The Mars Volta - Octahedron (2009)

The Mars Volta
Octahedron (2009)

Reviewing Mars Volta albums feels slightly pointless. Chances are, you've already got your opinion of the band and it's not really going to change. So eff that; instead of reviewing Octahedron outright, I'll share some personal thoughts inspired by listening to Octahedron -- which will likely be barely distinguishable from a proper review, but that's neither here nor there. For what it's worth, though, I will say that this album is a slightly different beast than their recent work, and that if there is any Mars Volta album that will change peoples' minds about them, or reengage any wayward fans, then this would be it. If you were not keen on the pointlessly long solos, chaotic drumming and guitar playing, and general prog-rock indulgences, you may like what they've come up with for Octahedron. At 8 songs and 50 minutes long, this is easily their most straightforward, digestible album yet. Inversely, if you were a fan of the long solos and chaos, you may not like Octahedron all that much. And that's all I have to say about that.

I've always positioned Mars Volta as the kind of band that I would eventually grow out of. They provided some good music and memories for my younger days, but their brand of rambunctious prog-rock was surely bound to work its way through my system as the process of my maturing musical tastes simultaneously coincided with their inevitable decline in quality (though can you ever tell which is occurring faster, if at all?). It's no wonder, then, that I've approached their last few albums with a bit of hesitation, none more so than Octahedron. I saw it sitting on the New Releases wall at the record store, stacked next to new albums by Green Day, Depeche Mode, Eminem, Mos Def, Marilyn Manson, Dave Matthews Band, Iron Maiden, and other such artists past their prime (arguments on whether some of those artists ever had a prime will be heard at a later date), and wondered about the kind of people who buy those records. How much do they really expect these new albums to live up? It's not because those artists are still making classic material, I decided, but it's more of a comfort issue. The listener knows what they're gonna get. The purchase doesn't require them to take any risks and there's little uncertainty as to how it will sound. Certainly I'd never fall into such a habit, right? Right? Wrong. Because there I was, doing exactly that with the Mars Volta.

So what does it mean if I tell you that Octahedron is a great album? Or if I add that it's their best since De-loused In The Comatorium? I believe that I mean it, but there's that nagging feeling that I may merely be trying to justify my continued support of a band that many of my friends no longer listen to. That I'm not listening to them because they are still good, but because they have only done a good job at reminding me of how I felt when I first heard them when I was younger. On that note: does how much a new album reminds you of a past good album mean that the new one is good too? Is Octahedron successful in my eyes because it sounds the most like their earlier material, or because it is an honestly well-written, well-performed, and well-executed album? The more I think about it, the more I think the answer to those questions don't really matter, and that it's a lose-lose situation to try to provide a completely objective opinion of a band with as polarizing a history as The Mars Volta.

I walked out of the record store with Octahedron feeling like the oldest 25-year old in the world. I was barely anticipating that the album would be worthwhile, yet I bought it anyway, realizing that I was now able to answer my own question: Did I really expect that this new album would live up? No. But maybe it would be good enough. Good enough to remind me of the old days (that really aren't very old at this point). Good enough to satisfy me for a short time. Maybe good enough to get me to buy their next record. And if I was lucky, it would be more than that.

In my eyes, Octahedron is more than that; and even if I do just have smoke in my eyes, I suppose there are worse aspects of aging than stubbornly supporting bands that you felt like you should've stopped caring about a long time ago. Besides thinking that 90% of teenagers are fucking retarded, supporting declining bands is about as "old" as I get...at this point.


Score: 8/10


"With Twilight As My Guide"


"Desperate Graves"

The Mars Volta - Bedlam In Goliath (2008)

The Mars Volta - The Bedlam In Goliath (2008)

The Mars Volta are one of those polarizing bands that I can't help but pull for to make that one album that will prove to their detractors that they're more than just fancy guitar work, precise drumming, and pretentious prog-rock wankery. For the past few years, it's been a tough sell.

Since captivating new fans and winning over a large amount of leftover At The Drive-In addicts with their 2003 debut, De-Loused In The Comatorium, the band have lost more support than they've gained. Frances The Mute, a monstrous and sometimes meandering album full of epics, threw a lot of people off the bandwagon. Amputecture didn't do much to bring them back (though I personally felt it got a bad rap). As a result, anticipation over The Bedlam In Goliath didn't reach anywhere near fever pitch, and perhaps this worked in the band's favor. Disillusioned fans of the band should take a second look: the Mars Volta have recorded their best work since their debut.

The Bedlam In Goliath features some of the most digestible song lengths and memorable melodies that the band have given us since De-Loused. It's hard to believe, but they're actually catchy again. "Ilyena" is a prime example, probably one of the finest things they've ever done with five-and-a-half minutes."Wax Simulacra", length and hook-wise, is actually radio-friendly and worthy of its recent Grammy nomination and, considering its competition, a Grammy win. "Goliath", the album's clear standout, is HUGE, reaching or even surpassing some of the most beloved songs on De-Loused like "Inertiatic ESP" or "Roulette Dares (The Haunt Of)". And that's just on the first half of the album.

The second half is hard-hitting and relentless, surprisingly free of filler. "Soothsayer", with it's middle-eastern vibe, is a successful experiment that works well for the band. The stop-start dynamic of "Askepios" provides an interesting twist. "Ouroboros" is a lightning quick, thumping track that shows off new drummer Thomas Pridgen's enormous talents. Bedlam reaches a point where it's only flaw may be that it has too many such tracks, and the band didn't want to leave any of them off even if the album becomes a little overwhelming as a result.

On the other hand, I can understand how it would be hard not to want to show off Pridgen, a child prodigy-turned-virtuoso and widely respected master of his craft. It likely is his muscular drumming that's responsible for the Mars Volta's new energy. At 25, he's the youngest member of the band, and perhaps that youthfulness is what inspired the band to act and play more like their 2003 selves; kind of like what happens when a man far-removed from his college days finds himself conversing with a young student and rediscovers the joy of the random stupid an inane behavior that he thought he'd grown out of.

In that sense, The Bedlam In Goliath reminds me of my own college days, which is probably part of the reason I enjoy it. It's basically De-Loused In The Comatorium with lyrics that make sense, taking me back to those days in the summer of 2003 when my college friends and I would throw De-Loused into the stereo and rock out, singing "EXO-SKELETAL JUNCTION AT THE RAILROAD DELAYED!" without much of a care in the world (yeah, we were pretty lame). But therein lies Bedlam's most frustrating quality: it's like hearing that album's proper follow-up five years too late.


Score: 7.5/10


"Ilyena"


"Goliath"