FRANCES THE MUTE

This is one of the most expansive and moving progressive albums ever recorded. The Mars Volta plays a darker, heavier and more sinister take on prog than most bands, and this contains their best work, particulary the sprawling masterpiece Cassandra Gemini, most of which seems to be improvised. The Mars Volta harnesses the madly layered orchestration of Mahavishnu Orchestra, borrowing not just John McLaughlin's style but also his guitar tone. Jon Theodore's drum work is also quite derivative of the M.O.'s drummer. Faster and harder than any other progressive band out there (with the exception of anything that may be considered metal), this album is brilliant. The songs are written by Omar Rodriquez Lopez, but the focus can be equally given to any one of the members, since they are all amazing players (John Theodore probably being the greatest rock drummer alive today). The orchestration is immense, with complete horn and string sections, piano, hammond, mellotron, and much more. John Fruiscante has a blazing solo at the top of one of the first songs. The album definitely sufffers from the lengthy soundscape interludes and the single the Widow is just boring. The real genius in this work lies in the first and last songs, particularly the epic Cassandra Gemini, which goes down in my history book as one of the great prog masterpieces of all time, alongside Yes' Heart of the Sunrise and Genesis' Supper's Ready. Rocking and awesome...