FRANCES THE MUTE

The first MV album was a breath of fresh air in a popular music scene that has long since been given over to style over substance. Where bands and "artists" are products and not individuals creating art. This second album is somewhat of a letdown, but still has much of the power and inventiveness of the first. Personally, I like the "weird sounds" sections of the songs on this album, though they do seem put there almost just to fill space a lot of the time. This detracts from the otherwise well played and well written music. In all honesty, if it was not for the fact that this album and its predecessor are introducing a whole new generation to the concept of prog rock, I would probably give this two stars and the previous one three. I will pull these albums out from time to time when I need a shot of energy and adrellaline. But it gives me hope to see hoards of young people picking this band up. Sure, most will just shelve the albums after a while (or sell them), but some will be curious to hear the originators of this music and will want to explore more challenging bands. For that, I think the Mars Volta albums deserve three stars.