The Mars Volta - Amputechture [2006]

The Mars Volta's 3rd album is just a basic progression of the band. The songs became longer (see 16 minutes) but there seems to be more music per minute than Frances the Mute. Rodriguez-Lopez (guitarist/songwriter) has called it their "autistic" album, which can either be taken as a compliment or an insult. Regardless, it has my favorite TMV song on it, Meccamputechure which clocks in at around 11 minutes and is basically just a solo jam session with a sick back riff and some cool lyrics which are interspersed throughout the song.
Some weird tunes, some awesome ones, and some ambiance. A standard The Mars Volta album and I love it.

Genre: Experimental
For Fans Of: Zechs Marquis, The RX Bandits, The Sound of Animals Fighting
Contact: Myspace
Tracklisting:
1. Vicarious Atonment
2. Tetragrammaton
3. Vermicide
4. Meccamputechture
5. Asilos Magdalena
6. Viscera Eyes
7. Day of the Baphomets
8. El Ciervo Vulnerado



- A

The Mars Volta - Deloused in the Comatorium [2003]

The first LP release by The Mars Volta, Deloused was a musical slap to the scene in 2003. Led by Omar Rodriguez-Lopez and Cedric Bixler-Zavala, the band's sound is a mixture of prog-rock, experimental, jazz, and Latin American. The guitars are crazy and create epic musical landscapes which are accented by the equally eccentric lyrics and vocals. Deloused is a concept album that follows a character named Cerpin Taxt (based off a friend of the bands') who fell into a coma and after waking up, killed himself. Though grim, the lyrics are very obscure and exciting as well, making Bixler-Zavala one of the more intriguing wordsmiths of the era. Well worth a listen, especially if you're into experimental music.

Genre: Experimental
For Fans Of: De Facto, Zechs Marquis, RX Bandits
Contact: Myspace
Tracklisting:
1. Son Et Lumiere
2. Inertiatic ESP
3. Roulette Dares (The Haunt Of)
4. Tira Me A Las Arañas
5. Drunkship Of Lanterns
6. Eriatarka
7. Cicatriz ESP
8. This Apparatus Must Be Unearthed
9. Televators
10. Take The Veil Cerpin Taxt
11. Ambuletz
12. A Plague Upon Your Hissing



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At The Drive-In - Relationship Of Command [2000]

Before The Mars Volta and Sparta, members from each made up At The Drive-In, a post-hardcore quintet from El Paso, Texas. Relationship of Command is the group's last album, released in 2000 at the top of their popularity it defines the late 90's hardcore and makes for a perfect transition to post-ATDI efforts. There's progression in the sound which moved into The Mars Volta's music and traditional hardcore which went to Sparta. Lead vocalist Cedric Bixler-Zavala's lyrics are cryptic and intricate, sometimes taken to be political but usually just weird (and he didn't change much when he went to TMV). This record has been called one of the most important of the 21st century, and I couldn't agree more.

Genre: Post-Hardcore
For Fans Of: Coheed and Cambria (SSTB-era), The Juliana Theory, The Mars Volta
Contact: Myspace
Tracklisting:
1. Arcarsenal
2. Pattern Against User
3. One Armed Scissor
4. Sleepwalk Capsules
5. Invalid Litter Dept.
6. Mannequin Republic
7. Enfilade
8. Rolodex Propaganda
9. Quarantined
10. Cosmonaut
11. Non Zero Possibility



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The Mars Volta - Frances The Mute (Abridged Version) [2005]

Now I love The Mars Volta as much as the next guy (assuming said "next guy" listens to them every now and again, enough to say he loves them but not enough to get tattoo), but they are arguably the most pretentious band in the musical scene right now. I'm happy for Cedric, he can like 5 minute gaps where there is little to no sound (and even that sound is ambiance, like crickets or random beeping) but when most people decide to listen to an album, they want to hear music, not blank space added to sound "mysterious." So because of that, a member of Cobalt (Cobalt and Calcium, the Coheed fan forum I frequent) decided to make an abridged version with all the bullshit taken out, leaving only the music. I love it much more than the actual version because I get the same effect without the waiting.

Genre: Experimental Progressive Rock
For Fans Of: Coheed and Cambria, At The Drive In, The Fall of Troy
Contact: Myspace
Tracklisting:
1. Cygnus... Vismund Cygnus
2. The Widow
3. L'Via L'Viaquez
4. Miranda That Ghost Just Isn't Holy Anymore
5. Cassandra Gemini

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