Things I Think I Should Be Writing Down

Friday, July 07, 2006

amputecture


De-Loused In The Comatorium is a wattershed record for this generation. Although not really that perfect, it's one I know I'll be name dropping in conversations about music I listened to in high school ten years from now. It's a sharp, kaleidosopic assembly of prog rock married with new millenium recording sensibilties. I've said it before and I'll say it again: Rick Rubin was essential to the band's early sound as the actual musicians were. Without him, I'd find it very hard to beleive that The Mars Volta would be viewed as anything more than ex At The Drive-In members who liked to play with their guitar pedals. With Rubin's guidance, came The Mars Volta's identity: The premiere musical experimentalists of this decade.

But then, two years later, the band attempted to eschew that by releasing a mindfuckingly boring concept album. Let's admit it. Frances the Mute sorta sucked. Besides L'Via L'Vazquez, and maybe, like the first five minutes of the last track, there wasn't much to write home about. Although the experiementation on the album may sound cool, the lack of a decently constructed track around it caused the album's quality to suffer big time.

So, I didn't have high hopes when I heard that a new record was coming out. I'm actually surprised in the turnaround time - Frances came out in March of last year, followed by a live album last fall - and here we are a little less than a year and a half later with a brand new studio record. A much, much, better studio record.

Produced by Omar Rodriguez-Lopez, the band's wunderkind (and almost solely responsible for the musical direction on the last album), Mars Volta's third LP a sharper, much colorful disc compared with their last one. Sure, nearly half the tracks on the album eclipse the ten minute point - but instead of your attention wondering elsewhere, you're completely engaged with the material. It's a rollercoaster. Predictabilty is out the window - where you think you can see where one idea is going, it immediately switches into something much more thrilling. Some songs are still a little half baked, like the leadoff single "Vermicide" and the opener "Vicareous Atonement", but this is certainly an improvement.

Without Rubin at the helm, I'm going to find it very hard to beleive that Volta will ever be able to make a record that will sustain my interest the entire way through - but with Amputecture, it comes pretty damn close.

The Mars Volta - Meccamputecture (13.08 mb, mp3)

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