Write Your Own Music Reviews

[I had posted this in it's own thread quite some time ago, so yeah. I don't feel up to writing out another review just yet for anything, so you'll have to settle for this. And yes, it's my own review, before you question anything]

The album that started it all. In many ways, it's the precursor to De-Loused In The Comatorium, and in many ways, it's a completely different album. One song deals with the story that will eventually take place a year later on TMV's breakout album. Two other songs are chock full of vivid imagery and sometimes confusing lyrics, but nevertheless great. This is The Mars Volta's Tremulant EP.

The Mars Volta rose from the ashes of El Paso's favorite band, At The Drive-In. In 2001, just as the band was achieving major commerical success with the release of "Relationship of Command" and the hit single, "One Arm Scissor", they called it quits. There's alot of rumors as to why the split occured. Many think Omar & Cedric became bored with the music that they were making in ATD-I, and wanted to create music that would push boundries they could never achieve - or see - in ATD-I. Others blame the split soely on the other bandmates in ATD-I, for whatever reason that may be. But, what we do know is that from the split of a great band, rose another great band that could, and would, succeed the success of ATD-I. And then Sparta formed too.

The Mars Volta was formed shortly after the break-up of At The Drive-In, and they (apparently) wrote the material for the Tremulant EP very fast. It's also worth nothing that they performed some shows in late 2001, where they showed off rough versions of what would later becomes songs off their "concept album", De-Loused In The Comatorium. In 2002, the band went into the studio, and recorded the 3 song EP called Tremulant. This is my review of that album.

01. Cut That City (5:44)
Haha, what a mind-fuck this song is. It's not that guitar, drums, or vocals that made it a mind-fuck. It's the words, people. The words. Linkin Park, take note. The lyrics in this song are CRAZY. So much there I'm sitting here without internet access at the moment, and I don't want to ever attempt to spell some of the words Cedric is spitting out. Overall, I don't know what the song is supposed to be about. I know Cedric says "Welcome to this Neo-Tokyo", so, uh...talking about the future? I really don't know. I was to amazed at the lyrics. Oh, and it takes a good 2 minutes before you even hear real music or lyrics. Just so you know.

02. Concertina (4:54)
The precursor to De-Loused In The Comatorium in many ways, but then again, it's sort of not. It doesn't have to do with the "Cerpin Taxt" character that's in DITC, but rather the person that Cerpin Taxt is based off of - Julio. Many ATD-I & TMV fans believe this song is blaming an old friend for the death of Julio. If you're a fan of DITC, TMV, or even ATD-I (See: Embroglio), you know the story of Julio. He was a troubled youth, and had attempted suicide before by injecting rat poision into his blood stream. When that didn't work, Julio finally committed suicide by jumping off a bridge in (what I assume is) El Paso. But, see, here's the kicker that "Concertina" throws you. Someone named Ben might have drove Julio to commit suicide by egging him on. Obviously, Cedric believes this, and blames Ben for the death of his friend (File this under a bridge that he cannot leave). Interesting little story there, and this song sparks the fire for the next TMV album. That's reason enough alone to love this song.

03. Eunuch Provocateur (8:48)
A signature Mars Volta Dance Track©. The lyrics make you think of a Middle Eastern setting (The Al Sirat hides behind a wardrobe of eunuchs), but I'm convinced there is more to this track that meets the eye. Errr, ear? Whatever. De-Loused In The Comatorium is referenced several times in this song (Dethroned by the comatorium, de-loused by the comatorium). I think it somehow ties into the DITC/Cerpin Taxt story, but I'm not sure. I'm too busy dancing, damnit. This song is fucking catchy and has a nice little salsa thing to it. My favorite Mars Volta song by far, and it has my favorite TMV lyric. I think I'll close this review off by giving you that lyric. Here ya go.

Fuckin' right. This album gets a solid A+ from me. Awesome, awesome little EP, and is just an appitizer for what was to come in a years time, with the release of "De-Loused In The Comatorium".

Rock saviors? Pretentious bastards? Whatever anyone wants to describe The Mars Volta, there is no denying that they're currently changing the land-scape of modern rock, whether you like it or not. They might not be the next Nickelback in terms of radio & TV play, but I'll be damned if they aren't expanding anyones mind once they pick up a TMV record. It doesn't matter if it's a bootleg of a concert, the Tremulant EP, De-Loused, or Frances The Mute. They're here to stay, and they're making a niche in music to call their own.

All hail The Mars Volta!

 

8 years.

Meh.

Seen better.