Deloused in the Comatorium

Possibly the best prog-rock album from this century. Expect to find music that is written for the sake of music, that breaks boundaries, that forces the listener to think and experience concepts outside of the easy boundaries of culture and social norms that are forced on us by the media. Of course, like any good prog-rock project, "De-Loused in the Comatorium" is a conceptual album. The main character Cerpin Taxt, who is based on a real person that the band knew, falls into a coma due to self-abusive behavior. While in a coma, Taxt experiences a (possibly) hallucinigenic journey through a landscape of his own decay. The intellectually poetic lyrics make references to medical terminology, ghosts, public transportation, isolation, confusion, philosophical figures, and (self) deception. Sonically, the Mars Volta recalls the best of progressive's past and present. Like some idiot-savant with Turret's Syndrome, they seem to embody both effortlessly. It is difficult to point to one musician in the group that is not necessary for the overall sound. Every player in the group deserves mention. Guitarist Omar Rodriguez-Lopez plays with an measured angularity that recalls Robert Fripp's late '60's/early 70's work but with the passsion of a young Carlos Santana. Cedric Bixler-Zavala sings like a young Geddy Lee being possessed by the passionate spirit of Tool's Maynard. Drummer Jon Theodore recalls the aggressive technical chops of Neil Peart, but with the instinctive recklessnes of Keith Moon. Using classic hammond/mellotron/fender-rhodes piano sounds, keyboardist Isaiah Owens recalls the necesssarily transparent playing of Billy Preston. Then there's Flea standing in on bass, and holding on for dear life. He seems actually quite challenged in this project, so much so that he never really gets the chance to "Flea out". He just plays some fantastically solid and distinctive bass, which is great to hear from him, especially in this context. How does one reconcile the gap between punk and prog? Take the in-your-face aggression of punk and put it side-by-side with darkly beautiful ballads, compelling soundscapes, metrically complex and angular riffs, and freely open jams. The lowdown: Simultaneously being a music lover and cynic, I am usually hard-pressed to easily accept new music by a band I don't know much about. I am used to the few listens it takes for me to decide what I really think about a project. The Mars Volta convinced me immediately, and is still convincing after several months of heavy rotation and an extremely memorable live experience, which is beyond the scope of this review to recount.

Fuck off.

Hahahhahha, yes! YES! The pretentiousness is very much the point here, and I _love_ it. Singing absolute nonsense with such earnest conviction - fantastic! (Although it's made me realize that Neutral Milk Hotel's "In the Aeroplane Over the Sea", another fine example of heartfelt gibberish, isn't on this list, which feels like quite the omission!) I'll take this album over anything At The Drive-In did. It's also my fave Mars Volta album, by quite a stretch... Fave track - the whole thing, really, but "Roulette Dares (The Haunt of)", "Eriatarka", "Televators" and "Take the Veil Cerpin Taxt" are the stand outs...

With its frenzied musicians and vital Latin influence, Deloused in the Comatorium's turn-of-the-century prog rock rips pretty thoroughly, but the lyricism is so indulgent—even for the genre—that it often distracts. There's a fine line between "you just don't get it" and "I just don't care," and the penmanship here is firmly in the latter. You made a concept album, and the concept is "drugs are neat," you don't have to try so damn hard to get the job done. That said, once you push past the Aesop Rock of it all, the more aggressive tracks hit quite hard, and the talent the group has is undeniable. I just wish the songwriters were the only ones that calmed down over the course of its excessive runtime. Key Tracks: Inertiatic ESP, Drunkship of Lanterns, Cicatriz ESP

🤘. Lyrics are basically incoherent but the music is amazing.

If Rush, Santana, and MCR adopted a baby together, this is the monster they would raise. I love it. These guys have been on my radar for a while and I see why they are always spoken among the greats of modern prog.

The pinnacle of modern prog rock. Move over, Rush. Step aside, King Crimson. We've got an eccentric Mexican with a fantastic falsetto, a savant Puerto Rican with a knack for a guitar, and a band who can keep pace with the two. There are segments on this album that will blow you away, just raw compositional goodness. There's solid dynamics too, with The Mars Volta knowing when to go full tilt and when to be more reserved. These allow for truly memorable moments such as in Eriatarka where the songs builds itself to the choruses. There are parts that are a little overly long, though, and could use some sparing in order to keep things moving along, but it can be easily forgiven for how spectacular everything else is. Great great album.

This is just a more inscrutable version of Muse.

down with this sort of thing

girl wtf is this cover?????? whats up with that child???? i don't think this is English I haven't heard of an album so all-over-the-place. cohesiveness who?

Masterful production, technical, visceral, cohesive. Takes a few listens to fully grasp, but once you're hooked and listening between the lines and notes, it's a masterpiece.

It ain't At the Drive-In, but I've always loved this band. Proggy, punk-ish, pretentious; they cover the three P's in spades on this one. I hadn't listened to this in forever. I like all the weird horns and shit they got into on the record that followed, but it was nice to hear this one again. Definitely more focused than most of their discography, for better or worse. Anyway, I remember that reading Pitchfork was pretty much a daily must for me back in the early 2000s. And then they just completely eviscerated the 2nd Mars Volta record, if memory serves. Just an absolutely brutal review and it occurred to me at that point that I didn't need to read Pitchfork any more.

Christ, how do I even begin to review this one? I remember seeing "The Widow" video on TV and not liking it, but somehow finding myself listening to this album (which doesn't even have that song) and making myself a massive Mars Volta fan at age 14. I have worshiped at the altar of Omar Rodriguez-Lopez. I was a massive participant on the Mars Volta thread on Ultimate-Guitar way back in the day. "Bias" doesn't even cover it. This was one of my first true introductions to the weirdness of prog-rock, along with Yes' "Fragile", though this record appealed to me more at the time since I came to this after listening to mostly Breaking Benjamin and Seether. Still not sure how I survived that jump. It's heavy, it's winding, and it's easy to get lost in the gorgeous soundscapes if you let yourself. Jon Theodore puts literally everything he has into the drums of this record, and he doesn't get enough credit. I can definitely see a lot of people calling this one "pretentious", and rightly so, but fuck that. I haven't heard anything that sounds quite like this ever, and I don't think anyone will ever get close to the absolute fever dream that this record is. Favorite tracks: "Drunkship of Lanterns", "Take the Veil Cerpin Taxt", "Roulette Dares", "Cicatriz ESP"

Sounds a bit like Paramour, but a lot edgier, but not in a good way, without the catchy choruses.

Like At The Drive In but without any tunes. Painful.

bandname und artwork haben mich immer auf distanz gehalten, das macht unvoreingenommenes hören natürlich schwieriger - aber das branding (ja, leider) ist on point. eitelkeit, wehleidigkeit, auskennertum, selbstgefälligkeit - im geeigneten kontext kann das alles okay sein, aber wenn es so zusammenkommt wie hier, ist das einfach nur scheußlich. gefällt vermutlich meinen alten deutschlehrern.

Album #17 (1001 Challenge): "De-Loused in the Comatorium" by The Mars Volta (2003) I've been dreading the day when this album came up. I guess get it over with early. Some people obviously love this album. Hence, it being on the list. I really, really tried with multiple listenings, even before today, to find something. The only thing I find this album to be is annoying. A less-focused, more sci-fi version of Muse. Metal Prog...that even sounds bad. Most of these songs sound like they were written for the sole purpose of being boss battles for Guitar Hero or Rock Band, which may not be a bad thing. But, not here. The drums or drum loop sounds like a machine gun or video game. No noticeable melody. The singing and overall tone is so overly dramatic. I didn't bother trying to figure out what's he singing about. Song titles like "Drunkship of Lanterns" don't really motivate me to find out more. Ughhh!

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOooooooooooooooooooooooooooo My earholes squeezed themselves shut

Genre: Progressive Rock 5/5 A debut album from a band I was familiar with by name only, from a genre I’ve grown quite fond of since I was young, and good grief this thing was an instant love for me. I had initially been apprehensive, having read that the vocals were hit-or-miss and the music itself could prove too dense for some. But, man, I was absolutely floored. And also to the harsher critics out there, there is WAY more progressive shit that you would absolutely HATE. This is almost easy listening. In the same way you can hear Radiohead’s OK Computer write the careers of their contemporaries (Coldplay, Muse, etc.), De-Loused in the Comatorium (ugly name and ugly album cover aside, lol) is proto-screamo in the best way, and Attack, Attack, Of Monsters and Men, and Coheed and Cambria (among others), owe a huge debt to this project. Technical, talented playing, Rick Rubin’s essential wall-of-sound production, vocals that ascend to the heavens in nearly every track, and relentless pacing, this album seemingly helped forge the path for where rock would go over the coming years. Really impressed, absolutely loved this. If you like rock music, this is for you. Sending Drunkship of Lanterns to my dad right now.

this is so 00s. I was a teenager in the 00s and I didn't like the mars volta, but now listening to their first album, I see it was consistent with the type of music that was being done in the 2000s. It feels nostalgic to listen to it in the 2020s.

One of those albums that just explodes your head the first time you hear it. Unlike anything else. Unbelievable talent on display and killer, weird tunes.

Fuck yes, another favorite from 20 years ago - the chokehold that Televators had on my adolescent mind! A great band to listen to if you're studying for the SATs, get your blood pumping while you expand your vocabulary. This album absolutely rips. I'm just a gal who loves psychedelic, prog, weird stuff. I'm not afraid of a 60 minute jam about the nightmarish hallucinations experienced during the limbo between life and death. In the proggiest move ever, there's a companion book that goes with this album to add further details to the "story" of Cerpin Taxt, the fictional main character based on real life artist Julio Venegas. I only learned of its existence today, so I'm glancing at it now out of curiosity, but for me the vibes of these songs are strong enough to get the point across. Summary: a man is in immense psychological pain, takes a cocktail of drugs with the intent to die, goes into a coma and has an existential battle with his various demons while hospitalized before ultimately deciding, after he wakes up, to make the final choice to end it all. Track 1 - "Son Et Lumiere" - The title translates to sound and light. There are droning background noises that evoke florescent lights, combined with the paranoid and repetitive beep-like note it gives the essence of hospital. The narrator vaguely describes shooting something up and says he is "not the percent you think survives" - he was planning and expecting to die. He refers to himself as a rat and vermin with pockmarked skin. All the while the music is steadily building, adding drums and louder instrumentation. Track 2 - "Inertiatic Esp" - The first track flows seamlessly into this, with the band at full volume as the singer wails "Now I'm Lost!" - the narrator is lost in his comatose interior world. There is grotesque imagery, a possible combo of hospital horrors and nightmarish psychosis. The drums are driving, the organ is wonky, the jams are fantastic. Track 3 - "Roulette Dares (The Haunt Of)" - This intro is the most At The Drive-In sounding to me, loud, fast, intense. The haunt of roulette dares - these ghastly hallucinations are the result of the narrator playing a game with his life. The verses refer to various forms of self harm. The pre-chorus slow down jams are heavy AF - the narrator will not be reconnecting to his body soon, the junction is delayed, he's going deeper. The end is a slow jam out Track 4 - "Tirame A Las Aranas" - Throw me to the spiders! This is a very short and spooky instrumental track, dark plucky guitar gives way to atmospheric wails and wobbles that slide into the following track. Track 5 - "Drunkship of Lanterns" - The Latin rhythms on this song are frantic, along with the bass. It grows more and more throughout the song, which evokes claustrophobia and isolation with imagery of submarines and tombs. "Is anybody there?" "Nobody is heard" There are multiple movements as it weaves in and out of begging for another soul, panicked descriptions of desolate scenery, and the intense locked-in horror of there being nothing but the counting of one's own blinks. The outro is another atmospheric industrial wind down, with a marching beat. Track 6 - "Eriatarka" - The chorus of this one is ATDI reminiscent again, with hardcore edges that give way to proggy verses, more grotesque imagery - tapeworms etc. The lyrics here are particularly esoteric, but the vibe is that the narrator is an experiment, something is wrong. In this basement he has been restrained, is "cocooned meat", dark stuff. Track 7 - "Cicatriz Esp" - I fucking love this song. "IIIIIII'VE DEEEEEFECTED" It's 12:28, it is bonkers, it is just so good for me. Just psychedelic weirdness for the middle bit. The rails have come off, "said I've Lost My Way" , it comes all the way back with a Santana style Latin rhythms and guitar moment that builds and builds from around 8 minutes to 11 minutes. The singer comes back with a vengeance and the end is massive. Track 8 - "This Apparatus Must Be Unearthed" - weirdest (funny to write that) vibes on this one. The narrator is unhinged and wrathful, there are images of destruction, cities in ruin, and themes of vengeance and blame. A very aggressive drum outro. Track 9 - "Televators" - I love that this was a single that I could hear on the radio in 2003, what a time. This is a beautiful, sad, slow song that uses allegorical lyrics to describe the tragic suicide of Julio Venegas, a friend of the Mars Volta founding members. He had been in a coma after a previous attempt at suicide by overdose, that experience informed the stories of the previous songs, after waking from his coma he eventually took his own life by jumping off a bridge over a busy intersection. A plea for mercy from concrete and pavement. Track 10 - "Take the Veil Cerpin Taxt" Cerpin, or Julio, has chosen the veil. This is great closing track with more beautiful, evolving, instrumental jams. A self-guided journey to death with the tragic final call of "Who brought me here?"

Un album assez difficilement appréciable tant la tête dont il est ici question ne cessera de nous cracher sa lumière à la figure du début à la fin du projet. On en sort totalement ébloui mais surtout très énervé.

I audibly groaned as soon as the screen refreshed and this loaded after voting for the last album ('The White Album/The Beatles'). Maybe not as bad as I remembered but so much wailing.

2000s prog. better than much (a bit less clever clogs, and a certain willingness to rock). Lots of echoes of Fripp. The inclusion of latin percussion does not make it Santana-like. I like the noisy sound design, which give it a rough and atmospheric edge than I find lacking in much prog (which tends towards clean production to show off the chops). Good vocals, but don't get me started on the meaningless lyrics. I enjoyed it well enough while listening, but don't feel the need to listen again. Hal might like it, though. I like the Fripp-like guitar work, but, honestly, aren't there plenty of King Crimson albums that I would prefer to listen to? Yes. Yes, there are.

Sounds pretty good.

Pretencious shit.

This is another of those albums I would like considerably more if there was a different vocalist. There's just something about the tone of this guy's voice that grates on me. The music is actually pretty good, and definitely something I could enjoy.

Dudes voice kind of annoying

Not exactly an easy listening; I like certain kinds of progressive rock but this is a tad too much for me. Roulette dares was the one song I kinda digged, the rest is okay to meh.

Pretentious emo rock.

This one should be easy for me, I love Prog Rock and having Flea on bass is a huge win for any band. But yet I just cannot get into it. The songwriting and instrumentation are good, I really enjoy the incorporation of latin/jazz styles, but what looses me is the vocal delivery. It sounds too much like a whiny 00s Emo-Punk band. Also makes what is supposed to be a story based concept album mostly unintelligible (although having looked up some of the lyrics, it appears you need a thesaurus to decipher them anyway). Plus including a well-known acronym in two of your tracks, but then redefining what is stands for is officially jumping the shark on the pretentiousness scale. Fav Tracks: Inertiatic ESP, This Apparatus Must Be Unearthed

I think the instrumentation is great throughout most of this album, especially the uptempo drumming; however, they have composed their songs so poorly that every song ends up sounding like random noise. Granted, there are times when math rock & noise rock can be pulled off and sound amazing, but this is not one of those albums. The lyrics appear to be up for interpretation and I have no idea what the plot of a single song is. On top of that, I am not a fan of the singer's falsetto range, especially when he gets into the loud vocal sections - there is also a bunch of funky processing of the vocals happening which seems to intensify the shrillness of it all. This one stays on the shelf. Thanks for the ride. Fave tracks: Son et Lumiere, Drunkship of Lanterns

Unlistenable. I got to the third song, then started FFwd'g and listening to as much of each song as possible to see if I was wrong. Nope. Clearly, didn't add. Also, entire oeuvre is filled with meaningless edgy song titles.

Is it a bad thing to have too much polish and poise? The thing that I like about Daft Punk is it's two white French guys pretending to be robots, with the Mars Volta, it's six robots pretending to be aggressive music artists. This music is devoid of heart and feeling and any humanistic quality except for maybe ambition. Even the cold blast of air to the face on Inertiatic Esp, the opening track, goes directly into a quick drum wrap and operatic vocals. Which, I might add, the operatic-infused vocals throughout this album were likely pulled directly from American Idol. The Mars Vota and this album in particular embodies everything wrong with early 2000s major label music. It's this overproduced, spot-on perfection of prescripted anger and carefully placed melodies. Just because it's loud and quick doesn't mean it's real. I'm calling bullshit on the band's artistry and 'passion' for creating music. You can't be an artist if you're a robot.

don't like it, trying to be catchy High voices, empty riffraffs

One of my favourite albums of all time 😍 I still remember when I first discovered them at uni and was blown away by such a perfect blend of structure/batshit craziness. Also in my top 5 gigs. So fucking cathartic! Fav new track: N/A, but it's between the transition from Son el Lumiere into Inertiatic Esp and Televators...

Got this one on CD. Perfect album as far as I'm concerned.

-This album is pretty sweet. The guitar is shredding and the drums are awesome throughout the whole album. Definitely need to do more listening

Panic Attack Simulator, the album. This cathartic combination of Prog and Punk creates a record that, while alienating for sure, I find to be an extremely rewarding listen. Favorites: "Roulette Dares", "Eriatarka", "Cicatriz Esp", "Take The Veil Cerpin Taxt"

My brother got this on CD when it came out. I must have been 12 or 13 at the time and always listened to all of his CDs. I didn't get this one. It seemed sort of weird and then I never listened to it again. Seeing the album here made me think "Oh yeah, there was an album like this! I heard it. Some strange alternative rock or something like that." Listening to it yesterday and giving it a second spin today, I've been loving every moment of this album. Progressive rock and alternativ rock get together for a twist that still sounds fresh and original almost 20 years later. I can't claim that the lyrics seem much more than associative stream of consciousness, but that's OK. As is not uncommon in alternative rock, the vocals are frequently off-key and sound whiny at times. I'm not the biggest fan of this style of singing, but here it fits quite well. The bigger draw, for me, is the undeniable instrumental virtuosity on this album and the elaborate and unpredictable structuring of the tracks. This one really caught me by surprise but I will be sure to revisit it and check out the other Mars Volta albums as well. Favorite tracks were the two Esp songs.

Way ahead of it's time.

One of the best albums in my lifetime. Every song is a masterpiece

even at its least comprehensible, i get why people like this album so much. probably would have been huge to my teenage self.

Bruh, je reconnaissance seulement le groupe de nom. Mon dieu que je me suis prit une claque dans la face à matin! Je sais pas trop comment décrire le style, un genre de radiohead moins depressif pis plus jazzy/prog. Bref, je kiff

O álbum começa super animado e vai ficando mais psicodélico pro final, mantendo o virtuosismo. Deu vontade de casar com esse álbum kkkk

I was really surprised how much I liked this, even with a minor headache at the time. Don't think there was a track I didn't like. Inertiatic Esp was my favourite of the bunch. I must say the drumming and guitars are all top notch, made me air play those instruments in the car. The vocalist is really great and I particularly like how some of the songs are interrupted by the sound effects. Gives the intensity a nice break.

One of my alltime favorite albums. Such an intense blend of post-punk, prog metal, jazz, synthy stuff. One of a kind. Also big words that may or may not mean anything. Favorite Tracks: Televators, Cicatriz ESP, Son et Lumiere/Inertiatic ESP

Really love this album. I understand why people complain about the wailing, it is pretty intense, but I love it. It's funny to hear people call them pretentious. Isn't ratting someone's art with your anonymous internet opinion a tad on the pretentious side? Either way this album screams. Songs are interesting and engaging. Peaks and valleys. Light and dark. Enjoy with an open mind.

Like a Texan Biffy Clyro - which is intented as a massive compliment! I loved At The Drive-in, but hadn't listened to much of The Mars Volta before - I am now regretting that. Added all their albums to my list off the back of this one. Loved every second of it, wish I could give it 6 (or 7) stars!

Classic! I bought this album the when it came out on a whim cause I thought the cover was cool .

Aha, I know this one. This is one of those pure gems of an album that always gives you something new every time you listen to it. The concept is dense, the music spans from metal to prog to Latin-inspired to jazz and everywhere in between, the performances are unreal, and it basically just goes hard as fuck for 70 minutes straight. I love this album

One of my favorite albums. Glad they re-pressed it

God, I love this album, I could listen to it every day.

Wild album! Still feels pretty modern. Highly recommend!

Aż musiałem przeskoczyć żeby odsłuchać (nie pierwszy raz). Kocham ten album całym serduszkiem, na liście moich albumów 10/10 zdecydowanie ma swoje miejsce. Bardzo ciekawy głos, drastyczny acz pasjonujący koncept, szalone koncepcje liryczne, wszystko tu jest niesamowicie tripowe i wciągające. Brzmi kosmicznie - i to nie w stylu "tania space opera", tylko naprawdę niepokojąco obco. No i widać duże umiejętności techniczne artystów. Nawet nie wypada mówić tu, jaki utwór jest highlightem - tego albumu się słucha całego lub w ogóle.

I saw another hour long album after so many in the last few days and thought god damn it. But this hit me in the right spot. I absolutely loved it. Heard the name but didn't know what to expect. This just scratched an itch that I absolutely love. Just some really great music and I'm going to explore the rest of the catalogue.

wait what the heck....this is SO good. I love prog rock!!

Absolutely loved At The Drive-In, so I'm not sure how this passed me by. It's great though, lots of scope and variety on top of ATDI's distinctive sound.

Has a energetic powerful ambience. The instrumentals remind me of TOOL but the sometimes the irrational lyrics remind me of some of SOAD works like “Peephole” where they seem nonsensical but are anything but. Very fun album.

A record I can listen intently in my headphones or cranked in the car. Vocal slayings and solid grooves throughout. Beginning to end a great work from beginning to end.

Thematically and musically reminded me of "The Black Parade" by My Chemical Romance (one of the most baffling exclusions from this list, by the way). You could tell me the singer is Gerard Way's older brother and I would honestly believe you. I really love it. The completely batshit lyrics, the guitars, vocals, drumming.. it all works so well together. "Track-marked amoeba lands craft, cartwheel of scratches, dress the tapeworm as pet, tentacles smirk please" I have absolutely no idea what you're saying my guy, but it sounds cool so I'll let it slide.

This is not the object to change any opinions about prog or the Volta, but it seems to arrive in one's life precisely where it's most needed. It's a quick hour, but contains enough tricks (very lush for Rubin) to establish itself as a 21st century prog album, a load of ambition, plenty of meaning-evading. Put that way, the record sounds like a mixed bag, and I suppose it is: Something brimmeth over, certainly. But I still can't shake the feeling that De-Loused is something special, and it makes me grin.

6 star

These mfs go hard on this one you best believe. They're playing like their lives depend on it!!!

They're definitely doing something. Not really sure what it is but it's not nothing. Something like the thing that Radiohead does but way less like that thing. It's definitely not nothing. Certainly made me think about what the thing is a lot. Still not sure. For the amount it's made me think I'm technically bound to give it a five star by my universal rating rationale but it doesn't feel like the right thing to do in this instance. Getting toward the end now, Cicatriz Esp starting to bring it together. Holy fuck what a bring back! Nah five stars.

Amazing!

Wow what an amazing album - every song was great

It's impossible to review this album without sounding like a pretentious twat...so I'm not going to bother. Listen to it yourself you lazy sods.

Just yesterday I typed in my Aqualung review how Mars Volta is one of my exceptions where I can ignore the obscurity and abstrusity of the lyrics. And here they are on my doorstep. What makes them different then? Maybe it's the conviction with which Cedric belts out his cryptic lyrics. Perhaps it's Omar's beautiful guitar work that accompanies the whole thing. Or the fact that they really just throw you into the deep end of their fucked up fantasy world with no life preserver, while other prog bands offer you the occasional respite in the kiddie pool. You either learn to swim and love it, or drown, but you're never going to find yourself surrounded by a bunch of kids with pool noodles splashing and peeing in the water (peeing in the water is my analogy for prog bands that get a little too sybaritic). In other words, I appreciate that Mars Volta have their vision, and go all the way with it, holding nothing back, no subtlety, no pandering, this music is theirs and on their terms. And damn if it doesn't sound great! As much as I dislike this ugly cover, and don't want to see it muck up my flawless summary page, I can't deny that this is as good as prog-rock gets in my book. 5 stars!

Classic prog weirdness. Love this album.

Unrelenting and whip-smart

Unrivaled. Don't think it's their best album (I have a weakness for France The Mute) but definitely a 5-start

Brilliant in every way: song writing, palpable energy, performance of every instrument, vocals for the ages. This album and band have long been an obsession!

Rating: 10/10

Another favorite

marte it is back

already heard this one before, it's been a while since i've listened to the album all the way through but it's a fantastic record

Awesome

Exelente

Awesome album, I love these guys

It’s gutsy to produce a complex rock concept album as your debut, but Mars Volta pulls it off flawlessly. This is the type of album that the listener can lose oneself in the intricacy. Excellent guitar and drum manipulation, with elements of a variety of genres recorded with impressive quality. I’m glad this album made the list.

Captivating! So interesting and mournful. Enough high octane to keep me high energy and grooving throughout

One of my all-time favorites. 1 - bad 2 - average 3 - good 4 - great 5 - outstanding

Been craving some Dream Theater So close to a 5 But there's so much stupid bullshit Fuck it 5

The album cover sucks, but the rest is great. It tells a story, but it’s vague and I ended up just enjoying the extremely pretentious lyrics. It’s very high octane. Also, I was surprised at ‘Cicatriz Esp’ being 12 minutes, but it was stupid of me to assume that there wouldn’t be a 12 minute song on a prog album.

One of the best progressive rock albums released this century. Impecable, aggressive, exciting!

Oh I know this record #49 all time streams I listened to this a lot when it came out, not so much in the streaming era Love this record, forgot how much so

Wow, where's this album been all my life? Visceral, nonsensical, trippy, unhinged but still with a solid structure. The perfect companion to a stressful and anxiety-laden couple of days. Favourite: Inertiatic Esp

Thank Glob for genre changing mad-scientist-musicians like Cedric Bixler-Zavala.

Another one of my favourites. Epic poly rhythms, unique sounds, a concept album about a man wrestling with their mortality while in a coma. Unique and amazing. Still not as good as the next one though lol

Une énergie folle

Did The Mars Volta single-handedly revive Prog Rock? No one can ever say definitively yes, but if they didn't do it, no one did. And, if this full-length release didn't kick it off, then I don't know what did. This album continues to thrill.

Hard to give a 5 to an album I haven't listened to before, but I really liked this one. The wife liked it too.

Me like this album.

Favorite Song(s): I liked them all, but I think Televators was my favorite? Danggggggg. This album blew my mind. Half the time I had no idea what was happening, but in a really good way. I'm definitely going to have to listen many more times before I even begin to appreciate what's happening here.

I'm such a sucker for prog rock. I love me an album that has a consistent through-line. Musicianship is fantastic. So much here that I can aspire to. I could put this one on to play and the entire hour passes without my noticing. My buddy says the Wiki summary reads like an Aronofsky film! Love it. And I'll be listening to this album again, most definitely.

Yes! What an insane album.

epic

This album came into my world because Saul Williams toured with The Mars Volta and I was thoroughly obsessed with anything he touched or orbited at the time. This sonic bombardment was nothing like I had heard before, but I loved it. And still do. I've never gone too deep on the rest of their catalog (or even heard half their albums at all, I think) but this is an album I come back to frequently - especially when I have the opportunity to play it very loud.