A Lesson in Confusion by The Mars Volta
Finally after days of kicking myself for not picking up the new Mars Volta album, “Frances the Mute”, I finally bit the bullet and picked it up. I listened to it a couple of days and let myself honestly get an opinion of the album.
I was highly anticipating this album because I am a fan of the odd style and non-structured music of At the Drive-In, two former members are now in MV, and their first (second, if you’re including the EP, “Tremulant”) album, “De-loused at the Comatorium”.
From past experience I know that Mars Volta and At The Drive-In are very very strange and unique bands. Their lyrics are almost completely confusing, yet still you care about what is being said. The sound is unlike you have ever heard.
Now to “Frances the Mute”. I knew I was in for a messed up musical experience just based on the album art. It features men (I think) with red cloth covering their faces and people hanging upside down from tress. The insert of the album features the lyrics, which are almost indescernable, due to the fact that a bunch of the lyrics are in spanish. The english lyrics are every bit as confusing tho. At least, when you’re listening in spanish, you aren’t supposed to understand them. In an interview lead singer guitarist, Omar A Rodriguez-Lopez, said that the album is based upon a diary found in the back of a Taxi cab, which chronicled an adopted child’s journey to find his birth parents. You can get the sense of that with some of the lyrics, but most you just say “huh?”. This does very little to take away from the album, especially since most MV fans realize that the lyrics are going to be very cryptic from past experience.
There is a high level of frustration with this album tho. I can take the static and noises. I can take the spanish. I can take it all, but in small doses. When a 13 minute song is comprised of 8 minutes of strange noises and the other 5 is actual singing there becomes an issue. The 5 minutes of singing may be the most genius piece of work you have ever heard, but you don’t want to sit for 8 more to get to the next. Also, I wouldn’t mind 8 minutes of instruments, but it isn’t, it’s just sound. The frustration is more based on the wasted potential this time has. If it was a 40 minute album without the static and noise then I would say its one of the most refreshing albums in recent memory and if it was an hour plus album full of sonic goodness it could be one of my favorites. The changes of pace are sudden and unexpected and often work better than anticipated. I feel that soundwise this is the best album from either the ATDI or the MV crew, but I don’t feel like having to fast forward through the crap to get to the good stuff.
It is hard for me to recommend this album and even harder for me not to. If you are already a fan then you are aware of how the MV are and should have no problem dealing with the filling that seems to be in this album. If you aren’t it may take some time to overcome the drastic difference from albums you are accustomed to. If I was basing my rating on the music found in between the noise, I would give this album a 5 out of 5. However, if I were to rate the album as a whole, I would have to settle for a 3.5 out of 5. Hopefully next time around they can capitalize more on their talents instead of letting weird sounds drown out their musical potential.
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