I've been curious to hear this for a while, and now that I am, I can't say that I'm enjoying it. It sounds like a mess of prog-indulgence. Does this album have any redeeming qualities that I'm missing?

Not if you hate prog

<--- likes the prog

best album of 2003

give it a couple of listens.

For me:

First listen: "What The Fuck?"
Second listen: "Fuck Yeah!"

Why? what do you like about it? I don't particularly dislike prog, but I'm not hearing anything particularly compelling or new...

This album was the opposite of a grower for me. Enjoyed it at first, but after that it only got harder and less rewarding to listen to. I think that was mainly due to the lyrics.

It was a jumbled mess the first dozen times I listened to it, but I liked a couple tracks, especially "Inertiatic ESP". I let it run in the background once or twice and really got into it. I'm no prog whore either.

Poo Poo on a plate...

I've listened to it a handful of times and outside of 'televators' I really couldn't give a shit less about that album. Right now it's sitting in purgatory awaiting my final decision on what to do with it.

All I have to say is that their drummer definitely sold his soul to Satan in return for those skills. Holy. Fucking. Shit.

Didn't like it at first, then it grew on me. *shrug*

i pulled this out and listened to it straight through for the first time today (actually before coming across this thread)

i bought it the day it came out, but had never really listened to it.....untill today...

its not bad....maybe i need to listen to it a few more time to appreciate it.....

i've heard headphones help?

I too bought it the day it came out, only to not listen to it completely.

I really don't care about these guys anymore, so I might as well not bother giving it more listens.

Is good song, yes.

"Cicatriz ESP" rocks my socks of

I am definitely a prog whore, so definitely take what I have to say with a grain of salt.

What I like about it is that it's all over the place. You've heard that before? Please tell me, it sounds like nothing else to me. I mean, I agree, all the elements are derivative, but the almost anachronistic transitions, the wild effects (mostly on the voices), everything just seems to work perfectly to my jaded ears.

Not my #1 of 2003, but definitely in my top 5.

Considering the all the comments I've heard on it thus far, I'll probably give it another listen today and see if I like it better. But on first impression, it's the things that you mention that kind of turned me off. Yes, the album is all over the place, and yes I've heard other albums that have that trait. I do like that in an album, but only when it's done with an intent, or at least creates a greater mood that can't easily be created by simpler albums (Ghost's Hypnotic Underworld comes to mind, but I might just be smoking crack as I haven't listened to it in a long time). As for the effects on the voices, I didn't dig those much. Every time I heard cedric harmonizing with himself it sounded super-over produced. On that note, what the fuck is he singing about?

I still listen to this album almost every week. There's so much going on, from surgically-executed transitions to the incorporation of unorthodox influences. I mean, there are some parts that sound like psychedelic Santana, but it still manages to make sense placed against all the mathrock. plus, seeing them perform it live gave the album triple points. it was near perfect execution, despite the degree of difficulty. cedric hits the high notes, omar plays three guitar parts at once, and the drummer is a robot/octopus hybrid. fuck, have you listened to the drum parts? the album gets an A for that alone.

That being said, the new album is audio diarrhea.

[(2+7)X240]/3.67 =

its ok...I think they're boring live though.

You can say that twice and mean it!

Actually, that's very deliberate -- they used to have a secret fifth (sixth? I forget how many they are...anyway, however many they are plus one ... -th) member of the band that does "live effects", who was considered crucial to the band -- he has since died. But having been that person myself in another band, I can definitely dig the purposefulness of that.Got me.

dOOdz, that late secret [sic] member of the Mars Volta was Jeremy Ward, the cousin of Jim Ward (ex-ATDI, current Spartan), and the only member of the Ward family for whom Cedric and Omar can have any respect, at all. 'Cause he ain' some emo-metal rock poseur like that lil' shit "singing" in Sparta -- no, Jeremy Ward was the real deal of forward-thinking sound-manipulation and music-making.