The word accessible is often tossed around during record reviews, a new release always seems to be a complicated bands most accessible CD to date. Mars Volta is certainly in the group of complex bands that can be slightly inaccessible at times, but Octahedron is definitely an open door welcome into their world. Gone are the 10 plus minute songs with long interludes of ambient noise, and instead several of the songs come perilously close to having verses and choruses.
When At the Drive-In broke up, and Cedric Bixler-Zavala and Omar Rodriguez-Lopez formed The Mars Volta, they said that they had grown tired of playing the same type of music all the time. What was meant to be the antidote to that problem, quickly fell into the same rut though. Sure, TMV was worlds apart from their previous band, but after Frances the Mute, their second album, they seemed to be stuck writing the same type of music. Now, its almost as if doing something more "normal" is the solution to that.
Although its not as experimental as past releases Octahedron is far from boring, they are operating at the top of their game on this CD. The lyrics and song structures are their best ever, and Cedric has never sounded better. It's a breath of fresh air for their catalogue, and a welcoming embrace for new listeners. The real question is, are they going to continue in this direction from now on, or take their music to a completely new place? I for one hope they go somewhere different, because while I enjoy this excursion into a more mainstream sound, I think it'd get boring pretty quickly.
Features
Laura Jane Grace Isn't Going to Ruin Against Me, She's Going to Reinvigorate Them
Morning Glory's Recent Tour Felt Like a Symbolic Farewell to Ezra Kire's Past, Invitation to his Future
Handling Hecklers with MC Chris: An Exploration in Putting Up With or Putting a Stop to Bullshit
June 26, 2009
The Mars Volta's Octahedron
Posts
3 comments:
when it comes to responding to this record, i'm actually speechless. i only like 4 tracks and when i listen to the record from start to finish, it feels as though something is wrong. the ride for me goes something like this.... i enjoy the ride, then i forget i'm on the ride and am distracted by other stuff, then something catches my ear that makes me pay attention again, but then as the ride continues and eventually ends, it just cannot hold my attention. and don't worry, i'm writing this and can't understand it. =/
anyway, this record doesn't upset me nor does it cause me any concern.... i guess when i'm listening to this record my brain doesn't process the audio dissonance as The Mars Volta. it just processes it as background noise. this record has me quite perplexed... if you couldn't already tell.
^_^
That seems like its the more simplistic nature of the record. You've gotten used to a more complex TMV record and this more mainstream one bores you. Like I said at the end of my article, I like it but I think I'll get bored of it really quickly. I don't think I've listened to it once since I wrote that. Let's just hope they don't stick to this minimalistic approach. And I say minimalistic because to a normal TMV record, this one is as simple as you can get.
Post a Comment