Frances The Mute [Archive]

KillerGremlin

02-27-2005, 05:10 PM

So, I don't know how many of you are fans of The Mars Volta, or emo for that matter, but on Tuesday, the new Mars Volta CD comes out, Frances The Mute.

The Mars Volta is a pretty popular band, but, they are one of the few mainstream bands that I honestly give a damn about nowadays.

I've had my pirated copy of the CD for about 2 months, and I've only listened to it once or twice. I've been trying to preserve the originality of the CD. The thing is, the final version has been changed from 5 tracks, one clocking in at 31 minutes, to 15 tracks - which means the whole CD has been broken down - for simple listening. That sort of upsets me, because I would rather see a band be more gutsy and take a stab at appealing to a smaller audience, but whatever.

Circuit City is selling the CD for $5.99, so I'm thinking this is a steal. I plan to pick my copy up on Tuesday. Any comments?

DarrenMcLeod

02-27-2005, 06:39 PM

This album is great... even though they did split up the 5 songs you can't really tell, it just makes it easier to skip sections of songs. There are still the 13 minute songs of experimentation that you'd expect from Cedric and Omar.

I wouldn't really classify it as emo though like you did... they are a far cry from whats being considered emo these days.

KillerGremlin

02-27-2005, 07:03 PM

Yeah, emo really is a bad classification of the band.

I'd say they are progressive rock, but maybe more experimental progressive rock.

How much have you listened to it, and do you think it's better then De-Loused?

Dyne

02-27-2005, 08:01 PM

Typhoid

02-27-2005, 08:37 PM

The Mars Volta is neither Emo or Progressive rock. They've said so themselves. They said the best description for the band would be "A rock band trying to be a salsa band." So, It would be Salsa rock.

It doesnt matter what a band calls themselves, its classified by style, not by what the band says.

If the Backstreet Boys said they did Hardcore Death Metal, by your standards, that would make them do Hardcore Death Metal.

And I also wouldnt call The Mars Volta mainstream. They are never on the radio, and never on TV, I never hear news about them, and consequently, never hear any songs.

And they can be Emo.

Or Emo-Rock.

Dyne

02-27-2005, 08:51 PM

Emo is such a dumbass label.

All music is "emotional." "Emo" music is really just sad, woeful music to me. They should label all emo music "DEPRESSING" music, not EMOTIONAL. With that aside, The Mars Volta is hardly ever depressing.

But it's true that the Mars Volta isn't that mainstream. When their sound engineer died and the news was spread out, everybody was like.. "Who's The Mars Volta?"

They're in tight-knit with the Red Hot Chili Peppers and they opened for them, for a tour.

The Germanator

02-27-2005, 09:49 PM

I've heard some of The Mars Volta and I'm not that into it. I'll listen to some more on the network later and maybe my opinion will change a bit.

KillerGremlin

02-27-2005, 09:55 PM

Well, At The Drive in got big for a week, and The Mars Volta was basically At The Drive In's spawn. Yeah, The Mars Volta isn't exactly big, but Frances The Mute is ranked #22 on Amazon.com right now, so someone must have some interest in the band.

The Mars Volta has always had an appeal to me.....I don't think they are as soincally cohesive as At The Drive In was, but I think that's just the way they are. They're a jam band - so yeah, I guess you could call them Salsa rock. I still think they have a slight progressive side to their music, of course, it's nothing compared to what bands like Dream Theater or Dark Tranquillity have done, but meh.

Like I said before, for 6 dollars, you really can't go wrong with The Mars Volta. And yeah....the emo trend thing is pretty stupid. =/

The Germanator

02-27-2005, 11:17 PM

Dyne

02-28-2005, 01:50 AM

Is The Widow on Frances the Mute? I saw the music video about a week ago and I thought it was crap. If the rest of the album is like that, then I don't think I'll buy it right away.

Maybe De-loused was only good because Flea did the bass. And John Fruiscante was in Cicatriz ESP.

jeepnut

02-28-2005, 10:31 AM

Alright, well I listened to some more of them tonight, and my opinion definitely worsened. They just aren't my type of thing. I'm not really into songs that are 8-12 minutes long. I'd rather have nice quick pop song in 3-4 minutes than some unnecessary noise for 10 minutes. Jamming is just not my thing when it comes to listening to music.

You should get Norma Jean's new record then!

Oh...wait, you said no to the unnecessary noise. Well dang.

Well, March 1st is the day for anyone who likes sceaming, feedback, thunderous drums, and almost zero melody in their music.

The Germanator

02-28-2005, 01:04 PM

Here is a review of Frances The Mute if anyone is interested... http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/record-reviews/m/mars-volta/frances-the-mute.shtml

And Jeepnut...yes, that sounds exactly what I DO NOT want to listen to. :p

Dyne

02-28-2005, 01:28 PM

Here is a review of Frances The Mute if anyone is interested... http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/record-reviews/m/mars-volta/frances-the-mute.shtml

Interesting review, to say in the least.

I'll have to preview it before I buy it.

KillerGremlin

02-28-2005, 04:24 PM

You have to read multiple reviews before you make an assessment. I listened to it again last night, and there was a lot of good stuff on the CD, but some of the filler got annoying. On the other hand, I have a decent collection of prog music, music that has "officially" been dubbed prog, so long-winded songs and ambience don't bother me.

Hell, try sitting through Fantomas' Delirium Cordia. It's 1 song, 74 minutes long. More ambience then music probably, hehe. Delirium Cordia Reviews (amazon) (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0000C43TE/qid%3D1109625845/sr%3D11-1/ref%3Dsr%5F11%5F1/103-0545322-7606251)

KillerGremlin

03-01-2005, 06:57 PM

So, I just picked up my copy of Frances The Mute. It was 6.44 with tax. I have to say, I'm pretty damn impressed with the CD so far. Some of the vocal sections go into a firey passion, and that brings back fond memories of At The Drive In. I will say that there is some annoying filler, and the band feels that it is neccessary to put 2 minutes of "noise" at the end of each track. That aside, the CD is actually very creative, with a lot of nice jam parts, and it reminds me of a lot of different things. I think the seperation of tracks has actually helped, and the CD is better now then it was back when I downloaded it a while ago. My second complaint is the big ass anti-piracy warning on the CD, which is ironic, because I had the CD a long time ago. Overall though, the flow of the music does feel a lot better when it's not one giant track with about 15 minutes of lumped in filler.

Anyway, I recommend that you at least look into this CD if you are a fan of Sparta, At The Drive In, or The Mars Volta. However, this is a far cry away from being "album of the year," and you really have to appreciate what these guys do to get into the music.

That said, I'm thinking 3.2/5 right now, or 6.4/10 which looks better.

mickydaniels

05-20-2005, 12:46 PM

Alright, well I listened to some more of them tonight, and my opinion definitely worsened. They just aren't my type of thing. I'm not really into songs that are 8-12 minutes long. I'd rather have nice quick pop song in 3-4 minutes than some unnecessary noise for 10 minutes. Jamming is just not my thing when it comes to listening to music.

I'd never heard of these guys before this record came out and there was an article on them in the paper. That, and posts like these led me to buy it. I can truly say that I am very impressed.