AMPUTECHTURE

after frances the mute, my expectations for the mars volta on this album were high. hearing the news of multiple guitarist at work would be good remembering back to atdi where the rythm guitar realy kept the rythm, bass (hinojos) would play along but improv on that rythm, and guitar (omar) would play a lead riff/counter melody.

i really dont see the need for frusciante, honestly. omar couldve just as easily double tracked and left hinojos to do the doubled stuff live. two guitars is good for some songs, not all. but atleast omar is still doing the heavy lifting (vicarious atonement and other solos). i also saw the second guitar take away from two very vital resources that omar has; sax and keyboards. musically speaking the sax and guitar are very similar (espically tenor) and having that second guitar replaced with a sax wouldve freakin rocked! (mainly viscera eyes where they played alot but terrazas couldve played more closely with omar). my biggest complaint: whered the strings go?!?!?! a mellotron or the string section that omar had last time wouldve completely owned this album. i was hoping for more work on that. but on keyboards synths did help along with the rhodes but more organ please. thats ikey's main thing and that korg hammond imitator really got the job done on previous albums.

album highlights are tracks 1-4 and day of baphomets,7. in fact day of baphomets and Vermicide are the albums strong points having been previously writen just never released. Day is classic frantic volta style, and feels similar to cassanda, and vermicide is orginally an at the drive-in song that is very close to the incredible concertina off of tremulant.

other than that the album is an epic, ballad-ish, omar written and controled album. and it shows. none the less the mars volta.

for referance: frances the mute > ampretechture > deloused in the commatorium = tremulant IMO.