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The Mars Volta

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David_D View Drop Down
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    Posted: August 12 2023 at 13:12

Formed in 2001, The American The Mars Volta is one of the most popular modern Prog bands and in my opinion one of the most 
original too. Neverthereless, for not so few Prog aficionados some of the bands' vocals and other heaviness can be much of a 
challenge and may even scare them away. That was the case with me in the beginning, but I got rather quickly used to it and 
since, I've enjoyed much all the vocals and the entire music on a couple of albums which as a whole are very varied and soft too. 
They are De-loused in the Comatorium (2003) and Frances the Mute (2005), but to be precise, I don't listen to them in their entirety.

Enjoy! Smile


Edited by David_D - August 16 2023 at 05:48
                      quality over quantity, and all kind of PopcoRn almost beyond
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote AFlowerKingCrimson Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 12 2023 at 13:23
They are ok. I guess they are one of those bands I have to be in the mood for. 
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote richardh Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 12 2023 at 22:25
They are a bit scary but do the staccata thing really well. As said you have to be in the mood.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Octopus II Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 13 2023 at 00:48
Frances The Mute is my favourite album by them. Smile
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote essexboyinwales Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 13 2023 at 05:12
Tried DITC once and my car CD player spat it out after 3 tracks😳🤣
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David_D View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote David_D Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 13 2023 at 05:46
Originally posted by essexboyinwales essexboyinwales wrote:

Tried DITC once and my car CD player spat it out after 3 tracks😳🤣

Yeah, I've heard that story before. Big smile
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote moshkito Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 13 2023 at 06:01
Hi,

I think I've heard 3 albums by now ... I didn't dislike them, but goodness gracious ... a lot of steroids in that band!

There's a nice amount of originality to their work, but I think that (overall) their decision between meaningful music and loudness might need a slight adjustment ... but I'm not sure it would make the band better. They are fine as they are ... and much more original than many bands around getting a free ride into the "progressive" world!
Music is not just for listening ... it is for LIVING ... you got to feel it to know what's it about! Not being told!
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David_D View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote David_D Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 13 2023 at 06:51

Nice and interesting post, Mosh. 
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Grumpyprogfan Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 13 2023 at 06:52
The lukewarm comments so far are ludicrous. Great band that can be listened to anytime, in any mood. For those you don't enjoy the intense charm of TMV, may I suggest their, laid back and beautiful, 2022 self titled release.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote David_D Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 13 2023 at 07:28
Originally posted by Grumpyprogfan Grumpyprogfan wrote:

The lukewarm comments so far are ludicrous. Great band that can be listened to anytime, in any mood. For those you don't enjoy the intense charm of TMV, may I suggest their, laid back and beautiful, 2022 self titled release.

It's fine to hear different opinions which usually is the case. Smile
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote richardh Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 13 2023 at 08:35
Originally posted by Grumpyprogfan Grumpyprogfan wrote:

The lukewarm comments so far are ludicrous. Great band that can be listened to anytime, in any mood. For those you don't enjoy the intense charm of TMV, may I suggest their, laid back and beautiful, 2022 self titled release.

Sorry not for me , didn't like it at all but I do enjoy their recent acoustic release.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote David_D Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 15 2023 at 04:02

Here one of Mars Volta's beautiful, soft songs, from De-loused:



Edited by David_D - August 16 2023 at 05:53
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Logan Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 15 2023 at 04:21
^ Based on that track, I really should give that album another spin and another chance. It has been many years. I bought De-Loused in the Comatorium (when it was quite new and I did not like it. Still, I got Frances the Mute also when quite new for some reason, and I did like that. I have heard quite bit since then, some of which I have enjoyed quite a bit. It never became a favourite band, but I used to listen to so very much music by different artists that various individual acts may have lacked the attention they deserved, especially if they did not conform to my particular tastes at a given time.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote verslibre Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 15 2023 at 10:47
I got De-loused when it was new and loved it. I liked the next one, Frances the Mute, about as much, but then they lost me as melody became less and less important in their arrangements.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Epignosis Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 15 2023 at 22:12
I hated every sample I heard from this band.

Used to have a run-down used record shop near where I lived.  Had promos where you could buy five, get five, stuff like that.

I ended up taking home Amputechture and Frances the Mute just because they were free and I didn't see anything else I wanted.  Had a long trip coming up and wanted some new music, so what the hell.

Popped in the latter in the car on the way to the grocery store and was blown away.

Cannot tell you how I felt hearing "Tetragrammaton" for the first time.  Remains my favorite song from this band.

My wife even accused me of pretending to like the band to impress people on ProgArchives, which I still laugh about.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Lesanderd Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 16 2023 at 05:06
De-loused remains my favourite album from them, it has such a unique atmosphere to it. Experimental, weird, intense and original, it was really something else at the time 
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote miamiscot Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 16 2023 at 07:19
I was a HUGE fan of At The Drive-In so the idea that two members from that amazing band were going full-on Prog was like music to my ears!!!
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote David_D Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 23 2023 at 03:06

Actually, my fondness of some Mars Volta albums is not older than 5 years even I heard about the band first time in 2008. It was 
when I was taken a course, and the teacher of it, a Mars Volta aficionado, gave me the exercise to find the most psychedelic posters 
of the band. The first couple or maybe more of times I heard some of De-loused, it was far too heavy for me, but then when I listened 
to it again in 2018, I suddenly really liked it. - Probably because I meanwhile became much more fond of Metal and used to listen to it.
                      quality over quantity, and all kind of PopcoRn almost beyond
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