone.

I was just incredibly let down by S.O.A.D. for the simple fact that, especially in comparison with the live videos I'd seen, they had absolutely no energy. Serj and Daron barely moved for the entire show, while John and Shavo tried their hardest to at least make things interested. I don't know, maybe it was just the extreme difference in stage presence that night that made The Mars Volta stand out above Serj and the boys.

Cedric is certainly enthusiastic onstage... Spastic dancing and swinging the mic around and bashing it on the cymbals was pretty entertaining.

hahahhaha You guys went to a System of a Down show

Just downloaded all their studio albums, enjoying it so far. Mellow and intense at the same time.

I Miss Mah Bucket:
Thanks for the recomendation

This interview needs more Nardwuar.

For the guys that say they liked Deloused in the Comatorium (the first one)... you might wanna check this one out. It's a tighter and more... concise (sp?) than Frances and WAY more consistent in quality than Amputechture.

Check out Ilyena, Goliath or Conjugal Burns as samples. The only weak-ish track so far seems to be Tourniquet Man. Although that songs FREAKS the shiat out of me when listening to it in the dark in bed. You'll see why.

The new drummer is the shiat on the frantic parts... not impressing in the slower bits... but who cares.

wow. I didn't know they are fans of Frank. I'll hafta give 'em another listen. I only heard them once on the Henry Rollins cable show. They sounded to Me like Sonic Youth and I don't get that kinda music at this time.

They are top notch and the new album is too.

singmetosleep: I liked them better when they played songs, had a decent guitarist and called themselves At The Drive-In

This. I liked Mars' first two albums but I couldn't stand it after that, too much pretension for me. Saw Sparta at a small club in the Twins Cities, they rocked out and I loved hearing Jim talk about his songs.

singmetosleep: I liked them better when they played songs, had a decent guitarist and called themselves At The Drive-In

/it takes the weight out of this
//it takes the weight out of living

I have to disagree as well. Don't get me wrong, At the Drive in was pretty damn good.

IMHO "De-Loused in the Comatorium" or "Frances the Mute" were FAR superior than anything At the drive-on ever did. Not even close really.

I like some of their stuff, but too often they fall into pretentious, Zeppelin derived gobble-dee-gook. They're not half as original as they seem to think they are.

Hammster: seabass242:

IMHO "De-Loused in the Comatorium" or "Frances the Mute" were FAR superior than anything At the drive-on ever did. Not even close really.

You fail at music

You fail at not noticing satire when you see it.

I thought "Deloused" was good.
I think "Frances the Mute" is great [with some pointless filler].
"Scabdates" was less than ok... it had murky sound quality, and 20+ minutes of complete senseless filler tacked on at the end of it.
I *was* impressed that they could pull of that stuff live [muscially], though.
"Amputecture" was ok... never really listened to all of it... it didn't impress me / hold my attention as much as "Frances" did.
I am intrigued and pleased by their new offering, and intend to listen to it / buy it at some point.

P.S.
"Frances the Mute" on 3 disc vinyl FTW!!
[sides 1-4 have a continuous run-out groove at the end of them.
Side five is normal. Side six has a picture/design on it.]

Mars Volta blow. The music itself is alright in some sections, but those pretentious lyrics just make me want to punch that dude in the face.

/what the fark does "De-Loused in the Comatorium" mean?
//anyone?
///anyone?

lerxst2112:

You fail at not noticing satire when you see it.

/Insert photo of a black kettle
//Your profile is awesome

This is by far Cedric Bixler-Zavala's best performance of all time.

Caring Is Creepy: /what the fark does "De-Loused in the Comatorium" mean?

to delouse is to remove a pest such as lice from ones head. obviously, comatorium is the place that houses somebody that is in a coma. the album is a fictionalized story of their friend, who overdosed, went into a coma, and woke up and decided to kill himself. the album starts at him going into the coma, then taking him into another spiritual world where he finds that it is time for him to go into the next world. the album ends with him coming out of the coma. given this information, the word deloused is more of a metaphor, as the album is drawing everything out of his head in the comatorium.

I have seen the volta once and own every album on vinyl, and the music and the vinyl keep me buying it. The limited editions are crazy... glow in the dark... red and white... silver LP's all decorated with amazing photography. It's cool to see them evolve. Like what Fraggler said... have to listen your way through them... not just to them.

/bedlam limited edition on special order... tee hee.

At the Drive-In vs. The Mars Volta is like UK The Office vs. US The Office in that the fans of the former are holding onto something that was good but not amazing and stubbornly refuse to admit that the latter are far superior

Hammster: seabass242:

IMHO "De-Loused in the Comatorium" or "Frances the Mute" were FAR superior than anything At the drive-on ever did. Not even close really.

You fail at music

you're seriously using Something Awful for serious musical criticism?

I had no idea they released a new album, I'll have to go scoop that up. I've enjoyed every song on every CD they've put out so far, so I'm really excited to get my hands on the new stuff. De-Loused is still my favorite of the CDs as far as listening to it the whole way through goes, but Frances and Amputecture are still phenomenal CDs. BTW, why are people clawing like caged wolverines to claim that AtDI is FAR superior to Mars Volta? Who cares? If you love it, listen to it. I figured that was the underlying message of the entire Mars Volta listening experience. Quit trying to be pretentious and just enjoy some goddamn music.

My absolute favorite band of all farking time.

It is an acquired taste, though. Not many people have the patience to listen to a band that sounds better only AFTER repeated hearings. I love every album they've made, but it always takes a while - first time you hear it, some stuff sounds good, the rest is eh, then you catch it again, sounds better, you hear more, then after a few listens, it's freaking amazing.

Getting a kick out of the accusations of their pretension - not that they're wrong, just misdirected. Omar's lengthy improvisations and Cedric's otherworldly lyrics are often accused of being self-indulgent - but if it sounds good, who cares?

Meanwhile, have you ever seen any of their interviews? I'm as big a Volta fan and supporter as there is, and even I have to admit that Omar and Cedric are tastelessly arrogant in interviews. They speak very negatively about ATDI and its fans, and even fans of their own first two albums. Fans know ATDI was a turbulent time for Omar and Cedric, and fans also know that they were unhappy with Rick Rubin's production on De-Loused and Frances. But it does not justify trashing the work, and its legions of fans, that helped them get to where they are today. We expect a little more class than that, guys.

Still. The band of my life.

/Check out Tremulant, their EP - "Cut That City", "Concertina", "Eunuch Provocateur" - Eunuch is one of the most incredible rock songs I've ever heard

ATDI was a great band, period.

Sparta is a good mainstream-ish rock band. They departed a bit from ATDI's path, but I buy their stuff.

The Mars Volta is an incredible band, period.

To say that any of them "suck" or aren't as good as the other(s) is comparing apples to oranges. It's all opinion anyway, if you don't like them, fine. But using that as proof that they "suck" is just stupid.

Of course, this is all my opinion.

Vapid hiptser bullshiat