FRANCES THE MUTE

It is such a masterpiece that I do think it deserves 5 stars, and to be appreciated up there with Dark Side of the Moon and other such relics. The Mars Volta just has so much flavour in it, and in this album it is no less than usual. From soft ballads to sudden loud funky passages sung in spanish, quiet avant garde instrumentals, and punk-influenced psychedelica, it never ceases to entertain you.

There is a certain thing in the music that gives you that original feeling... the feeling that you can find no where else.

For progressive fans, all songs are good, Cygnus...Vismund Cygnus is amazing, etc. Most songs exceed 10 minutes, and a real progressive fan would love the final track, Cassandra Gemini.

Sometimes there is confusion within the Distribution. Though the song Miranda that Ghost just isn't holy anymore has 4 parts, it sometimes mistakenly puts the entire song in the first part, and labels the beginning 3 parts of the Epic Cassandra Gemini as the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th parts, and the following 5 tracks as the 5 parts of Cassandra Gemini. THIS IS WRONG, trust me. If your CD does this, then everything from Miranda that ghost just isn't holy anymore B: Pour another icepick is actually Cassandra Gemini. The CD version broke the song into 8 tracks in spots independent of its 5 main movements. In the end, Miranda should be 13 something minutes, and Cassandra should be longer than half an hour.

About Cassandra now... It's obviously my favourite song on the album just because it's really epic. I've always appreciated longer and longer songs and this progressive rock suite is a perfect example. It has some heavy parts, some quiet parts, some bizarre Pink Floyd-ish parts, and more. The whole melody is very memorable, and it will definitely not bore you, and pass by quite fast.

Overall, the album is great, and the artwork is too. That's storm thorgerson for you. I think he worked with the Mars Volta for this one. Anyway, this album is great, as if all of the Mars Volta's stuff.

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