The Mars Volta

[Steve F.]

$55 - $95 in DC.

Don’t like The Anthem and not going.

[EBES]

The new song is pretty neat; getting some Can vibes from the percussion at the beginning. It's much more concise and less noisy than I'd have expected, but it works well in the vein it's tapping. Looks like they're coming to Seattle. I never saw them back in the day and they seem like a pretty great live band. I can imagine coughing up for this if it's in the $70ish range.

[boilk]

$125 in Toronto probably equals $300 in the San Francisco Bay. Even though I indicated I would pay $300 for TMV.... I probably wouldn't when it came right down to it.

Oh, believe me, I'm in the balcony at that price. The first 10 rows of floors were right around that $300 mark that you mention. The future of concerts with 'mid-level' bands, is not bright when it comes to pricing. I think about $150 is my max. I paid around that for Crimson and Dead Can Dance. The latter being a birthday gift for my girlfriend for next year, or else I doubt that I would have done that.

Neil

[Geoff O'Donoghue]

Another new track. Perhaps a desire to highlight their heritage is what has prompted Omar and Cedric to revive TMV.

[starless and bible black]

From RollingStone.com-
The Mars Volta Rail Against U.S. Colonial Rule in Puerto Rico on New Song ‘Graveyard Love’

The Mars Volta are back already with another new song and short film, “Graveyard Love.”

The track is a prog-y, experimental dirge that appears to be inspired by the brutal colonialist rule the United States has imposed on Puerto Rico, where guitarist Omar Rodríguez-López was born. Of the lyrics to “Graveyard Love,” vocalist Cedric Bixler-Zavala explains, They will seek your ruin, and burn your lands because if they can’t have you, no one can.”

Rodriguez-López directed the accompanying “Graveyard Love” short film, a black-and-white collage that captures various locales and slices of life around Puerto Rico. In the video’s description on YouTube, the Mars Volta included an extensive timeline of U.S. colonial rule in Puerto Rico, as well as further reading recommendations. The video also closes with a quote from Puerto Rican revolutionary Lolita Lebrón: “¡Yo no vine a matar a nadie; yo vine a morir por Puerto Rico!” (“I did not come to kill anyone, I came to die for Puerto Rico”).

“Graveyard Love” follows “Blacklight Shine,” which the Mars Volta released back in June. The track marked their first new music in nearly a decade and came just over three years after Bixler-Zavala first hinted at a possible reunion for the revered El Paso outfit. The band’s last album, Noctourniquet, arrived in 2012.

Along with dropping new music, the Mars Volta are set to return to the road for the first time since 2012 this fall. The group will kick off a North American tour in Dallas on Sept. 22, and they’ve just added more shows in select cities. A full itinerary is available on the band’s website.

[starless and bible black]

The Mars Volta-new LP coming September 16th 2022!

From the band's website-
Breaking a decade of omertà, The Mars Volta reawaken from their lengthy hiatus with an eponymous album that radically reshapes their paradigm. The new album shakes loose some of The Mars Volta’s long-standing shibboleths, fearlessly defying all expectations and categorizations. Instead, The Mars Volta pulses with subtle brilliance, Caribbean rhythms underpinning sophisticated, turbulent songcraft. This is The Mars Volta at their most mature, most concise, most focused. Their sound and fury channeled to greatest effect, The Mars Volta finds Rodríguez-López’s subterranean pop melodies driving Bixler-Zavala’s dark sci-fi tales of the occult and malevolent governments. Distilling all the passion, poetry and power at their fingertips, The Mars Volta is the most exciting and accessible music the group has ever recorded.

The Kinetic Edition is exclusively available through Clouds Hill.

https://us.cloudshillshop.com/produc...edition-cd-clo

[TheNefariousHED]

The Mars Volta-new LP coming September 16th 2022!

From the band's website-
Breaking a decade of omertà, The Mars Volta reawaken from their lengthy hiatus with an eponymous album that radically reshapes their paradigm. The new album shakes loose some of The Mars Volta’s long-standing shibboleths, fearlessly defying all expectations and categorizations. Instead, The Mars Volta pulses with subtle brilliance, Caribbean rhythms underpinning sophisticated, turbulent songcraft. This is The Mars Volta at their most mature, most concise, most focused. Their sound and fury channeled to greatest effect, The Mars Volta finds Rodríguez-López’s subterranean pop melodies driving Bixler-Zavala’s dark sci-fi tales of the occult and malevolent governments. Distilling all the passion, poetry and power at their fingertips, The Mars Volta is the most exciting and accessible music the group has ever recorded.

The Kinetic Edition is exclusively available through Clouds Hill.

https://us.cloudshillshop.com/produc...edition-cd-clo

This is great news! I've enjoyed the pre-release material with its Caribbean vibe!

[starless and bible black]

RollingStone.com-
After releasing a pair of new songs, The Mars Volta finally confirmed that they will drop their first album in a decade, The Mars Volta, on Sept. 16.

Accompanying the album announcement, the band has shared another new tune, “Vigil,” which arrived with a music video directed by guitarist Omar Rodríguez-López. Vocalist/lyricist Cedric Bixler-Zavala shared a line from the tender and swooning new tune in lieu of an actual statement, “And the obits wait for a perfect name.”

“Vigil” marks the third offering from The Mars Volta following the previously-released “Graveyard Love” and “Blacklight Shine,” both of which will also appear on the self-titled LP. A statement notes that the album will mark a departure from the Mars Volta’s earlier material, with only two tracks expanding past four minutes and the band’s prog rock tendencies giving way to more subtle touches and Caribbean rhythms. The Mars Volta’s last album, Noctourniquet, arrived in 2012.

Along with releasing their first album in 10 years, the Mars Volta are set to return to the road for their first concerts in 10 years. The trek will kick off Sept. 22 at the Factory in Deep Ellum in Dallas and wrap with three nights at the Hollywood Palladium in Los Angeles, Oct. 21 through 23.

The Mars Volta Track List

1. “Blacklight Shine”
2. “Graveyard Love”
3. “Shore Story”
4. “Blank Condolences”
5. “Vigil”
6. “Qué Dios Te Maldiga Mí Corazón”
7. “Cerulea”
8. “Flash Burns From Flashbacks”
9. “Palm Full Of Crux”
10. “No Case Gain”
11. “Tourmaline”
12. “Equus 3”
13. “Collapsible Shoulders”
14. “The Requisition”

[starless and bible black]

The Mars Volta's new single, "Vigil".

[EBES]

^^^ Huh. I liked the first single but this doesn't have most of the sonic qualities I associate with classic Mars Volta. Also the lyrics... almost make sense? I like how the drums pick up at 3:30, and there are some atmospheric leads that are cool, but if this was a band I'd never heard before then honestly I don't know how motivated I'd feel to hear more. I'll probably still check out the album but I might stream it before I get a hard copy. Sounds from the Rolling Stone article like this is typical of the overall style of the new stuff. I did like the bugs at the beginning, and I remember them using ambient nature sounds in the past, so that's a bit of a callback I suppose.

[boilk]

^^^ Huh. I liked the first single but this doesn't have most of the sonic qualities I associate with classic Mars Volta. Also the lyrics... almost make sense? I like how the drums pick up at 3:30, and there are some atmospheric leads that are cool, but if this was a band I'd never heard before then honestly I don't know how motivated I'd feel to hear more. I'll probably still check out the album but I might stream it before I get a hard copy. Sounds from the Rolling Stone article like this is typical of the overall style of the new stuff. I did like the bugs at the beginning, and I remember them using ambient nature sounds in the past, so that's a bit of a callback I suppose.

These are pretty much my thoughts. I liked the first single too, but the two others that I've heard since then just don't have the fire that I associate with this band. It's funny, many have said over the years that they'd like TMV more if they sounded less chaotic. If this is a sample of that approach, I'd prefer they go off the rails again.

Neil

[mnprogger]

yeah after hearing the early singles..my hopes or expectations for this album are a fair amount lower.

Mind you, I'm still really happy we are getting a new The Mars Volta album after all these years, but it seems likely it could be quite different than their previous records. Perhaps a little like Octahedron, which was more stripped down and straight-forward compared to their others.

[EBES]

These are pretty much my thoughts. I liked the first single too, but the two others that I've heard since then just don't have the fire that I associate with this band. It's funny, many have said over the years that they'd like TMV more if they sounded less chaotic. If this is a sample of that approach, I'd prefer they go off the rails again.

Most of my favorite MV moments involve a period of chaos resolving into a big tight hook (most satisfyingly in Cassandra Gemini but lots of other places too). If I had to pick I enjoy the hook more than the chaotic part, but the contrast is part of what makes the whole package appealing when it works.