DE-LOUSED IN THE COMATORIUM

A groundbreaking album that shocked the world and put this band on the map with very little promotion.something that prog is used to.

The Mars Volta came about through the break-up of a band called At the Drive-In. I haven't really listened to the band really much but it sounds like decent punk to me.I can't stand tagging genres so there is my best take on it. One of the guitarists of the band named Omar Rodriguez-Lopez and the lead singer Cedric Bixler-Zavala decided that they wanted a more experimental approach while the other members wanted to go more mainstream and pop oriented. Those members went to form Sparta; a terrible band in my opinion.

A more experimental approach is more than just an understatement. They should have said bringing forth an original sound to the dying world of music. There is hardly anything like The Mars Volta and this album was a beautiful start to their career and they have not looked back since, for the better in my honest opinion.

The Mars Volta's sound is powerful. It is loud and very noisy at times. There is constant time signature changes, very high pitches vocals, fantastic drum work and frantic guitar work that is as jumpy as Robert Fripp's and merciless as John McLaughlin's.

The album has an opener that is so fantastic and unexpected that I think the only thing that topped it is '21st Century Schizoid Man' or 'Larks Tongue in Aspic Pt.1'. The album starts with two songs that flow right into each other called 'Son et Lumiere' and 'Inertiatic Esp'. Just starting with a simple few notes on the guitar, some atmospheric keys and some sung vocals nobody would expect just a breakthrough of sound with overdriven guitar and some berserk drums completely in sync and in short bursts with different rhythmic patterns each time. The structure becomes consistent in the second part with just some added keyboard melody that is simple and fun, a brilliant hooker while the guitar and drums blast through the speakers. Again, this albums' opener is one of the best I have heard in prog.

Every song on this album is special in its own way. A concept based on Cedric's friend, but do not expect to get anything out of it. Cedric who is the lyricist of the band warps his words around in so many ways that it is basically used to fit the music, much like Jon Anderson in my opinion. He does although have a good vocabulary, or a thesaurus in hand at all times that the lyrics do sound very cool. His voice serves as a hook into the music while the instrumentation which is entirely written by Omar (except 'Drunkship of Lanterns' and 'This Apparatus Must be Unearthed') is very complex. All of the songs are very fast and noisy except for one, which is 'Televators'. 'Televators' is a slow acoustic song that is an excellent one but far from my favorites on the album.

I found every single song on this album to be excellent. If you want to hear one of the most unique albums in music, I highly recommend this.

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