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CRITIC REVIEWS
100
It's practically a compulsory purchase.
12y
100
It’s already the most riveting album of 2005-provided you’re ready to carve a wide enough hole in your consciousness to accept it.
91
Frances explores an explosive groove Comatorium only implied.
90
Perhaps the only match for the cerebral weirdness and eventual beauty of Mars Volta's lyrics is their music itself.
12y
90
It wouldn’t be trite to say that this is a definite future classic that will inspire generations of guitar bands to reach greater heights with their music in the same way that ‘Led Zeppelin II’ did thirty odd years ago.
80
The Mars Volta's second album is an exhilarating transgression: concussive, nonlinear rhythms; mad-dog guitar algebra; bloody-nightmare suites sung in bilingual free verse. In short, the beastly spawn of Radiohead's OK Computer and Rush's 2112.
80
Frances bursts at the jewel-case hinges with Comatorium’s trademarks: musical inventiveness and wildly emotive vocals.
70
Within this impressive, ambitious, often stupid whole, are moments of melting human beauty.
67
The CD has moments of undeniable beauty and power; it may prove to be one of those "difficult" records that repays with repeat listens.
60
You have to give them credit for ambition ... because you're not going to find this particular witches' brew anywhere else.
60
In all, it's kinda like having every album you own on one CD.
50
Omar Rodriguez-Lopez and Cedric Bixler-Zavala are fantastically talented musicians and arrangers. But until they rein in their astronomical pretension, they'll always look more important than they truly are.
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3mo
20
No matter what your feelings for De-Loused, at least the band had a mind to curtail their most capricious jams before they lost all context. Here, they seem hellbent on making an album that's as contiguous as possible, and the result is a homogeneous shitheap of stream-of-consciousness turgidity.
12y
17
I almost feel compelled to send a copy of Frances the Mute to every middle school in my area; I imagine it would be a pretty effective method of discouraging drug use.
The sonic equivalent of edging for an hour and twenty minutes
it's a lot of buildup, but the end result is so so so fucking good
It insists upon itself, Lois. It insists upon itself. It takes forever getting in and you spe- you spend like 6 and a half hours and then- you know I can’t even get through it. I can’t even finish the album, I’ve never even heard Cassandra Gemini. I get to that section where the guys are tuning their instruments and they start speaking Span- no it's not a great track. I have no idea what they're talking about it's like they're speaking another language- that's when I lose ... read more
I now deem the chorus of Cygnus...Vismund Cygnus as one of the best musical moments of all time.
I recently got into the band The Mars Volta at the beginning of the year by a friend's recommendation (thanks Josh 😍). They queued up Deloused in the Comatorium, and I witnessed what was one of the greatest prog rock albums I've ever been blessed with. The album was fast, loud, and abrasive filled with so many textures and soundscapes. That's when I fell in love with this band, and I had that ... read more
yea this is my new #1 album
edit: ok recency bias has worn off, but this is still extremely good
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Track List
| 1 | Cygnus...Vismund Cygnus 13:02
| 98 |
| 2 | The Widow 5:50 | 94 |
| 3 | L'Via L'Viaquez 12:21 | 96 |
| 4 | Miranda That Ghost Just Isn't Holy Anymore 13:09
| 92 |
| 5 | Cassandra Gemini 32:32
| 97 |
Total Length: 1 hour, 16 minutes
Year End Lists
| #12 | / | SPIN |
| #24 | / | Rolling Stone |
| #34 | / | Gigwise |
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3mo
wtf did pitchfork even say. they are so up their own ass and saying all these big words that they come across as little neeks