The Bedlam In Goliath?
Here marks the fall of The Mars Volta, or did that already happen?
I feel disappointed with myself even suggesting such a title. The Mars Volta is my favorite band; and I listen to a lot of music. I also think its very hard to write a review after listening to an album only a few times. However, after a couple listen-throughs, I wanted to share my thoughts. The Bedlam In Goliath is yet another disappointment to my expectations of what a great Prog Rock band can achieve. And that’s mixing elements of different genres and styles, manipulating time and space and dynamics to bring a wholly new blend of sound. That formula was set in De-Loused In The Comatorium, but they fell off course ages ago! The songs here don’t offer any coherent sense of structure or form. I would be okay with that if I at least got some sort of melodic bits or steady, catchy rhythms. But instead, I hear thrashing. I might as well beat a tin can, scream, and play slap bass at irregular intervals. Cedric does less melodic singing, Omar does more weird guitar bits, and the addition of ripping, lightning-fast saxophone lines doesn’t help here. This is not an attempt at funk or jazz fusion. It’s an experiment of cracked-out virtuoso musicians who have no sense of direction or continuity. The album as a whole maintains a steady and high level of intensity, meaning its loud for over an hour. The only thing it lacks is a sense of whole. I would say it’s not even enjoyable, unless you want a headache.
I forced myself to enjoy Amputechture, but this is just too much of a push. Maybe I’ve just grown tired of the senseless lyrics and unstructured guitar solos with flute and clarinet embellishments. I think I’m really starved for another De-Loused In The Comatorium. The great thing about De-Loused, which is my favorite debut album of this decade, was the fact that Rick Rubin produced it and Flea was a permanent member. Let’s not forget that Jon Theodore was the drummer and drove a powerful, bombastic and unmistakable Afro/Latin rhythm section. That had a huge impact on the sound that came out of the band. I’ve come to realize that I don’t trust Omar’s own production style. His composition shifts too much attention to eerie guitar riffs and lots of sound effects without bringing back the core sound which was so well-driven by Flea and Jon Theodore. No wonder Theodore left. Even on Frances The Mute the band begins to digress from their original style so far into mystery they become pretentious and annoying. Why not let’s keep it simple? Listen to Jimmy Page’s solo on “Since I’ve Been Loving You.” It has the elements of mystery and a lack of structure, but it fits perfectly and beautifully into the theme of the song. Perhaps by now The Mars Volta is just trying too hard to push the envelope on “weird” sound. There’s a limit to how much experimentation you should engage in, and this is well beyond the threshold.
My rantings here reflect that I’ve come to terms with the fact that The Mars Volta is deviating from the foundation they built in De-Loused. Over the years, they separated from a strong sense of rhythm and drive with elements of sonic fury and a great handle on dynamics, to a full-scale battle of odd time-signatures superimposed on atonal melodies and incomprehensible guitar solos. Take a lesson from Tool. They manage to evolve with every album and still amaze their fans. How does The Mars Volta deserve such praise for such shit? I think the editors who gave them good reviews feel pressured to say good things because they don’t understand Mars Volta fans. Well, no one can understand this album because it’s too chaotic, unstructured, and pretty much unbearable.
5 Comments, Comment or Ping
Peter
I strongly disagree, rather you have not evolved with their new sound. Each of their studio albums have had a central theme (for the most part) and the albums sound is part of the theme. You’re not going to get “another De-loused” b/c that was the theme of that album, not their entire musical career. Besides, you may still have hope,
“In a recent article on The Mars Volta in Relix magazine, it was stated that “Rodriguez-Lopez is constantly recording solo albums, Volta songs, soundtracks and has filmed almost every moment of The Mars Volta for a movie that he will one day release. As the band tries to figure out how to play Bedlam live, Rodriguez-Lopez already has the next two albums laid out musically and is knee deep in production on the follow up to Bedlam. “its a mellow album” he says “the last one was our most aggressive. The next one we keep calling our acoustic album.”"
Feb 5th, 2008
Eneasz
Yeah, I agree their musical themes shift, but that’s no excuse for under-performing. I think they’re a group of very talented and unique musicians. It’s not about the theme though. If you compare the songs of this album to De-Loused (bear with me for a second), they’re less structured and have less melodic material, and the rhythms just don’t hold me the same way.
What I’m trying to say is not that I expect another De-Loused. I’m just saying that there’s something missing in this new formula they have. The chaos has been pushed too far to keep me interested. As for their future releases, I’m very excited to hear this new acoustic album, as well as their live material.
I’ve seen the band a couple of times and know what they’re capable of. And as of late, it seems that their message and music is getting more pretentious. Hopefully, that won’t continue.
Feb 24th, 2008
Face
I have to disagree with you as well, ENEASZ. I become more enthralled by The Mars Volta as their albums progress. Their music is like nothing I have ever heard and it is nothing short of amazing. I could never pick a favorite album of theirs. When hearing each album for the first time, I was somewhat skeptical of what they were trying to express, both lyrically and musically. However, when I caught on to the odd rhythms of the music and esoteric subject matter of the lyrics, I realized that they have all developed a special place in my heart and are nothing short of pure genius. In my opinion, listening to them is like working a Rubik’s cube, and I eagerly anticipate everything that they have to offer as a band. I will until they stop recording albums, because they have yet to disappoint me.
As far as The Bedlam in Goliath goes, I feel that this was the most cryptic album released by them, and one of the most captivating. It has strong occult undertones, and is probably the darkest album they have released in my opinion. It didn’t take long for me to figure out the underlying themes because I have had a fascination with the occult and all things supernatural for many years. You could say (maybe while calling me crazy) that it hits home, in a sense.
Either way, you will keep your opinion, and I will as well. The point of this rebuttal is an attempt to get you to listen to the album (or albums, excluding De-Loused in the Comatorium) a few more times before writing such a harsh review on something based on other subjects you may not understand. I hope this hasn’t offended you.
Apr 15th, 2008
The Heck?
which of the word “progressive” did you fail to understand?
i agree with FACE. the sense of TMV is not based from Deloused, which you consider as their “climax”. it would really seem biased and in your case, unable to see through the art and development of the band. you cannot expect another Deloused. and if that’s what you expect, it would be stereotypical for a great band just to repeat their same music all over again. TMV is not just aiming for the fans to buy their album for profit, but rather, express their way of pushing their music to the next level.
Jun 12th, 2008
TJ
just because you cant comprehend something doesnt mean you should hate on it. The Bedlam In Goliath is fucking amazing
Jul 24th, 2008
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