DE-LOUSED IN THE COMATORIUM

The Mars Volta's De-Loused in the Comatorium is TMV's crowning achievement. Yeah, they've released some pretty amazing albums since De-Loused (most notably The Bedlam in Goliath) but this album truly shows the Mars Volta as artists. De-Loused is TMV's version of less is more--they went from 5 core musicians on this album to a staggering 9 musicians by the time Amputechture was released. De-Loused is also full of catchy choruses (i.e. Inertiatic ESP and Roulette Dares) and has Omar's best and most creative playing to date. Having Rick Rubin at the producers helm is probably another reason why this album has a better feel to it then subsequent TMV discs: it is more polished and less dominated with honking saxophones and barrages of guitar noise. Even though Cedric is a pretty good vocalist Rick Rubin makes him sound stellar, his voice soring above the instrumentalists unlike other albums when his voice is overdubbed with strange effects that add to the noise, not enhance it. Another musician of note on here is Jon Theodore...a true monster on the skins. His John Bonham-meets-Bill Cobham style is mind-blowing. He can go from machine-gun fast proggy beats to a laid back rock groove in the blink of an eye. The way he and Omar react to each other dynamically is amazing (just listen to Drunkship of Lanterns or Cicatriz ESP to hear what I'm saying). In general, the musicianship on this disc kicks butt and is probably as closed to their live sound as they've gotten in a studio recording (except for the 32-minute Cassandra Gemini on Frances the Mute). In my opinion, there is not a wasted note on this modern masterpiece of prog rock. The way the Mars Volta incorporate elements of rock, punk, metal, jazz, funk, latin, and psychedelia into the mix here is original and no band even comes close to the energy and ingenious combination of styles that these guys employ on this album or any of there others.