AMPUTECHTURE

The two mainstream prog bands I was most looking forward to purchasing their new album's, TOOL and MARS VOLTA, I can honsetly say I was disappointed with both. They both suffer with the same problem, too much of a good thing. That especially holds true with MARS VOLTA'S latest. Like the ugly sister of a beauty queen, ('Frances The Mute') "Amputechure" features much of the same: blazing fast crazy beats mixed with high pitched vocals, a bit of spanish and a boatload of hyperspeed tempo changes. Sure, you get a somewhat pretty acoustic ditty to calm things down, ('Asilos Magdalena') and a track that might be the closest they come to an actual song, ('Vermicide') but the rest sound like leftovers from their previous album. The proof for me is that after listening to this album for a week, non-stop I can not for the life of me remember a single melody. Sure, they're not looking to be melodic, even though their first two albums had plenty, but I'm sorry, I'm looking to be reeled in somehow and this one didn't. It's not boring, not even close. And it's a grower, taking me awhile to find things to like. Maybe after my 100th listening I'll enjoy it more, but to my ears they tried making a meaty stew but ended up with just the meat and hard to chew at that. 3 stars on effort but not even close to being something I could recommend, (except maybe to fans of RIO/advant garde).