THE MARS VOLTA - NOCTOURNIQUET

veddertown

Downloading this right now from amazon so tomorrow morning at work will hopefully live up to my expectations. I've avoided hearing the single as I don't think TMV songs really work as singles so it's all going to be fresh! Anyone listen to the stream on RollingStone.com? How does it compare or fit in with the previous albums? Excited now!!

arq

I really like the album, is a little less complex than the previous albums but in a good way. I've been a fan for not too long but so far this album is just awesome!

Brisk.

Heard the full preview from Rolling Stone. The first few tacks are like WTF, I remember the 1st one having all this techno. It certainly it gets better.

veddertown

arq wrote:

I really like the album, is a little less complex than the previous albums but in a good way. I've been a fan for not too long but so far this album is just awesome!

I did notice that the songs are generally shorter overall and I'm certainly expecting some slightly more accessible songs going by what I've read. I think you have to go into every TMV album with a really open mind. Omar Rodriguez is by far one of the most intelligent musicians and writers I've ever heard and he has a huge catalogue of solo albums and little projects to his name, he never seems to stop working.

Brisk. wrote:

Heard the full preview from Rolling Stone. The first few tacks are like WTF, I remember the 1st one having all this techno. It certainly it gets better.

WTF indeed Ed... intrigued now. I guess going to bed will make it come around quicker. Like Santa Claus!!

Brisk.

veddertown wrote:

arq wrote:

I really like the album, is a little less complex than the previous albums but in a good way. I've been a fan for not too long but so far this album is just awesome!

I did notice that the songs are generally shorter overall and I'm certainly expecting some slightly more accessible songs going by what I've read. I think you have to go into every TMV album with a really open mind. Omar Rodriguez is by far one of the most intelligent musicians and writers I've ever heard and he has a huge catalogue of solo albums and little projects to his name, he never seems to stop working.

Brisk. wrote:

Heard the full preview from Rolling Stone. The first few tacks are like WTF, I remember the 1st one having all this techno. It certainly it gets better.

WTF indeed Ed... intrigued now. I guess going to bed will make it come around quicker. Like Santa Claus!!

I totally miss Thomas, he fucking is just one of the best drummers out there though Cedric really didn't like it. Said something about he didn't want the sound of a bee constantly in his ears or something. Also that he liked loud ghost notes which doesn't make too much sense so there is a lot of snare in the record.

veddertown

I listened to this album first thing yesterday and have to say that these guys are becoming one of the greatest modern bands ever. Usually their albums make you go wow from the start but this one is really different. It isn't a spectacular start but it sets the tone for a very different album and it just keeps drawing you in. Cedric's vocal delivery has softened a little but not in a bad way, it just seems to be less overbearing than he can be. I was inspired enough to spend a whole day going from Deloused In The Comatorium right through the entire catalog finished off with a second listen to Noctourniquet and it was the best day at work for a long time. I don't think The Bedlam In Goliath or Amputechture can be bettered but TMV will probably never make a bad record, just exceptional ones and very exceptional ones. I don't know what the ATD-I reunion will mean to TMV's schedule but these guys should be chained to the studio as often as possible and hopefully both bands will be able to co-exist. I really want to see TMV tour the UK with this album.

frazba

Same as you Gary, I've avoided hearing any of it so far, it should be here today Can't wait.

Brisk.

I gave it another listen, I'm not too sure...

veddertown

Brisk. wrote:

I gave it another listen, I'm not too sure...

I haven't heard anything I don't like on it yet but it's less fluent than previous albums definately. Have you listened to it through headphones Ed? Production is a little more messy than their usual standard but musically I think it's a grower. Three listens now and it improves each time I think.

Brisk.

veddertown wrote:

Brisk. wrote:

I gave it another listen, I'm not too sure...

I haven't heard anything I don't like on it yet but it's less fluent than previous albums definately. Have you listened to it through headphones Ed? Production is a little more messy than their usual standard but musically I think it's a grower. Three listens now and it improves each time I think.

I listen through a soundcard and a Cambridge Soundworks THX sound system. With DFX audio plug in ha.

DewieCox

I think it's pretty good. It's just very different all around. One review mentioned Radiohead and I disagreed at first, but I've come around a bit to that way of thinking.

veddertown wrote:

I listened to this album first thing yesterday and have to say that these guys are becoming one of the greatest modern bands ever.

I was inspired enough to spend a whole day going from Deloused In The Comatorium right through the entire catalog finished off with a second listen to Noctourniquet and it was the best day at work for a long time.

I don't think The Bedlam In Goliath or Amputechture can be bettered but TMV will probably never make a bad record, just exceptional ones and very exceptional ones.

I agree.

That's quite the ear workout. Are you ok?

I agree on Amputechture, but Bedlam is at the bottom for me, but like you said still pretty exceptional. I'm in the vast minority with Octahedron towards the top.

Digital Twilight

Pretty cool album. Lost touch with Mars Volta after Scab Dates really. Need to amend that.

Hoping they tour with this.

arq

veddertown wrote:

I listened to this album first thing yesterday and have to say that these guys are becoming one of the greatest modern bands ever. Usually their albums make you go wow from the start but this one is really different. It isn't a spectacular start but it sets the tone for a very different album and it just keeps drawing you in. Cedric's vocal delivery has softened a little but not in a bad way, it just seems to be less overbearing than he can be. I was inspired enough to spend a whole day going from Deloused In The Comatorium right through the entire catalog finished off with a second listen to Noctourniquet and it was the best day at work for a long time. I don't think The Bedlam In Goliath or Amputechture can be bettered but TMV will probably never make a bad record, just exceptional ones and very exceptional ones. I don't know what the ATD-I reunion will mean to TMV's schedule but these guys should be chained to the studio as often as possible and hopefully both bands will be able to co-exist. I really want to see TMV tour the UK with this album.

Dude you're a trooper, love TMV but I'd go crazy if I spent the day at work listening to them

Black Diamond

Much more accessible than any other album...

In the middle of it... It gets better as you go

veddertown

DewieCox wrote:

I think it's pretty good. It's just very different all around. One review mentioned Radiohead and I disagreed at first, but I've come around a bit to that way of thinking.

veddertown wrote:

I listened to this album first thing yesterday and have to say that these guys are becoming one of the greatest modern bands ever.

I was inspired enough to spend a whole day going from Deloused In The Comatorium right through the entire catalog finished off with a second listen to Noctourniquet and it was the best day at work for a long time.

I don't think The Bedlam In Goliath or Amputechture can be bettered but TMV will probably never make a bad record, just exceptional ones and very exceptional ones.

I agree.

That's quite the ear workout. Are you ok?

I agree on Amputechture, but Bedlam is at the bottom for me, but like you said still pretty exceptional. I'm in the vast minority with Octahedron towards the top.

I know what you mean about Radiohead comparisons as I'd dismissed that at first too but structurally there are a few similarities the deeper you listen. I read somewhere a couple of years ago in a live review where the author said that one day TMV would release a true classic album, I don't think they've been far off most of the time but this album probably isn't it. It seems funny to try and pick out a least favourite album but I think Octahedron is further down my list than yours although again I absolutely love it to death! It is full of great songs but with TMV albums I always come out of them feeling like I've been on a little trip the same way I get for Pink Floyd but Octahedron is the only one where I don't get that. Goliath for me is like the musical equivalent of watching an epic movie like Spartacus or something and funny to think now but I wasn't really that struck on it at first. I don't go back as far as Deloused or Frances The Mute often enough but they are really outstanding albums so it was great to hear everything. Oh and my ears survived the ordeal!

Deadman

This is by far my favorite band that isn't named Pearl Jam. Has been since Deloused/Frances era. Congrats to them for releasing yet another album that is a piece of work all its own and in my opinion uncomparable to their other releases. If you've only listened once or twice this can be a grower but is absolutely amazing. Frustrating at times to see how much crap people can tend to flip this band. I love the comment above regarding one of the best modern bands around. So so true! Cedric twittered asking when they were going to open up some dates for PJ. Whether it's At the Drive In or The Mars Volta, bring that show on!

musicismylife78

this is a band i think 20 years down the road will be looked at in the same reguard as tool. I respect TMV's absolute disreguard for any sort of expectations either by fans or critics. I love how they follow their muse wherever it leads, and its lead them in some bizaare and unorthodox places. I enjoy the backstories and insane inspirations for each album. Noctourniquet was inspired by greek myths, that soloman grundy poem, scientology, and the fact that in hebrew the word for god that appears in the original text of the bible is plural and unisex. That stuff is facisnating to me and the fact they deal with that in their art makes for a fulfilling listening experience. and it happens every album cycle. Amputecture was inspired by possessed nuns, and anti immigration protests. Bedlam was inspired by the fact the guys had used a Ouija board and as a result all these insane things happened during the recording process.

I love the lyrics. Its been what nearly a decade since Deloused was released, and how many people truly know what the lyrics mean?

"What of this mongrel architect
A broken arm of sewer set
Past present and future tense
Clipside of the pinkeye fountain"

or

"Made its way through the tracks
Of a snail slouching whisper
A half mast commute through umbilical blisters
Spectre will lurk
Radar has gathered
Midnight nooses from boxcar cadavers

Exoskeletal junction at the railroad delayed"

Incredible lyrics and brilliant

I remember hearing Frances the first time. I was freaking out, because you had these insanely long psychedlic songs, and it would switch from genre and tempo to tempo within each song, all the while cedric would be speaking spanish one minute then switch to english. totally insane and boundary breaking.

Brisk.

Can't get my head around what's with the buzzing techno on the first track..

veddertown

Brisk. wrote:

Can't get my head around what's with the buzzing techno on the first track..

The Whip Hand is a pretty insane sounding track. I don't know if I'd go quite as far as calling it techno but it's certainly different and a bit trippy. Not the best track they've opened an album with but I'm starting to take a shine to it. It's a bit Kid A/Amnesiac era Radiohead and then track 2, Aegis sounds like it could have come off Hail To The Thief. In fact if you were to sing the lyrics to 2+2=5 over the intro it would fit perfectly. There's more than a few Radiohead moments but I don't think that would be their intention given that they have a lot of originality. I'm not completely blown away by this album but it's pretty damn good and I think even being a little different this time it fits in really well with the way the band is evolving. Empty Vessels Make The Loudest Sound is a beautiful track with some of Cedric's best vocals yet and probably my favourite song since Asilos Magdalena from Amputechture.