I went to Best Buy two nights ago, and saw "Frances the Mute" by The Mars Volta for $6 and the free single of the song "Frances the Mute." I remembered all the talk on this site of this album, and how the Mars Volta is prog's big new thing.

I was 100% disappointed.  practically 1/2 the album was random noises that didn't even sound good with the music.  I understand noises to set the setting like in "The Wall" but this album really overdid it.  It practically put me to sleep the entire time.

When there weren't random noises the music was overly repetitive, this album lacked a lot despite the virtuosity of the musicians.  It was creative but poorly done.  The only real compliment I have for The Mars Volta is that the singer sounded good throughout and I enjoyed the spanish/english transitions.

The album is a piece of crap and $6 was expensive for the quality within, but I have only heard it once, and I need about 9 more listens to truly form my opinion and judge it, but I don't know if I want to put myself through that again.

Logos wrote: 76 minutes of sheer brilliance.

 Well put.

Deloused is trully a masterpiece, and i think the band will never be able to make a better album. it's just one of the greatest debutalbums out there (in the court of the crimson king comes close too) and it's just like the problem with pearl jam (WHO?!! i hear you progheads say): the never made an album better than their debut "ten." knowing this you can't really expect from these guys to make a better album. i mean: they are still human, ok? wow, an album better than deloused... just thinking about it makes me need to change my pants. back in a sec...

so, ok, well. frances the mute is a great album. when you remove the noisy parts you still got over an hour of quality music. that can't be bad can it?  

It's an incredible record.  It hit me first time, but I had been enjoying The Mars Volta since Tremulant, so Frances was easy to get into.  If you've only listened to it once, then you need to give it time.  Hell, I'm still listening to it now and I'm finding nuances I had noticed.  It combines so many styles and leans on many bands for influences (from King Crimson to Fania All-Stars); it's such an enjoyable record to listen to.  As for the "noise", it doesn't bother me.  It fact, it works really well in many places; especially as a segue into the next track.  I would say listen to it more or even buy Deloused and then listened to Frances.  Like all good to things, it can need time to be fully enjoyed, if you're not used to it

Pale moon, I'm going to have to disagree.  I feel Versus was a much better effort form Vedder and Co.

on-topic, It's tough to compare De-loused to Frances simply because they're both such different albums.  Their 1st album was more cohesive, yes, but that was mostly because the music for FTM was taken from live jams OF De-Loused songs.  They mainly just built most of the music around from the jams, then cleaned it up for studio.

And as for the noise, it's their for a reason.  it helps to segway into the next part of the album.  The only time it was ever tedious was the beginnign of the Title track.

alan_pfeifer wrote: Pale moon, I'm going to have to disagree.  I feel Versus was a much better effort form Vedder and Co. on-topic, It's tough to compare De-loused to Frances simply because they're both such different albums.  Their 1st album was more cohesive, yes, but that was mostly because the music for FTM was taken from live jams OF De-Loused songs.  They mainly just built most of the music around from the jams, then cleaned it up for studio. And as for the noise, it's their for a reason.  it helps to segway into the next part of the album.  The only time it was ever tedious was the beginnign of the Title track.

On the Pearl Jam point, I would tend to agree with you.  I think Vs is a great record, pretty much on a par with Ten (songs like Rearviewmirror are classic PJ).

riiiggghhhhtt, forming an opinion on music after 1 listen... All the best music takes  a little bit to sink in IMO.

Listen to everyone else and skip the filler, its not needed.
Cassandra gemini took about 15-20 full listens before I really started apreciating it, now its my favorite TMV song.

I personally think deloused is a better album , its easier to digest and there's more content.

King of Loss wrote: I've seen Frances the Mute sell for 8 dollars in regular album stores and after hearing it once, I can not buy, it is utter trash.

U sure about that? when I first bought delosed i really didnt like it and was about to sell it on ebay. But after about five listens i fell deeply in love with it And Frances is so much better

Just takes some getting into.

I even like it more than BE

King of Loss wrote: I have Deloused, its such a terrible album, ugh, I need to sell it!

Apparently Flossy, you're one of those guys who just cand get TMV's music

The Miracle wrote: King of Loss wrote: I have Deloused, its such a terrible album, ugh, I need to sell it! Apparently Flossy, you're one of those guys who just cand get TMV's music

Maybe it's just because it isn't his taste?  Can't say I'm not guilty of throwing away a band after 1 listen (mine was Pain of Salvation, sorry King, but it just didn't grab me.)

Frances is a masterpiece. And, everyone has their own opinions. I love the post rock scene. I have both TMV albums as well as Tremulant, Lift your Skinny... and F#A#00 by GY!BE, Agaetis Byrjun and Ba Ba Ti Ki Di Do by Sigur Ros, Happy Songs... by Mogwai, Born Into Trouble... by A Silver Mt. Zion, and The Earth is Not... byt Explosions in the sky. But that stuff isn't for everybody. Even though Agaetis Byrjun may be the most beautiful album on earth, and GY!BE's music transcends this world at points. Mogwai can accomplish the same thing.

Frances I originally had at a 4. I listened a lot to it after that, and I realized that it's actually a full-fledged masterpiece for me. So emotional at points, and the noise doesn't get me.

You simply cannot listen to something once and dismiss it. If I did that, I would not have any ELP, King Crimson, Jethro Tull, Yes, Supertramp, Pink Floyd, Genesis, Gentle Giant, etc., in my collection at all.

This is prog rock, people. Not some punk stuff that you can listen to and get at first glance.

You should know that.

When I first heard Frances the Mute I thought "Wow, that's great!". Strange to say, the positive impression has somehow lessened with repeated listens, but I still think it's a very good album, full of disparate influences and great musicianship. I do agree about the excess of noise, but again someone mentioned the beginnings of Pink Floyd...

Anyway, FtM is not an album you can put on as background music. You have to sit down and LISTEN to it to appreciate it fully. I've not heard Deloused yet, but all the comments I've read so far have intrigued me, so I'm going to go and get it ASAP.