Bedlam in Goliath Lowest Rated Mars Volta Album?
Printed From: Progarchives.com
Category: Progressive Music Lounges
Forum Name: Prog Bands, Artists and Genres Appreciation
Forum Description: Discuss specific prog bands and their members or a specific sub-genre
URL: http://www.progarchives.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=52268
Printed Date: November 21 2024 at 13:50
Software Version: Web Wiz Forums 11.01 - http://www.webwizforums.com
Topic: Bedlam in Goliath Lowest Rated Mars Volta Album?
Posted By: ~Rael~
Subject: Bedlam in Goliath Lowest Rated Mars Volta Album?
Date Posted: October 02 2008 at 23:44
|
I was completely astounded to see Bedlam as the lowest rated Volta album. Maybe I am missing something, because this album incorporates everything that is prog to me. Complex songs, astounding instrumentation, bizzarre and off beat time signatures. It is one of the most original albums of the decade. I am just confused on this one. ------------- I repeat myself when under stress, I repeat myself when under stress, I repeat myself when under stress, I repeat myself when under stress, I repeat myself when under stress . . . |
Replies:
Posted By: MrEdifus
Date Posted: October 03 2008 at 00:44
|
I don't understand that either. It's my personal favorite of their albums. For more of what I think on it, you could just read http://edifus.blogspot.com/ - this.
------------- 
|
Posted By: Petrovsk Mizinski
Date Posted: October 03 2008 at 00:45
|
There is topic similar to this, it would be good to look it up. I too felt TBIG was amazing, with only a few flaws perhaps, but otherwise good enough for 5 stars IMO. ------------- 
|
Posted By: ProgBagel
Date Posted: October 03 2008 at 01:26
| With every album they stray farther away from the debut album. Sadly, people don't want that. |
Posted By: BroSpence
Date Posted: October 03 2008 at 02:20
| I thought it was quite good. Although I'm a fan of all their albums. DO NOT agree with the "most original album of the decade" statement. |
Posted By: Moatilliatta
Date Posted: October 03 2008 at 02:26
And they get less and less accessible. I thought it was a fantastic album, with only a couple of weak spots in the middle. Oh well. ------------- www.last.fm/user/ThisCenotaph  
|
ProgBagel wrote:Posted By: chopper
Date Posted: October 03 2008 at 07:34
| It could be something to do with the fact that it also has the lowest number of ratings, which may affect the algorithm. |
Posted By: Ricochet
Date Posted: October 03 2008 at 07:41
|
To me personally it's clearer by the day, if we're talking a new Porcupine Tree, you can already say it will be the year's best prog album, if Mars Volta come with something new, it will be a hate/love situation (kinda like Riverside, Kayo Dot and other stars' case, from what I can observe). I mostly think that's the case with Bedlam In Goliath, except a few exaggerate/extreme views, the negative ones saying it's uninteligible and the lyrics are B.B. (Before Babel) (which is completely wrong), while the positive ones say it's the best music that ever rocked their world (which is again wrong, there are flaws to it at least). As far as I'm concerned, I'm a great MV fan up to the debut album and half of Frances (Cassandra Gemini can simply give me brain freeze 4 out of 10 listens, that's all), Amputechture however is dull. Given the chronological order of full albums, for me Bedlam In Goliath is, in one word: great!! ------------- 
|
Posted By: DJPuffyLemon
Date Posted: October 03 2008 at 10:59
|
Bedlam, taken one song at a time is not bad at all, however the whole album gets same-y and boring. A whole hour of noise and weird vocals/time sig changes gets repetitive. (FACT)
And just to add, I find that most of the songs are uninspired. (OPINION)
Favorite track is Tournoquet Man, so I guess you can get your opinion from that, given that most everyone hates that song.
|
Posted By: Henry Plainview
Date Posted: October 03 2008 at 11:05
|
No, it is not the most original album of the decade. Not even close.
However, I do think that is significantly better than Amputechture, though. TMV are one of the few bands that I like more when they are poppy. ------------- if you own a sodastream i hate you |
Posted By: laplace
Date Posted: October 03 2008 at 12:29
|
I thought the album was horribly shrill and relied on uncompulsive and stilted rawk riffs, which I hate ;P ------------- FREEDOM OF SPEECH GO TO HELL |
Posted By: ~Rael~
Date Posted: October 04 2008 at 00:04
|
I don't really see how your first statement can be taken as fact, DJPuffy.
And I didn't say it was the most original album of the decade, but one of. To find out what really is the most original album of the decade, I guess I would have to listen to everthing that has been released, which I don't think is possible. From what I have heard, this, to me (as in opinion) is one of the most original albums I have heard. ------------- I repeat myself when under stress, I repeat myself when under stress, I repeat myself when under stress, I repeat myself when under stress, I repeat myself when under stress . . . |
Posted By: Petrovsk Mizinski
Date Posted: October 04 2008 at 02:48
Good point there actually. The reason why I liked TBIG so much, was because it just got even less accessible sounding but not at the expense of having great replay value, which I think many prog artists should be aiming for. -------------
|
Posted By: Raff
Date Posted: October 04 2008 at 03:23
I wouldn't go as far as to say that TBiG is TMV's best album (I believe they haven't topped De-loused yet), but I disagree with those who think it's their worst. As Harry and Chris (Moatiliatta) said before me, it's definitely their densest, least accessible offering so far, and also a tad overlong (as I pointed out in my review). However, when it's good, it's REALLY good (see "Goliath" or "Aberinkula", one of the most explosive openers ever), and it's undeniably a very progressive record. To be fair, though, I realise the band's whole output can be a bit of an acquired taste - no gentle, soothing harmonies in the style of Genesis or Camel here !
|
Posted By: Ricochet
Date Posted: October 04 2008 at 04:45
 I don't like the openers or the Goliath hit so much as other, more worthy tracks: Cavalletas is, by far, one of THE most interesting Mars Volta tracks ever, Ourobous has that grave, almost mythological edge, Soothsayer finally blends the MV sound with that Muslim suggested one - and 12 Conjugal Burns ends it victoriously, the kick in it (both vocals and instrumentally) finally reminding of the good ol' De-Loused times. True, there are not many contrasts to the loud, dense and bombastic music, however that doesn't mean some don't actually exist! There are two or three tracks where things cool off into dark, frozen or vibrating mementos. Not to mention, I believe the short Torniquette Man is appreciated for its more alternative sound, the clearer lyrics and for such...which doesn't make it actually special to my ears, because it's quite ordinary compared to the rest of the album! I've got used to the length, and I even enjoy that it captivates you the whole way till the end. This is certainly a rare thing in Mars Volta music, since, back in Amputechture, I cross the line of boredom long before the half point of the album, Frances is overall intriguing but I mentioned Cassandra Gemini's handicap, plus De-Loused officially ends its gems after Cicatriz (so it is said, but I love it too much to agree with that... ).-------------
|
Posted By: Norbert
Date Posted: October 04 2008 at 08:10
|
Love Bedlam! At first I found it rather annoying, but aftewr some listenings it turned out to be a great album.
The only track I would consider a bit weak is Tourniquet Man, but it doesn't last long.
A Heavy Prog gem!
 |
Posted By: Tapfret
Date Posted: October 04 2008 at 10:30
First of all, great word, it has a ring similar to "truthiness". same-y; adj. - 1. to have the characteristics of redundancy 2. to appear exactly like, but not really As far as the subject at hand, I would rate TMV albums in the following order from most to least favorite. And I totally agree that Bedlam... listened straight gets very same-y. 1. Frances the Mute 2. De-Loused in the Comatorium 3. Bedlam in Goliath 4. Amputechture The last I find virtually unlistenable. ------------- https://www.last.fm/user/Tapfret" rel="nofollow">  https://bandcamp.com/tapfret" rel="nofollow - Bandcamp |
Posted By: sleeper
Date Posted: October 04 2008 at 11:56
That would be because its opinion, and a pretty vague statment in all. I would suggest that he never listens to Cynic or Atheist.  ------------- Spending more than I should on Prog since 2005 
|
Posted By: el böthy
Date Posted: October 04 2008 at 13:36
I agree, if you take Torniquete man and Cavaletas out you end up with a very solid 4 star album, but instead it´s more of a 3,5 in my opinion. It stars and finished great but the middle is so so... ------------- "You want me to play what, Robert?" 
|
Posted By: topofsm
Date Posted: October 05 2008 at 18:57
I disagree with that, mostly because my friends and I haven't heard their previous albums, and we tend to think Bedlam is rather noisy and bland. We definetely have heard a lot of their material before the album was released, so we definetely know what TMV is all about, but we just don't like Bedlam.
There's just too much going on. There are too many instruments trying to play at the same time, too many predictable odd time signatures, and too much repetition amongst elements like that. Every time I listen to it, I get tired and want to go to sleep. ------------- 
|
Posted By: jammun
Date Posted: October 05 2008 at 20:15
| I think the problem with Bedlam is that it never lets up. Not that I like the noodling passages of the first two albums -- they are a distraction -- but they served a purpose (blessed relief). But there is a certain sameness to Bedlam -- each song an all out sonic assault -- that is somewhat tiresome, at least to my now 55 year old ears. Still a very good album however, but I'd not rate it over Deloused or FTM. |
Posted By: DJPuffyLemon
Date Posted: October 07 2008 at 01:15
|
Posted By: sleeper
Date Posted: October 07 2008 at 05:57
If you havnt heard their previous albums then you're hardly in a position to disagree with PB's statement. ------------- Spending more than I should on Prog since 2005
|
Posted By: Evans
Date Posted: October 07 2008 at 06:59
|
I hated the album with a passion for very long, then once i was suddenly in the mood for some noise rock and it fit me just fine. I listened to it every day for two weeks and grew to love it even more for every time. Not even the length annoys me.
------------- 
'Let's give it another fifteen seconds..' |
Posted By: Gentlegiantprog
Date Posted: October 07 2008 at 15:27
|
Bedlam is wonderful. Especially the title track. It simultaneously sends shivers down your spine and tears strips of your skin, If ever there was the perfect metal prog crossover, that was it. Interesting that what is actually prog-metal is the more Iron Maiden+Keyboards stuff. ------------- Let the maps of war be drawn ! 
http://kingcrimsonprog.wordpress.com/ |
Posted By: sleeper
Date Posted: October 07 2008 at 16:21
|
^I wouldnt have said there was any metal in any TMV album.
------------- Spending more than I should on Prog since 2005
|
Posted By: Avantgardehead
Date Posted: October 08 2008 at 03:33
|
This is my least favorite TMV album as well. The vocals were incredibly grating to me and the music seemed hap-hazard.
------------- http://www.last.fm/user/Avantgardian |
Posted By: topofsm
Date Posted: October 10 2008 at 01:24
Huh? Maybe I'm misunderstanding something. He's saying that people generally don't like Bedlam because it's not like Deloused or Frances the Mute. I'm saying that I disagree with that because we are able to judge the album on it's own merits without listening to their other albums all the way through.
We have no preconceptions about what the album should sound like because we don't know much about the other albums. We still think it's a rather poor album. -------------
|
Posted By: heyitsthatguy
Date Posted: October 10 2008 at 01:34
|
I think I'm the only person alive whose favorite (well, second favorite, Goliath is unbeatable) song on the album is Cavalettas by a long shot that said I do hope they ease up a little bit on the next album, I liked Bedlam, but it didn't have as much dynamic contrast as their previous albums ------------- 
|
Posted By: Ricochet
Date Posted: October 10 2008 at 01:48
Goliath is nice, but nothing amazing. -------------
|
Posted By: Henry Plainview
Date Posted: October 10 2008 at 13:52
I didn't get the love for Goliath either.
My favorite is Agadez, but that's because the writing is very strong. Although you wouldn't know that looking from the reviews. What on Bedlam is noise? People have such low tolerances... ------------- if you own a sodastream i hate you |