Frances The Mute

[gumby]

[font=Arial][size=2][color=DarkRed]Today I got Frances the Mute by The Mars Volta, I have to say that this effort falls only a little way short of their previous effort; De-loused in the Comatorium. The way the tracks themselves are orginized are what annoys me the most because it can make it difficult to tell what track you are up to.

What are your opinions on the latest effort by The Mars Volta?[/color][/size][/font]

[Semjaza]

I agree that Deloused was better in a variety of ways. Frances the Mute is good, but it just doesn't break over into "excellent". I'm not disappointed by it, as I never really loved The Mars Volta to begin with, but I guess it could have been better.

As for the track organization, do you mean how the longer tracks are all at the beginning (aside from The Widow)?

[Haze]

[color=DarkSlateGray][/color] I love The Mars Volta. Always have. Always will. But it shames me to say that I really don't like [i]Frances the Mute[/i] so much. I mean, it's a good CD, don't get me wrong, but like both of you said. It falls horribley short when compared to [i]Deloused in the Comatorium[/i]. I like "The Window" a lot. It reminds me of their old stuff. But with [i]Frances the Mute[/i], it feels like they are trying to hard to achieve that erratic, chaotic sound they achieve on [i]Deloused[/i]. It still sounds pretty good though.

I, for one, am a lyrics person. I love singing along. But with [i]Frances[/i] it agitates me for a few seconds that on over half the songs, it is mostly music. But then it hits me how good the music actually is.

So, I'm obviously wishy-washy on whether I like it or not, but I'm sure everyone else is too.

The thing that bugged me about the tracks was how they named them. I mean, most of them are named the same as another song, but with a little bit of variation. It's annoying.

[Posthumous]

I agree that Frances The Mute fell a bit short of De-Loused, the general public (people not really fans of TMV) will like this album more, mainly because of the raw energy it brings. Alot of kids today aren't one's to love ''Neo-Psychadelica'' music like De-Loused was, but they'll love the bare sound of what FTM brought to the table. I myself think De-Loused was a better album, but fancy FTM more because of the reasons I stated above. Don't get me wrong, I still think Neo-Psychedelica music rocks, it's just the sound of FTM is more, per say, catchier?

[Semjaza]

The band recently played at KROQ's Weenie Roast festival. They apparently couldn't come up with any existing songs to play, so they basically just made up a song on the spot that turned into an almost 45 minute jam session. It's really damn good and luckily someone recorded it.

It should be easily available as "Abortion: The Other White Meat" if you look around. I highly recommend it.

[Posthumous]

[QUOTE=Generic NPC #3]The band recently played at KROQ's Weenie Roast festival. They apparently couldn't come up with any existing songs to play, so they basically just made up a song on the spot that turned into an almost 45 minute jam session. It's really damn good and luckily someone recorded it.

It should be easily available as "Abortion: The Other White Meat" if you look around. I highly recommend it.[/QUOTE] Yeah, it was amazing. Omar's improvisational skills are outstanding. Im suprised he isnt a jazz musician ;)

EDIT : It can be found somewhere on [url]www.thecomatorium.com[/url] ; their forums.

[Midboss]

Frances the Mute is probably my favourite of their albums, however, it's still not as good as what was offered from At The Drive-In delivered, IMO...and if you do not know who At The Drive-In are you should not even be listening to TMV.

[Semjaza]

[quote name='Midboss']and if you do not know who At The Drive-In are you should not even be listening to TMV.[/quote]

I don't see why. It's kind of an elitist viewpoint, really. Obviously The Mars Volta has two of the same members, but it also has two different ones. To listen to a new band putting out new material doesn't require you to know everything about their past... especially when The Mars Volta really goes for something totally different in overall scope, in my opinion.

Still, more people should be listening to At the Drive-In in the first place anyway. I can't disagree with that. There's always Sparta too, but I don't care for them much.

[Midboss]

[QUOTE=Generic NPC #3]I don't see why. It's kind of an elitist viewpoint, really. Obviously The Mars Volta has two of the same members, but it also has two different ones. To listen to a new band putting out new material doesn't require you to know everything about their past... especially when The Mars Volta really goes for something totally different in overall scope, in my opinion.

Still, more people should be listening to At the Drive-In in the first place anyway. I can't disagree with that. There's always Sparta too, but I don't care for them much.[/QUOTE]
Neither do I, oddly. Also, the guitarist from Sparta crossed over to TMV to take over the sound technician for Jeremy Ward (RIP). Score one for the good band!!