Composer/Musician Reacts to The Mars Volta - Tetragrammaton (REACTION!!!)
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- Опубліковано 3 лют 2021
- Bryan reacts to and talks about his thoughts on Tetragrammaton
ORIGINAL VIDEO // • Tetragrammaton
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This song has more creativity than some artists have in their entire career.
Yeah but creativity without restraint and a unifying structure is just a quagmire of loose, half-baked ideas thrown into a vacuum. Not so much a finished poem, but just a sketch book of lines and phrases. Talent rather than ability. A fleeting vision of what could have been, but ultimately never came into being.
@@gregor1O1 This is a whole song with unifying themes. GTFO
@@gregor1O1What are you referring to?
@@polkanietzsche5016 Omar Rodríguez-López and The Mars Volta specifically, and improvisational songwriting in general.
@@gregor1O1 i mean it did come into being, the song is right here and it's great
I loved that you couldn't finish any compliment without being slightly confused at the end of the sentence
This is Mars Volta
The experience of this song was certainly constant confusion. 😅
@@CriticalReactions until you listen to it a few times, are "in the know" and can jam the f out on those transitions yourself. Not a band to passively listen to .
@@CriticalReactions welcome
He is definitely a Nickelback fan! 😂
THE KIOSK IN MY TEMPORAL LOBE IS SHAPED LIKE ROSALYN CARTER
I'M STARTING TO FEEL A MISCARRIAGE COMING ON
My map is whole again but torn face down...
YOUR SICKLE CELOPHANE TENDRILS TASTE MAGNETIC
Those aren't actual lyrics, but I had you going there.
You probably dont give a shit but if you're bored like me during the covid times you can stream pretty much all the new movies and series on InstaFlixxer. Have been watching with my brother for the last few weeks :)
@Esteban Brian yea, have been using instaflixxer for years myself :D
I feel like The Mars Volta has the incredible ability to make some of my favorite moments in music and some real head-scratchingly questionable moments all in one song
It is quite an odd combination of emotions to feel within a single track -- especially when it happens so frequently 😅
I was just about to say this exact thing. I feel so mixed about them cause they have some of my favorite moments of music period and some songs and almost entire albums I can't even listen to. I am also not a fan of dissonance in music and my God does Omar love dissonance...
Dissonance when used correctly is tension leading to a harmonic resolution.
My favorite band of all time, and one of my favorite songs. The solo gives me goosebumps every time, and I've always loved the atmosphere.
You have some fair points here. They certainly aren't interested in typical Western songwriting "standards". And most of what one might say they don't like about TMV-long, dissonant, erratic, bizarre, confusing, noisy-is exactly why I love them. I very much gravitate toward proggy, heavy, dissonant noise rock. So, if someone ever says they hate TMV, I totally get it!
You may enjoy At the Drive-In more, or one of their more straightforward songs from the album Noctourniquet.
I don't remember if I said this about TMV in this video or not, but I think you'll be hard pressed to find what they do anywhere else. And that right there is more than enough to justify their music regardless of how I feel about them. I'm glad you've found them and enjoy them as much as you do :)
@@CriticalReactions Very true! Thanks for the fun videos!
Do you guys like Noctourniquet album? I remember i liked some one song only. I love "The Bedlam in Goliath" and "De-Loused in the Comatorium" albums.
@@aerahtv0000 I really like Noctourniquet. Dyslexicon and Molochwalker are incredible.
@@aerahtv0000 I think it's one of their stronger albums, though it could do with one or two songs less. I'm also ambivalent about some of the drum parts. Other than that the songwriting and production are quite interesting. In Absentia, The Malkin Jewel, the title track and A Zed and Two Naughts are some of my favourite songs of theirs
The second time I went to see them, after about 30 mins of freak-out guitar an rhythmic wizardry, I turned to a friend of mine and checked "this is still the first song, right?" It was. We both grinned in glee.
When he says ‘interesting transition’ after the first chorus goes to the second verse, I’m over here like ‘you haven’t heard ANYTHING yet...’
I love The Mars Volta and I seriously miss them.
I did too... BUT NOW THEY ARE BACK BABY!
@@nonyabuzznus2017 Yes!... but not really
@@gaspermlakar7953 an album and a tour is back enough for me!
@@nonyabuzznus2017 and unfortunately for me... I did not like this album
@@gaspermlakar7953 shhhh
I still listen to their first 4 albums all the time and I think this album is so underrated. The compositions are incredible and the musicianship is off the charts. Great last album for Jon Theodore to play on
Shame that Omar mixed him so low down on this album. Some of his best drum work. Trying to follow the ghost notes during some insane beats in Tetra and Baphomets would be MUCH easier with a clearer drum sound!
Honestly. I think this album is the most well rounded, composed and performed. So dense with incredible ideas. Nothing is rushed, nothing is overdone, every evolution and idea is compelling and interesting.
Deloused is my favorite but, I think this one is their best.
Man I wish JT wasn’t mixed so low on this one too.
Dude, I’m anxious to see your reaction to their insane track Take the Veil Cerpin Taxt
hope it's the live version from electric ballroom..... best performance by them imo
For me, my favourite thing about this song is how the moments of chaotic dissonance really emphasise the moments of beauty. Cedric's vocals in the verse are so lifting, and being surrounded by stuff that is very jarring highlights it even more. It's loud/quiet but melodic/dissonant instead!
The funniest album of The Mars Volta to me is without a doubt "Octahedron". It's basically the band saying "everyone say we sound weird and we lack song structure. Let's try to sound as mainstream as we can!", The result is an album that sounds trippy to anyone else's standard but you can see the effort there to have structured sections of songs. It ends up funny because it's like that time John Connors tells the Terminator to smile once in a while and when he does he looks creepy as fuck, well Octahedron is like the musical version of that movie scene.
Ok now I’m a bigger fan of octahedron
@@timpeterson175 had you listened to it before reading my comment?
It’s better than my comment makes it sound for sure lol.
@@alakazamle yeah, many times. But always looking for reason to go from “big fan” to “bigger fan” :]
@@timpeterson175 I don’t rate it above their other works. I just tell people to listen to that one first before trying their other stuff since it’s easier to get into. So Octahedron first, Deloused second and then any of the others.
As for Noctourniquet I tell them to listen to it last since it’s so different even for them. It definitely wasn’t what I was expecting from Mars Volta when I first listened to it.
I found that Mars Volta songs sometimes take many listens to digest. The idea of listening once and understanding Tetragrammaton, one of their more elaborate songs, in a single listen, I find difficult to buy.
Yea and they're sort of an acquired taste. Jumping balls deep into Tetragrammaton as an introduction to them isn't the best idea imo. Baby steps.
@@slimbrady6691 Check out Cavalettas from The Bedlam in Goliath. Song sounds like it's choking on itself. Not one of my favorites but I relisten just to hear that aspect, really interesting imo. Cheers!
@@aaronburns9538Lol, cavalettas is one of my favorite songs.
@@dieterbohm9700 Me too
@aaronburns9538 this was the first song of theirs that hit me hard right away and didn't let up the entire time. I had heard televators and a few others but this one was just perfect right away.
Woooow, this is one of my favorite songs ever (TMV is my fav band), i just started the video and can't wait for your reaction to it!!
After listening to this album over 50 times I can confirm its genius.
I’m right there with you buddy
I don't however dig El Ciervo Vulnerado, I get they wanted to wrap it up with sth more atmospheric like the gorgeous Vicarious Atonement but I just don't think it's really as inspired 🤷♂️
@@filipedias7284 yes, so much yes. It just doesn't feel right at all, and I skip it so often that I sometimes even forget it's in this album. Every other track is solid gold.
@@justins7711 haha, now this is a funny one, if your opinion on it ever comes to change no need to update me back but I def spoke to soon on this one as I just assumed it would never click w/ me but I had been coming back to the album lately and then in of these I just went thru the track and it dаmn wеll did lol, everyone has their own experience with music and it's funny how one can come to enjoy sth they at first didn't, peace homey ✌️✨
That's a usual thing to say after first 50 auditions :D
But rest assured - it doesn't change after next 50 :D
"A layer of dissonance on top of a song that is fairly funky" is a description of exactly why I LOVE this band. I listen to plenty of more conventional groovy funk and jazz music, and plenty of dissonant prog that is more compositionally foundational. But The Mars Volta blends these ideas together to create something I can't get from any other group. I fully appreciate that extended dissonance becomes grating for you, and I do wonder if repeated listens of some of their songs (maybe not necessarily this one) would lead you to feel less grated on and to identify more with the specific melodies and harmonies being presented, as well as the rhythms they're presented on top of. Even though the music is orchestrated chaos like you said, there's an extreme precision and intent behind every dissonant note that isn't super apparent right away, and that personally I find to be genuinely beautiful, and not just intended to be abrasive. Of course it's inherently abrasive by nature, but the intent is still melodic, and I think you can hear that once you get past the original shock of sustained dissonance and cacophony of sound. In order to create music that's this functionally dissonant in my opinion requires a brilliant grasp of melody, and I hear it as coming from a place of real emotionality rather than simply academic and experimental rule-breaking for the sake of it.
I've heard this track enough times that I can hum all the melodies, feel all the rhythms, anticipate and flow with all the transitions, and having gotten to that place, there's nothing compositionally that I would change about the song. It's challenging, exciting, discomforting, and uplifting all at the same time.
" thOught The Song wAs Going SomeWheRe PreTTy Cool end tHEn in Disintegrated " 9:21 comes in HOT and melts your fucking SOUL !!!!
2 words, Cassandra Gemini.. this monster of a 32 minute track takes you everywhere and leaves you satisfied
That song is an epic unto itself.
Going from realization, to righteous anger, to all-consuming fury, to yet darker realization, to abject horror, until finally ending with resignation
@@wrigglenight93Take the veil cerpin text is like Cassandra Gemini but summarized in 8 minutes. The 5 stages of grief made a song!.
Also, if you loved Cassandra Gemini and Mars Volta i highly recommend Van DER graaf generator and their album "Pawn hearts".
@@polkanietzsche5016I mean it was pretty much a DMT trip with death in the mix, so it makes sense.
Dissonance is the theme of the track. Tetragrammaton is the name of god in the hebraic writing (four letters...Tetra). Also depending on the spelling or writing system is an anagram. you heard a lot of 7-2-4 or 4-7-2 right?? 72 in the kabalha is the magic triangle that represents the word of god. Dissonance...unclear, mistrious. The weird transitions is everywhere in mars volta, they are very influenced by cinema, they like to build up tension in theur tracks. :)
(pre-watching) Probably my favourite song of theirs. Can't wait to hear your thoughts on it.
The atonal guitars really remind me of King Crimson. I hope you check some of that out if you already haven't. Any of the "Larks' Tongues In Aspic" tracks really go with that dissonant cross-picking.
The transitions are really off-putting and jarring at times, but that's part of the charm to me. This band is so full of chaotic energy and I love the unpredictability of their tunes. You never know which way the track is going to progress.
The noisy guitar playing at the end is absolutely TERRIFYING and I LOVE it. It may not be "traditionally likeable" but... damn, it sets a MOOD.
Man, I just really love this song. It's so wild and untamed. So much prog is too reserved these days, and it's great to hear a band just *go for it*.
@アンティオコス its oke *pats you on the head* not for everyone
How does my proggy ocult esoteric wannabe lazy @$$ did not know this exist?
Glad to introduce them to ya!
Go listen to the Deloused in the comatorium album, it’ll blow your mind 😎👍
@@CriticalReactions Brian, I appreciate. You are awesome!
@@mrlakestream Gonna do that NOW! TY
@@lohankarachay476 Deloused is their first album. Compared to this song, it’s incredibly tame. A lot of post-punk, and early 2000s indie influence. Frances the Mute, Amputecture, and Bedlam in the Goliath get “progressively” more prog, and more experimental.
I’m kinda surprised any prog head hasn’t heard of them. They were kind of mainstream (as mainstream as prog acts can get) in the 2000s.
The Mars Volta are my all-time favorite band! Excited for your thoughts on this awesome song!
Once I found The Mars Volta I couldn't listen to music without frenetic, abrasive guitars all over the place. Once you've listened to them dozens of times, they don't feel chaotic anymore, when I listen I just try to focus on the sensory experience first and emotions second.
I really like the essentially indecipherable lyrics because if I wanted to communicate/absorb ideas I'd want them written down and carefully articulated, if I want to experience something that nothing else can possibly match then I listen to The Mars Volta. (Although Tetragrammaton is one of my least favorite; it is quite jarring and all over the place, Day of the Baphomets is where it's at!)
I find it weird that people want music to be so harmonious, life isn't harmonious, they kinds of things we depict in songs are not harmonious, especially when you're creating depictions of chaotic and violent stories the way TMV do often.
The best thing about TMV: they're utterly unique. The worst thing about TMV: they're utterly unique.
100% agree. TMV are like nothing else and if you want/need this type of music then there really isn't anywhere to find it. For that alone I appreciate their passion to do whatever they want.
As for harmonious music, everyone approaches music for different reasons. Some people might want it to reflect life while others dig into music as an escape from life. For me, film and paintings are the mediums that I prefer to find reflective art in. I don't mind grittier music but I need to be in the mindset for it -- which admitidly doesn't happen often -- and when I am I'm looking for a comprehensive package of that chaos and non-harmonious qualities. I want that theme to be evident not just in the music but in the lyrics and what the song is trying to tell. I'm sure TMV has songs like that, and I'm pretty sure that the themes come across more throughout an album than in just single songs. But so far none of the TMV songs we've checked out hit that for me. They tend to be choatic for chaos sake or just to be experiemental. In a way the story-telling takes a backseat to just being unusual. At least that is the idea I've picked up with my extremely limited exposure to them.
@@CriticalReactions If you come back to them again you should try something from "Octahedron". Probably not the favorite album for hardcore fans, but I bet it is closer to what you are looking for. It holds back most of the time and brings the chaos in precise moments. "Since We've Been Wrong" is very melodic and imo a strong album opener. "Cotopaxi" is a shorter, more controlled version of their usual fast-paced action which acts as kind of a mid-album payoff after the relatively slow start. "Desperate Graves" shows a lot of their range in one track and has much smoother transitions than this song. "Luciforms" kind of goes off the deep end again but it is really a reward for their fans who stuck around through the other tracks.
Holy wow - my first time hearing this and there were a couple moments I could have closed my eyes and been convinced I was listening to Closure in Moscow. Didn’t realize how much they were influenced by The Mars Volta till now!
First time I see someone mentioning Closure in Moscow
AMAZING UNDERRATED BAND
Heck yeah - First Temple is one of my all time favorite albums.
Their follow up to first temple is straight up a mars volta album in most regards. Still pretty good
listen to the song goliath and then pink lemonade. nearly the same melodies at some points lol. i love both of them though
Yesss when I heard closure in Moscow back in the day I always though they were very heavily influenced by the Mars Volta
I think is really difficult to appreciate Mars Volta starting from their last works, and may be it’s impossible to appreciate just a single song. Every album is a journey that should be listened from the start to the end. Most of the thing I love of them is their capability to modulate emotions during the listening, changing rythm and dynamic.
agreed.. love them, only thing is it can be exhausting..
"My fingernail choir will make the chalkboard sing"
While i'm not a huge fan of these guys, I will say this is one of the few bands that I find myself consistently listening to just the drums for whole sections and not even realizing it. Their drummer is nuts.
Yeah, they have always had really good drummers.
As a guy that has been disappointed in metal for the last 20 yrs Bedlam in Goliath was a godsend..
This is the first album by this band that I listened to, and I'll admit that I put it down not really liking it the first time I heard it. I think that there are bands that hook you right away, bands you have to immerse yourself in, and bands you have to put down and then come back to equipped with expectations better suited to what you're stepping into. The Mars Volta is most definitely the last one. I initially had a similar reaction to you, coming as a fan of more conventional prog bands like Dream Theater and Fates Warning. Now they're easily one of my favorites.
If you want something a bit more accessible, their final album, Noctourniquet has some great tracks that aren't as much of a deep dive into experimental composition. Zed and Two Naughts is good track from that album. On the other hand, on this same album, Day of the Baphomets is a song that I always enjoy seeing people react to. It's.... not less chaotic than this.
Not only one of the best TMV songs, but one of the best songs ever written imo.
Edit: But it's definitely one you need to work your way up to...
i agree-
I have been waiting for you to react to and dissect this song...After absorbing your whole dissection of the song, I feel strange for this song not being challenging at all for me to listen to. And stranger for it being almost "easy listening." This thing takes my mind to a place that music rarely takes me to. To the point of eargasmic bliss.
It doesn’t feel challenging to me as well. Some Volta songs push me there, but most do not
Even though its not your cup of tea, you described the composition very well. funky and well timed sections with groove covered in dissonance and atonal.
I fully agree with your interpretation, it's so groovy and hard to listen to at the same time. I feel like it is a crazy mixture of feeling on the edge (in the end the guitars even sound just like a bunch alarms going off) and having a lot of fun in the midst of it. Like watching a movie scene of an evil and sadist, chaotic and powerful entity. I think it's awesome.
LOVE Mars Volta...really glad to see ya reacting to them!
the guitar harmonizing with the vocals and the sax.... 😳😳😳😳😳😳😳
Omar is a damn living legend, this song just keeps going, epic video brother, really enjoyed that.
This song always FELT like a zombie apocalypse to me, everytime you think your safe, another horde shows up to rip you apart, and the chase ensues.
I love how you got quieter and quieter as the song went on, as if you were struggling to keep up with the directions it was going in. Say what you will about The Mars Volta, but some of their songs can almost demand split-brain focus or risk melting into mush.
I'd grown up with The Widow without knowing who it was from, and then my teenage brother sent me Cygnus because I love instrumentals, but I remember when my two teenage siblings first properly subjected me to this band on car trips. _Loudly._ The absolute chaos. The dissonance. It made me lose my shit. Not sure why but dissonance really tickles me. I find it hilarious, so I tend to enjoy it. Volta's one of my favourite bands at this point. Meccamputechture is one of my favourite songs of all time. Still get chills at the outro.
If you want a very catchy and groovy song by them, i suggest you the song 'Ilyena' (or 'Goliath' if you want a longer one).
@アンティオコス it’s the first TMV song I heard and it got me hooked into them
What drew me to TMV was they wielded the abrasiveness of some metal and the exploratory tendencies of prog. I would Recommend the song "Goliath" or "Aegis". Both songs are pretty groove oriented sans the dissonance that was an issue for you. If you don't like those tracks then TMV just isn't for you.
THANK YOU! Waiting for someone to mention Aegis, by far the best on noctourniquet and the only song on that album I truly loved. That first song...the music is so thin that Omar's vocals end up SHRILL.
@@paulstoliker3303 I think you meant Cedric but anyways I feel like I'm the only TMV fan that loves "The Whip Hand". The chorus has always reminded me of something The Kinky Wizards from High Fidelity would produce. Noctourniquet definitely isn't "on par" with their previous efforts, but viewed on its own, it still has many moments of greatness and I'll take something different over artists catering to their fans and trying to regurgitate the same thing over and over.
Another one of my favorites, so many good things from these guys
Many years ago i went to a Mars Volta gig(was their first album after the break up of At the drive-in) and they were insanely good.
I think you perfectly described this song. The name of the album is Amputechture. It always reminded me of sort object being amputated and structured in a very bizarre way. Similar to how you described a rock song being created then purposefully destroyed. Love this song.
The band came up with the name by combining amputate + architecture + technology
Never clicked so fast, great song and great commentary, i love the fact that you analyze and dont simply react to the songs
Really great analysis. I've been a Volta fan for a long time now, and your criticisms are on point. They're definitely a "love them or hate them" type of band.
A few points:
It sounds so much like a structured chaos because all of the music is written by one guy. Omar Rodriguez Lopez. That guy pouring the relentless dissonant guitar in your left ear - he writes practically everything. Then Cedric handles all of the vocal work. They're essentially a two man operation with a live band and few permanent/contributing members. There's a great interview where Omar describes himself as a kind of demanding film director with his approach to production, bringing each musician into the studio to "shoot" their parts, and then going away and quietly stitching it all together. It's very deliberate. Meticulous. He's just kind of insane. He also didn't wanna play guitar in this band (they're also alt-punk band At The Drive-In), so he just decided he'd make the guitar sound like anything but a guitar. It's pure experimentalism. Dude is a machine with 49 _solo_ studio albums.
Also, it's interesting that you picked this song because the other band had more of a concept album. I don't know the other band (although I'm going to check them out now for sure), but Volta have always had highly conceptual albums (particularly the first two). This song is from what is probably their least conceptual, but this song and album, for the most part, are about the Magdalene Asylums; which were a set of Protestant/Roman Catholic institutions that effectively served as penitentiary work-houses for women who were deemed by the church as "fallen", or rather, promiscuous. These songs are about their yearning to escape the torment of these asylums, layered with religious symbolism and Cedric's charactistic nonsensical language magic. _The kiosk in my temporal lobe is shaped like Rosalyn Carter._
I think it's also important to keep in mind that they were very much a live band in their heyday. A lot of it is kind of designed for that type of atmosphere. Imagine those transitions being blasted at you live. Chaotic, but very deliberately structured. A band all tightly in sync. With Omar swinging his guitar around his neck, a drummer who doesn't seem to stop, and Cedric doing front flips off bass amps. The whole stage show is chaos, and it feeds the crowd like nothing else. Some of the best live experiences I've ever had. I'll never forget the sound of that horn intro. Volta fans know what I mean. Breaks my heart that I'll never hear it again.
But for sure, I do hear the nails on chalk boards. Undeniably. I guess I'm just one who relishes in the chaos.
Fantastic comment that sheds light on a lot of info and context that I was missing. Thanks!
Kinda feels people are putting you up for a challenge on purpose, this is certainly not an easy song (not saying you can't handle complex) to get used to. I wonder why no one suggests L'via L'viaquez or Televators, even The Widow so to show other aspects of the band, and how those fit in with the more difficult ones.
I think there is certainly an aspect of challenge here and that's fine. But also some people just love suggesting their favorite tracks or maybe something they feel is underrepresented on the channel and those reasons work too. This is the third TMV song we've listened to on the channel thus far and I can honestly say it's a third side of them that I've listened to. I don't know how many facets this band has but I'm continuously impressed with their variety even if I don't always enjoy their music.
It’s an acquired taste, my brain really enjoyed every minute.
Mars Volta is my favorite
With regards to composition, two thoughts come to mind. Omar (composer/lead guitarist) has stated in multiple places he records all tracks separately and arranges them himself (band members recording cold without context) and thinks more in terms of feel/mood of a section and song, citing his favorite filmmakers as direct compositional inspirations. The term volta itself is a film term coined by fellini if I remember right. He's also scored actual film before. He also said this album in particular is more vignette-ish (references twin peaks and x-files as inspiration) than overarching concept/mood like the previous two albums.
That's very interesting. Reminds me of classical composition where the composer and performers are two separate entities. As a musician you practice your part and afterwards, when you do your first full band rehearsal, will you understand how your part fits into the song.
Your criticism was spot on, but that's the reason I like them so it sounds a compliment to me.
This reaction was the most meaningful TMV analysis I've ever heard. Really appreciate it, thanks.
L’Via L’Viaquez is the one where all their disparate elements gels best. The Latin rhythms, the prog and psychedelia, the ambient/chill sections. It's like if Santana swallowed post-hardcore
This is also what happens when a genius composer experiments with heroin and psychedelics
sort of true, he'd given up heroin well before this song was recorded.
This song is like three songs mixed together 🔥🔥🔥🔥
Drums go crazy in this one.
your reasoning for picking Mars Volta over Between the Buried in me because you need to experience the full album is even more so for Mars Volta as they have far more cohesive concepts on every album.
I love how you never know where you're stepping the whole time, it's how I've felt through most first listens of TMV
The grooves and the chaos really complement each other I think, pure chaos is a bit much, but pure grooves can quickly become "flat" or superficial to me too, I like how the grooves tie it together while you can still indulge in how absurd and messy it is
but also tbf you really picked one of their most all-over-the-place and incohesive songs here. Personally my favorite Mars Volta album is Bedlam in Goliath, I'd be curious what you think about that. It's very heavy and uncompromising (definitely need to be in the mood), chaotic too, but I'd say in a way that's more overall cohesive and comprehensible than this song? It's also a great concept album whereas Amputechture has less of an overarching concept and it invites less to listen the entire thing in one go.
The Mars Volta was such a unique and marvelous band. They did what ever what they wanted mixing chaos and order and coming up with the greatest music ever. Hats off every time for the drummer and the bassist!
Jon & Juan are the best.
I'm with you on this song and that is how I feel with each successive album release from Mars Volta. There are sections that work, but there are also a lot of other sections that are just 'avant-garde' indulgences. I feel like the band hit their peak with their first album (Deloused in the Comatarium). If you ever get a chance to revisit them, and I know you already covered one of their songs from there, check out the whole album (not necessarily for your YT channel) because it works better at the album level. Understandably it may not be anytime soon or ever but there is a just the right amount of dissonance and musicality, imo. I really enjoyed this album (also a concept album) and they were just coming from their hardcore/punk era roots of At the Drive In and tried to integrate Latin music influences into their music.
On a related note I saw that you did enjoy the more recent Leprous works. The reason why I bring them up is I also feel like they were the most interesting with their first 2 albums (Tall Poppy Syndrome, Bilateral). They seemed more willing to experiment with changing time signatures and chord progressions back then. Their newer works are more polished and maybe more technically proficient. However, they are more repetitive to me. Imo, worth back tracking on their catalog if you get a chance.
You really need to do a full album listen, for Frances the Mute, Bedlam, Amputecture and Noctourniquet as they are (imo) meant to be listened to as one as they generally have recurring themes and sounds
I listen to their album Deloused in the Comatorium at least three times per week. It's based on a book written by the lead vocalist. I'll let you dive into what it's about though. No spoilers
I used to listen to this album everyday for a good year. Not sure why... Just an awesome album I guess!
I'd suggest starting with Colors, as first BTBAM album. It's their second album with their current lineup and it has calls forwards and backwards to other albums, IE the song Prequel To The Sequel is about what happens later on in the Parallax albums. Colors is my favorite album of all time, learning it on guitar ATM.
yea, and colors is what put them on the map, from what i understand
this is my favorite song.
how
@@ChrisChoi123 everyone has preferences. mine just happen to be quite strange. but the mars volta is 100% my favorite band.
and the children go grinding their jaws
i love the mars volta but i agree with your thoughts on this song. when this album came out, i was initially let down as their first two albums were probably my favorite albums i had ever heard at the time. there are bits and pieces in this song i think are brilliant but it was always hard for me to get over the cat-screetching dissonance at times. funny enough...about 5 seconds after this song ends, the next song is probably their most radio friendly song they ever made. it was literally on the radio here in the Dallas area for a few weeks. i think you will be hard pressed to not like their first album from a composition / producing vantage. look forward to you attempting to give them another go in the future haha!
if you get back to these guys, I recommend "Roulette Dares" from their first full album Deloused in the Comatorium.
yeah that song is very "Frances the Mute" kind of song, wild and beautiful
Bryan, a list of straightforward songs that you would most likely enjoy and could analyze with your criteria would be "The Widow", "Televators", "Noctourniquet", "Lopachka", "Zed and Two Naughts", "L'Via L'Viaquez", "The Malkin Jewel", "Desperate Graves", "Concertina" (Post Temulant Version)
Desperate Graves*
@@jay4.166 thanks for catching the auto correct, gonna edit that
Can ANYONE tell me the time signatures? There must be a few. Sorry to be so dense but I have no clue.
Drunkship is a great track by Mars Volta .. my fav..
You said you get the idea of the Mars volta because you listen to a couple songs, the thing is every single songs are all drastically different in a lot of way, it's one thing about them is that it's so fun discovering everything they put out because you'd never know what you're getting into
One of my favorites from them, hell yea.
This song is so sick
i think theyre good at building tension making you crave the resolve
I find this very intriguing. I've heard of these guys but never investigated. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I like experimental that grooves.
When I started dabbling in THe Volta this album really grabbed me first. Epic.
masterpiece
I like your unbiased critique. I only with this wasn't the first or 2nd track by TMV that you had to experience. There are so many that are easier on your ears and have the elements you mentioned that you look for in great song writing. Although as a fan I enjoy this track, I would never start a new listener off on this album. You should read on how the guitarist went about recording this album and then you'll understand the direction they went.
Ahhh the sweet sweet sounds of controlled chaos! I always compared Omar Rodriguez's guitar style to a spider-like crawl through scales. Almost like Debussy's approach to romantic styles in his time.
Thanks for sitting through it buddy.
Where can i hear/see some of your compositions?
On my channel's main page I have a link to my compositions in the "Featured Channels" section. I've also started a BandLab account recently for posting the stuff I write for the Critical Reactions monthly Composition Jam. This is the latest song I've written, for the June jam www.bandlab.com/criticalcomposer/surprises-through-the-forest-draft-1-ba5aeb84
FWIW, I really like dissonance myself; it always sounds like a breath of fresh air given how tonal and consonant the vast majority of western music is. I'd actually thought about recommending a Schnittke track for my special selection and he's a composer that loves to wallow in dissonance (often breaking down tonal compositions into atonal chaos). Maybe next time!
Didn't pick Between The Buried and Me because their albums are concept albums... uhhh... The Mars Volta...
I love how every time you explain what’s happening, the song goes “Nope.....AJGMEJGKSJFKD” haha this band is awesome
If you're going to dive deeper into TMV, I think I should go against the general consensus and say hold off on Day of the Baphomets and Cassandra Gemini. In my opinion these songs are, respectively, the mid-boss and final boss of The Mars Volta's discography. Both are seriously dense and tough listens, and DotB in particular is just straight relentless. From your reaction here and on Cygnus, I can't imagine you'd enjoy either of them.
The things you dont like about the band are what make me love them😊
Bryan, thank you for another fun reaction & review! This is one of my all-time favorite bands so it means a lot :) In the past, I suggested Unexpect so there's definitely a pattern :D If you ever feel like dipping into their music again, I would suggest Unfed Pendulum ua-cam.com/video/wQeUZ5iT-ss/v-deo.html&ab_channel=rockapartie (live footage with studio album version - lots of layers, great vocals, smoother transitions)
Amputechture was a transition album from their first two albums which contain more lengthy songs filled to the brim with noisy passages that seem to not go anywhere (you know what I mean) to more more traditional composition :) Although, they always managed to make it weird and their own :D Examples include Viscera Eyes from Amputechture, Ilyena from Bedlam in Goliath, Cotopaxi from Octahedron, and In Absentia from Noctourniquet. You may like those tracks more. And as some have mentioned, At the Drive-In and Antemasque may be more up your alley.
I din't enjoy this the first time listening either. But that's often the case with highly experimental prog for me. After several listens it really grew on my though. Now I absolutely love it and it's probably my favourite track from The Mars Volta. Same like with some Yes stuff like Tales From Topographic Oceans.
Omar (guitarist, producer) would probably like this review, criticisms and all. An apocryphal story has a producer telling him that, when making music, he should also consider the "ear of the common man" and his supposed response was "I want to be a needle in the ear of the common man."
Especially this period in their career, TMV felt like they were really testing the limits of how much dissonance was acceptable. So many songs off of their second, third, and fourth albums all kind of skirt that line (and dip over it for many people). Hell, I LOATHED this song the first time I heard it, and now it's one of my favorites of theirs (alongside "Cassandra Gemini," which I also hated at first).
As someone who gets bored with music easily, challenging, difficult, unpleasant stuff like this is some of my favorite stuff. But it's also REALLY weird and as you said, breaks most of the "rules."
One of my all time favorites But you definitely started on one of the harder ones. They have a bunch of easier songs to get into, and I absolutely started with those myself. Songs like Roulette Dares, The Widow, Son et Lumiere/Inertiatic Esp, Wax Simulacra, Goliath, Empty Vessels etc.
Then you step it up with Meccamputechture, Conjugal Burns, Ouroborous, Take the Veil Cerpin Taxt.
And if you are still around after all that, you play the entirety of Cassandra Gemini lying on the floor in a dark room with a single weak source of light above you, as you get taken out on a violent adventure, splitting your head, washing it of all you hold dear and then pulling you ashore in its final parts, where you are finally offered something resembling human rhythm and beat, making it all the more sweet. You start appreciating not only these beautiful tones, but your ears, your body, your food, your wife, friends, possibilities and life. Then you weep. Then you pass out. Then you wake up at approximately 11pm and go get a burger, even though you don’t really like burgers. You are just so happy - knowing people are creative and obsessed enough to make that shit you just heard - that you want that stupid, simple burger. You could be copying scripture in China in 5800BC or being forced into muddy trenches in 1916, but you were born in the time where people were insane enough to make this art right here.
You get the burger. You try to tip the person working there, but then you remember there ain’t no tipping at mcdonalds, and you laugh and go “awww gee whiz” and the people working there give eachother this knowing look, like “yeah, he just sat through the entire Cassandra Gemini for sure”.
I would love to see you take a ride through Goliath or Aberenkula.
All the abrupt transitions make "Amputecture" a pretty fitting name for the album.
Delused in the comatorium is my fav album
ill have to say that this song grows on you. Yes, it is very difficult to listen to but it kind of fits as you become more used to the different layers. My wife hates it tho XD
These guys were the best!
The best song ever written
Hahaha for some reason you breaking down and slightly dissing this song only made me like it more.
Honestly, that's the point. I never critique a song in order to diminish it in any way. It always comes from a place of respect and admiration even if the track didn't quite work for me. That's why I avoid negative descriptions ('this is trash') and always clarify that these are just my opinions. I'm glad that my process and goals shine through and continue to help people enjoy their favorite musics more.
John Frusciante played the guitar tracks on this album.
Omar rodriguez-lopez wrote them though
The whole album.. ORL written.. played by John Frusciante
@@nicholasniebish2774 i thought it was some parts not the whole album....
@@tn5074 On the liner notes of original GSL pressings it lists Frusciante as part of The Mars Volta Group.. and from interviews at the time that Omar wanted more of a listeners perspective while producing so he enlisted Frusciante, who appeared on tracks on both previous albums because he was familiar enough with the music and proficient enough to pull it off..
@@nicholasniebish2774 So he is like every other musician in the band? he plays additional guitars not all guitar parts. He plays nearly all the tracks on Amputechture (which was due to ORL acting as producer and wanting members to perform tracks in isolation from one another) but only a small amount on deloused & frances the mute.... i.e. First two guitar solos on "L'Via L'Viaquez" and rhythm on deloused :). Lets give ORL credit when credits due
I think The Mars Volta is more on the side of needing to experience the full album to understand.
This song is like Can meets King Crimson meets Frank Zappa meets Pink Floyd meets Yes meets MC5.
I find tracks from this era of The Mars Volta are really great hype up music to listen in the background when I'm gaming or working out. They work better within the context of the full album and are hard to just sit down and listen through individually, imo.
that autotune sections sound so cool bro
This can be a pretty frustrating album. It seems to alternate between pleasing the listening and pleasing itself.