The Mars Volta. New Album.

Hardest album for me to get was Radiohead’s Kid A.  But you have to understand that the world was waiting for them to save rock and roll from the likes of N’Sync and Brittney Spears at the time, and then Radiohead turned around and released….that.  But I eventually came to realize that this was the most rock and rollish move they could have made, in spirit if not sonically, and I came to appreciate that album in time.

^^^ +1 Reubent! 

I've found that to be true with a lot of my albums. Still not there with this one though...

Well, it took me a while and many times through this album, but now I think it's fantastic! 

No, not really.  It's more like Arctic Monkeys doing the Chipmunks Biggest Hits.  But it's great...  I noticed in the rare instances he sings in his low register, his voice is sublime, but also sounds a lot like Arctic Monkey's singer.  Gets distinctive in the upper range.

I like it. Does anyone else think it sounds like Flaming Lips doing the Chipmunks Biggest Hits? 

@nyev  - "Maybe try following along with lyrics as you go."

Good suggestion. I was thinking the same. First 2 times through, I did not read the lyrics, and they are sometimes a bit hard to understand.

I get that. There’s a lot of spontaneous changes in direction and a constant feeling that the music is continually evolving in a way.  Overwhelmed with varied ideas.

Maybe try following along with lyrics as you go.  Apparently there is quite a journey starting with terrifying theme of abuse and trauma before moving on to intense optimism.  I read that in a magazine interview with the singer.  Might help with the cohesion.  I’ll be trying following the lyrics soon.

I'm on my second pass through the LP. The jury is still out for me. Definitely things I like about the album. But still trying to decide if it jells into a cohesive whole, for me.

Glad to hear it! I causally had listened to this band over a decade ago but wouldn’t say I was a fan. I had totally forgotten that they ever existed. About 20 years ago I saw them open for the Red Hot Chilli Peppers, but at the time hadn’t heard of them. All I remember was they were by far the single loudest band I’d heard play live. And this is from someone who has been to many NIN and some Tool shows…. The Mars Volta opining for the Chillis was so loud it physically hurt. Lead guitar felt like I was undergoing brain surgery without anesthetic. I also recall the singer performing acrobatics with the microphone for the entire set. So that’s my experience with this band.

Fast forward 20 years and their new album is an awesome example of a highly evolved and different band from what they were, and creatively fearless.

I listened to it, and though I am not familiar with their past work, I really like this album.

My LSR was sold out. Just ordered it for delivery tomorrow. 

If you are using Roon with Tidal it shows the wrong date for the album. The date reads as November 23, 2004.  And last night it was in the EP’s section instead of main albums, but that part has been corrected now.  Everything shows up correctly when looking it up in the Tidal app though.

Someone else mentioned it the other day here. I'll check it out.