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Thread: The Mars Volta

  1. #51
    Member mnprogger's Avatar
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    bump.

    https://consequenceofsound.net/2019/...volta-reunion/

    "Early Saturday morning, frontman Cedric Bixler-Zavala hinted at the band’s impending comeback in a tweet. Responding to a fan who said “I dream with you guys giving TMV a new chapter,” Bixler-Zavala replied, “It’s happening.”

  2. #52
    Quote Originally Posted by mnprogger View Post
    bump.

    https://consequenceofsound.net/2019/...volta-reunion/

    "Early Saturday morning, frontman Cedric Bixler-Zavala hinted at the band’s impending comeback in a tweet. Responding to a fan who said “I dream with you guys giving TMV a new chapter,” Bixler-Zavala replied, “It’s happening.”
    I just found out about this at the Rolling Stone.com site and I'm looking forward to seeing TMV in action again!

  3. #53
    Member doh's Avatar
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    Well, that is exciting. I really enjoy this band and need to revisit their whole catalog again.

  4. #54
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    Strangely I just re-listened to their whole catalogue. Some of their stuff I love, and some just leaves me cold. At their best, the music is electric and alive and exudes awesomeness. I think that Frances the Mute is still my favourite, but they have lots of great tracks spread over all of their releases. For example, Noctourniquet is far from their best IMO, but Empty Vessels Make the Loudest Sound, is an absolutely stunning song.



    neil

  5. #55
    Member mnprogger's Avatar
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    bump.

    very sad news, Bassist Juan Aldrete was in a bike accident and is suffering from a Brain injury :'(

    https://www.facebook.com/JuanAlderet...type=3&theater

  6. #56
    Quote Originally Posted by mnprogger View Post
    bump.

    very sad news, Bassist Juan Aldrete was in a bike accident and is suffering from a Brain injury :'(

    https://www.facebook.com/JuanAlderet...type=3&theater
    So sorry to hear abut this. Hoping that Juan can make a full recovery from his brain injury.
    Last edited by starless and bible black; 02-04-2020 at 09:33 AM. Reason: spelling

  7. #57
    I only have the first two, and while I liked them well enough, I didn't feel interested in getting any more. I think at the time the third album came out I was so into sympho prog that I just didn't think I wanted to listen to new and experimental music like theirs (I'm only half kidding).

    I will have to pull those albums out and give them another listen.

    What I liked most, was at the time Francis the Mute was released I worked in a CD store (remember those?). I found it very encouraging that we sold out of that album the first day it was available (something like 300 copies, possibly more, I don't remember). This was in a small college town. People drove from nearby towns to get it as well. These were overwhelmingly young guys (pretty much all guys, from what I remember, so MV are obviously prog, lol), late teens to early 20's. Whether you like their music or not, you can't really say it's typical commercial fare, and I'm reasonably sure they never got radio play (though even in 2005 that wasn't really terribly important anymore). It just made me happy to see that and gave me hope that young people could appreciate more challenging music. I tired suggesting a number of prog bands that we had in stock, and a few of them obliged and picked up a handful of modern prog stuff (though not many, admittedly).

    Anyway, I'm gong to break those albums out again as I haven't listened to them in many years. My tastes have broadened considerably since then, so I may like them more than I did (and I liked them well enough back then, just didn't love them).

  8. #58
    Member mud_shark's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by mnprogger View Post
    bump.

    https://consequenceofsound.net/2019/...volta-reunion/

    "Early Saturday morning, frontman Cedric Bixler-Zavala hinted at the band’s impending comeback in a tweet. Responding to a fan who said “I dream with you guys giving TMV a new chapter,” Bixler-Zavala replied, “It’s happening.”
    I love TMV, but Cedric's voice was shot a few years back - can't see how it would be any better now - unless he keeps to a lower register for new material

  9. #59
    Member Haruspex Carnage's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by mud_shark View Post
    I love TMV, but Cedric's voice was shot a few years back - can't see how it would be any better now - unless he keeps to a lower register for new material
    Yeah...i have an opposite opinion of the two of them...Cedric's better studio and Omar's better live...he completely mangles/forgets/is too stoned to care about the words or his actual performance live...but i guess that's also "punk" or something...and i say that as a fan, don't misunderstand.

  10. #60
    Member Yodelgoat's Avatar
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    Ive seen a few younger girls (under 30) walking around with cool Mars Volta Tshirts. Not sure if its just about a look, or if they were actually into them.

  11. #61
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    Quote Originally Posted by infandous View Post
    What I liked most, was at the time Francis the Mute was released I worked in a CD store (remember those?). I found it very encouraging that we sold out of that album the first day it was available (something like 300 copies, possibly more, I don't remember). This was in a small college town. People drove from nearby towns to get it as well. These were overwhelmingly young guys (pretty much all guys, from what I remember, so MV are obviously prog, lol), late teens to early 20's.
    Yes the MV craze was a wild phenomenon for a year or two. I'll add a story with a female component. I was killing some time at a Tower CD store when FTM came out and this bleach blond lady probably around 40-50 comes in wearing a bikini and coverup and starts bossing around the clerk.

    "My daughter wants a CD. Help me find it!"
    uhh, what is it called?
    "I dunno. Mars. Well Mars something. Do you have it??"
    I'm sorry, I'm not sure I...
    "Wait! I'll call her... [on phone...] What? Mars? What? Volta? Volta what?"
    By this time the clerk has moved on to help someone else so she finally shouts all the way across the store "MARS VOLTA! THAT'S WHAT SHE WANTS!" and everyone in the store stopped and stared for a few seconds.

    First and only time I've ever heard someone give a loud shout-out to any prog band in a record store.

  12. #62
    Member Yodelgoat's Avatar
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    So the shirts were probably a thing then.... I thought it seemed odd to see Girls wearing MV gear

  13. #63
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    Interesting comments. I've never seen Cedric mangle words, and I've seen them 4 times. Also, the last headlining show I was at, there were a lot of girls in the crowd. Many Mexican and Spanish girls, feel a connection to the band. So I don't think that's unusual. Also they are not your average prog band, certainly when it comes to fan base.

    neil

  14. #64
    I just checked Juan Alderte's page on Facebook and I found out that his wife has a "Go Fund Me" page to help with his recovery.

    Details Here:
    https://www.gofundme.com/f/fundraise...lqNK_Xz1zgoLTA

  15. #65
    Quote Originally Posted by Yodelgoat View Post
    it seemed odd to see Girls wearing MV gir
    Nothing odd about it whatsoever. Unlike, say, Dream Theater or Transatlantic or Ayreon or Deyss, TMV were actually perceived as contemporary and culturally relevant by younger crowds some 10-15 years back.

    Just yesterday morning I saw a woman in her mid-20s with a Dungen bag on her way to university on the tram here in Oslo, something which WAS indeed a bit strange, seeing how they don't even sell those on Dungen's own merchandise pages. Presumably she got it at a festival or whatever.
    "Improvisation is not an excuse for musical laziness" - Fred Frith
    "[...] things that we never dreamed of doing in Crimson or in any band that I've been in," - Tony Levin speaking of SGM

  16. #66
    Member Yodelgoat's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Scrotum Scissor View Post
    Nothing odd about it whatsoever. Unlike, say, Dream Theater or Transatlantic or Ayreon or Deyss, TMV were actually perceived as contemporary and culturally relevant by younger crowds some 10-15 years back.
    My lack of knowledge about The Mars Volta may have been the issue. I thought they were a Rush wannabe band. Turns out they're only marginally similar, at least to my ears. 10-15 years ago is like yesterday to an old geezer like me. Time stand still.

  17. #67
    Member mnprogger's Avatar
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    bump.

    New album coming soon?
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  18. #68
    I saw them at the Orpheum Theater in Los Angeles for the "De-Loused..." tour. It was a "general admission" show but I managed to get a seat in the 30th row (or so) on the floor. Really good seat actually. The Orpheum is a relatively small theater just under 2000 seats. The show was completely sold out. They were the headliner...only band that night. They were an 8 piece band, IIRC.

    I was into the band and had heard great things about their live shows. But I was absolutely not prepared for what I "experienced"!!! The only way to describe it is an "organized train wreck"...and I mean that in the BEST way possible. This was a new, raw band that was totally on fire that night. The playing was off the charts and the sound was incredible too. At any point it would not have been surprised if the entire band fell off the stage, head first into the audience. At one point Cedric took one of the floor fans and wore it around hit neck and then climbed into the side box seats and up into the balcony...still singing. Holy crap!!!

    It is still one of the BESTEST concerts I have ever been to. Hope they can come back with similar fire. But that was 15+ years ago. We'll just have to wait and see....
    "Frozen flaking fish raw nerve...In a cup of silver liquid fire" - Jethro Tull

  19. #69
    I have still heard exactly zero songs by this band.
    Confirmed Bachelors: the dramedy hit of 1883...

  20. #70
    I remember hearing Deloused at the time and thinking that they were the first "new" prog band who I liked as much, or more than the 1970's canon. That and the first Amplifier record.

    I was a teenager when Marillion, It Bites, Talk Talk, Cardiacs etc were around and as much as I enjoyed them, I would rate Yes, Genesis etc higher at the time TMV was the first time I thought that the new stuff was as good as the old stuff. Or better, certainly wilder and more ambitious

  21. #71
    Quote Originally Posted by revporl View Post
    I was a teenager when Marillion, It Bites, Talk Talk, Cardiacs etc were around
    Two highly original groups vs. two of the exact opposite equation. Although I quite liked the early It Bites myself.

    The Mars Volta were neither original nor particularly derivative of any one artist you'd might suspect them of having heard. Yet I'd take the Semiramis or Cervello's Melos or IBdB's Ys or that second El Reloj album over anything by TMV, or indeed I'd take anything by Kayo Dot, Cheer-Accident, Time of Orchids, Secret Chiefs, Capillary Action, Stats, Uz Jsme Doma, Grand Ulena, Ahleuchatistas or whoever active within that "radical" branch of contemporary progressive.

    I far preferred At the Drive-In. To my ears, TMV's "prog" felt unconvincing and wholly contrived.
    "Improvisation is not an excuse for musical laziness" - Fred Frith
    "[...] things that we never dreamed of doing in Crimson or in any band that I've been in," - Tony Levin speaking of SGM

  22. #72
    Member Marco's Avatar
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    Somehow I absolutely detest anything TMV that's not their debut or Frances the Mute. FtM is only good to these ears until Cassandra Gemini, too.
    bassist in Papangu, a zeuhl metal band from Brazil https://papangu.bandcamp.com/album/holoceno

  23. #73
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    Quote Originally Posted by Progbear View Post
    I have still heard exactly zero songs by this band.
    Youtube is your friend...

    One of my favourite tracks by them, and it's not even from the first two albums that most people cite as their favourites.



    neil

  24. #74
    Quote Originally Posted by mnprogger View Post
    bump.

    New album coming soon?
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    Apparently a new vinyl box set.
    If you're actually reading this then chances are you already have my last album but if NOT and you're curious:
    https://battema.bandcamp.com/

    Also, Ephemeral Sun: it's a thing and we like making things that might be your thing: https://ephemeralsun.bandcamp.com

  25. #75
    Member mnprogger's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by battema View Post
    Apparently a new vinyl box set.
    yeah, $479.

    https://us.cloudshillshop.com/collec...-vinyl-box-set

    April 23rd - La Realidad De Los Sueños

    US STORE NOW SOLD OUT!
    lol. Only 5,000 copies and a rabid fanbase, can't be too surprised.

    Let's hope they come to their senses and issue at least all the proper studio records individually at an affordable price; although I wonder Cedric and Omar like how rare/unique and collector's item-like their vinyl records are, they may not want to.

    But that only encourages more Unauthorized/Bootleg pressings like the 1 I bought of Frances a few years ago (not realizing it was unauthorized at the time).

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