The Mars Volta: Ranking The Albums
Unique, bonkers, artistic, creative, brilliant. The Mars Volta have been called many things over the years, but never boring. With an ever-changing supporting line-up alongside the core duo of Omar Rodriquez-Lopez and Cedric Bixler-Zavala, their albums are a wild ride of Latin rhythms, prog, rock, jazz, dub, pop and, to use Cedric’s phrase, ‘future punk’. Ranking the albums is a challenge because they are all brilliant. This list includes a live record, the original ‘Tremulant’ EP and an Omar solo album - because they all tell an important part of the Mars Volta story.
‘Tremulant’ forms an important part of The Mars Volta’s story, since it bridges the gap between the demise of At the Drive-in and the release of TMV’s debut full-length, ‘Deloused in the Comatorium’.
Considering it only has 3 songs, ‘Tremulant’ still packs a serious punch and contains a range of musical ideas, as well as introducing the world to Cedric’s new vocal style which was more expressive and melodic in comparison to his trademark atonal yell in At the Drive-in.
The fact that the EP starts with 2 minutes of distance noises and dubby beats says a lot about The Mars Volta’s intentions. They were going to indulge their progressive ambitions, without bowing to commercial pressures - and they were going to make more of their diverse influences from Central and South America.
So why is this EP propping up this ranking list, when it is pretty good? Largely it is because ‘Tremulant’ has more of a demo quality, hinting at their potential but not realising their vision fully. The performances are impressive, but the songs themselves aren’t particularly memorable or gripping, leaving little impression other than ‘I wonder what they’ll be able to produce once they develop their sound further’.
Standout tracks: ‘Concertina’, ‘Eunuch Provocateur’
Following the chaos of ‘The Bedlam in Goliath’, Cedric and Omar had been describing the imminent follow-up as their ‘acoustic album’.
Imagine everyone’s surprise, therefore, when the first song to be released from Octahedron was the bonkers ‘Cotopaxi’ - similar in nature to ‘Wax Simulacra’, but with an even weirder time signature. Acoustic, it most certainly wasn’t.
Outside of ‘Cotopaxi’, and parts of ‘Desperate Graves’, the rest of the album is relatively subdued - not particularly acoustic, but with a mellow and warm atmosphere.
‘Octahedron’ rewards your patience with a range of treats (the vocals in ‘With Twilight As My Guide’ are some of Cedric’s very best), but the highlights are somewhat sparse. There are brilliant songs hidden somewhere within ‘Teflon’ and ‘Luciforms’, but they never quite reach their full potential.
The album’s most interesting moment comes in the glitchy electronica of ‘Copernicus’, hinting at The Mars Volta expanding their musical palette, but still falling short of their lofty standards.
Standout tracks: ‘Cotopaxi’, ‘With Twilight as My Guide’, ‘Copernicus’
Officially, Scabdates is a live album - but it isn’t a traditional one.
Most live albums are either a full show or a compilation of tracks from different shows. The best way to approach Scabdates is to think of it as an audio collage - a patchwork of ideas, showcasing not only The Mars Volta’s live sound but also their own experiences on the road.
We have background noises from waiting in airports, children crying, ambient sounds, muffled voices and the band soundchecking. There are only 3 actual ‘songs’, one of which is a straightforward run-through of ‘Concertina’ (from the Tremulant EP), while the other two are extended freakouts based loosely on ‘Take the veil Cerpin Taxt’ and ‘Cicatriz ESP’. These two tracks form the bulk of the record, showcasing how The Mars Volta built on their studio creations, jamming on them for 20+ minutes each, trying out new ideas mid-song (the origins of ‘Cassandra Gemini’ and ‘Cygnus…Vismund Cygnus’ can be found here) and going in whatever direction they felt like at the time.
As an album, this isn’t an easy listen at all, and it requires a lot of patience; but it is well worth your time if you want something to immerse yourself in.
Standout tracks (if you can call them that): ‘Haruspex’, ‘Concertina’
‘Noctourniquet’ is a curious one, because most of the album had been played live by the ‘Omar Rodriquez-Lopez Group’ for well over a year before the songs were compiled and released officially under the name The Mars Volta.
With the benefit of hindsight, ‘Noctourniquet’ signalled the death of the band (for 10 years, at least), which was a shame because there are some astounding moments throughout which signal the exciting new direction that they could have continued in, had they not disbanded at the end of the album tour.
‘Aegis’ has chorus that echoes ‘Inertiatic ESP’. ‘The Malkin Jewel’ is deliciously creepy. ‘Trinkets Pale of Moon’, ‘Vedamalady’ and the title track work together brilliantly towards the end of the album, with a majestic atmosphere that beats anything on ‘Octahedron’.
What haven’t aged as well, unfortunately, are the ‘future punk’ sounds that Cedric was so excited about at the time, with ‘The Whip Hand’ and ‘Dyslexicon’ suffering from the abundance of synths in the place of Omar’s trademark electric guitar squall.
The standout - for better or worse - is Deatoni Parks’ drumming throughout. Where the drummers before him (Thomas Pridgen, especially) brought elaborate beats, Parks went for a minimalist feel with unorthodox, jazzy fills. At times it works brilliantly, but sometimes you just want The Mars Volta to rock out in a more traditional way.
Standout tracks: ‘Empty Vessels Make the Loudest Sound’, ‘Zed and Two Noughts’, ‘In Absentia’
Hot on the heels of the triumphant ‘Frances the Mute’, The Mars Volta went even further up prog rock mountain with ‘Amputechture’, which is definitely not an album for the casual listener.
Everything about ‘Amputechture’ seems to have been put in place to ward off people who were drawn to ‘The Widow’ - the 7-minute opening dirge of ‘Vicarious Atonement’, the impenetrable ‘El Ciervo Vulnerado’, and the barely audible drum mix (fans have pondered how this relegation of Jon Theodore’s presence behind the drums related to his exit from the band soon afterwards). Even the single ‘Viscera Eyes’ is over 9 minutes long (admittedly an edited version was also released); and the song that resembled ‘The Widow’ the most, ‘Vermicide’, is splattered in weird vocal effects.
With their first record, The Mars Volta were heralded as the next big thing. ‘Amputechture’ is the audio equivalent of a middle finger to the establishment - and if you embrace its absurdity it is truly brilliant. ‘Tetragrammaton’ crams more than an album’s worth of ideas into 17 minutes. ‘Asilos Magdalena’ is a gorgeous acoustic ballad. But the award for best song is torn between ‘Meccamputechture’ and ‘Day of the Baphomets’, both of which have an incredible energy and wild dynamics.
Even better than the original release is the Remastered version by Morning Ears Remasters (look it up on YouTube), with drums louder in the mix.
Standout tracks: ‘Meccamputechture’, ‘Asilos Magdalena’, ‘Day of the Baphomets’
While not an official Mars Volta record, ‘Cryptomnesia’ is essentially TMV. Cedric himself said “It's pretty much a Mars Volta record, just without Thomas, Ikey and Marcel”. It was released under the name ‘El Grupo Nuevo De Omar Rodriguez Lopez’, possibly for contractual reasons, but it is recommended to any Mars Volta fan - more so than Omar’s myriad solo releases that can be something of an endurance test.
Released at a similar time to ‘Octahedron’, this record is fun, frivolous and utterly unique, and is fully deserving of its place in The Mars Volta’s superb discography, even if it doesn’t have TMV’s name on it.
‘Cryptomnesia’ was recorded quickly and benefits from a haphazard, manic energy. With recurring melodies, it is perhaps best regarded as one long song which has been cut up and stuck back together with vocal samples, weird noises and loops. Never outstaying its welcome, ‘Cryptomnesia’ is a crazy adrenaline rush which builds on the lunacy of ‘The Bedlam in Goliath’.
Standout tracks: ‘Tuberculoids’, ‘Elderly Couple Beaten With Hammer’, ‘Puny Humans’
Reconciliation. Rebirth. Before listening to this self-titled album, it may be helpful to watch the hour-long special with Zane Lowe, as he talks with Omar and Cedric about restarting The Mars Volta after nearly 10 years apart. It is a beautiful, honest and vulnerable interview, which explains so much about why ‘TMV’ sounds the way it does.
This self-titled record is The Mars Volta’s version of a ‘pop’ album - in the sense that the songs are all around 3 minutes long, generally with conventional verse-chorus-verse-chorus structures, and without the perplexing time signatures that had become the band’s calling card. This relatively stripped-down approach works extremely well, right from the opening one-two of ‘Blacklight Shine’ and ‘Graveyard Love’ through to intriguing closer ‘The Requisition’.
Cedric’s vocals are the highlight, not only in the delicate perfection of his delivery but also with the personal, introspective lyrics which help make this a deeply affecting, beautiful album.
Standout tracks: ‘Graveyard Love’, ‘Equus 3’, ‘No Case Gain’
It starts with utter chaos.
‘Aberinkula’ bursts out of the speakers with so much force and such an abrasive, treble-heavy mix that it can hurt your ears at only a moderate volume - and ‘The Bedlam in Goliath’ hardly lets up from here.
Once your ears adjust to the mix (which we can only assume is intentionally chaotic, given the title), this is a stunning album, with some of the very best songs The Mars Volta have ever produced, including the funky ‘Ilyena’, the riff-heavy ‘Goliath’ and the glorious conclusion of ‘Conjugal Burns’.
The flabby mid-section of ‘Tourniquet Man’, ‘Cavalettas’, ‘Agadez’ and ‘Askepios’ could perhaps have been trimmed somewhat, but their self-indulgence does have a certain charm. This album is the equivalent of taking every possible musical idea, throwing everything into a blender abd seeing what happens - then leaving the blender on in the background while the music is playing.
The b-sides from this era are fantastic too, with covers of Pink Floyd, The Sugarcubes, Nick Drake, Soft Machine and Circle Jerks. Check them out on YouTube.
Standout tracks: ‘Wax Simulacra’, ‘Ilyena’, ‘Ouroborous’
After the dissolution of At the Drive-In, no-one would have thought that Cedric and Omar would produce something as utterly majestic as this. For one: Cedric’s vocals. He was already known for his stream-of-consciousness lyrics and creative use of melody; but his high-pitched clean singing (which appears right at the start of ‘Inertiatic ESP’) is truly a wonder to behold.
Produced immaculately by Rick Rubin, and with Flea from the Chili Peppers on bass, ‘Deloused’ is one hell of a debut album.
It tells a high-concept story that explores themes of life & death, spiritualism and psychadelic drugs, through songs that have all become classics in their own right.
The incredible choruses of ‘Roulette Dares’ and ‘Eritarka’. The bombastic percussion of ‘Drunkship of Lanterns’. The devastating melodies of ‘Televators’. The apocalyptic conclusion to ‘Take the Veil Cerpin Taxt’. ‘Deloused in the Comatorium’ is utterly sublime.
Standout tracks: ‘Roulette Dares (The Haunt of)’, ‘Cicatriz ESP’, ‘Take the Veil Cerpin Taxt’
This album was truly life-changing for so many people.
Soundout tracks: ‘Roulette Dares (The Haunt of)’, ‘Eriatarka’, Take the Veil Cerpin Taxt’
There aren’t many albums you can experience in the same way as ‘Frances the Mute’. It’s something you can live in. Something you can disappear to. Every listen is different.
Theoretically, there are only 5 songs here. But, like their live shows at the time, there is so much to digest within each track that the notion of a ‘song’ goes completely out of the window.
‘Frances the Mute’ is so cinematic in scope that it plays more like a movie - a mysterious thriller, perhaps an unsolved murder being investigated by means of a convoluted road trip, where the audience has no idea which characters can be trusted and who is ‘good’ or ‘bad’.
Musically, it doesn’t get much better than the latin funk of ‘LVia L’Viaquez’, the crazy time signatures of ‘Cygnus’, and, of course, the tremendous 30-minute ‘Cassandra Gemini’, The Mars Volta’s magnum opus, which has so many twists and turns, with jazzy instrumentation, prog freak-outs and tremendous dynamics.
At its breathtaking finale, ‘Cassandra’ ends the same way the album starts - and if you add the b-side ‘Frances the Mute’ then the result is a mind-bending, confusing tale that it is open to different interpretations and warrants multiple listens. Utterly unique and brilliant.
Standout tracks: ‘Cassandra Gemini’, ‘L’Via L’Viaquez’, ‘Cygnus…Vismund Cygnus’
