The Mars Volta - Live at The Electric Ballroom

I remember being pretty excited when I found this record. I was in London for a night before going to the airport. In a lot of ways, it was a bad time to go record shopping - I was going away for nearly two weeks, going to Heidelburg, Vienna and Lancaster before going back to my parents' house for just three nights before going back to Australia for another six months. Not only did I have to lug this, a couple of other records I bought in London (and the ones I bought on my travels) on a number of flights and trains, I also had only three days to enjoy it (I frantically recorded all the records I bought that fortnight onto tape before going back to Canberra, but somehow missed off a whole side of the Murder City Devils live LP, something I was annoyed to find out when I tried to play it in Oz). After buying this, I stayed at my friend Jo's house and we watched the Johnny Depp version of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and had an early night ahead of my flight; there's a detail no one cares about.

Anyway, I was really into The Mars Volta at the time. I'd enjoyed Deloused in the Comatorium but really got into them on Frances the Mute (an album I'd still argue is their finest). During my first six months in Australia, they released Scab Dates which contained some incredible live recordings along with some frustratingly long field recordings of bollocks. This record - a straight-forward live recording from the sound-desk at a London show in 2003 - was then right up my street. The tracklisting is basically all of Deloused (in order) along with Concertina from the Tremulant EP (which I bought about six months later, just before I left Australia for good). On top of that, the sleeve stated that it was for promotional use only (but probably actually a bootleg) as well as singing the praise of being a purely analog recording, something I was pleased to see other people consider important, having had frequent and irritating conversations with my friend Tom about whether digital could be better than analog - see the last picture for the full text. I also bought the 12" single of Frances the Mute that day.

The quality of this recording is perfectly fine - you couldn't call it outstanding, but it does the job. What is perfect is the band, who are on incredible form. The thing that amazes me is that I saw them just two months after this recorded and they were terrible. I remember being really excited to see them at Reading Festival and they played what felt like two songs over a 45-minute set - two elongated jam-fests (which I might enjoy now to be honest, but wasn't in the mood for at the time). I can't have been the only person in the audience who was hoping to hear Inertiatic ESP. In hindsight, we were probably being treated to some early versions of songs from Frances the Mute, but we weren't to know. I saw them a handful of other times over the years and had far better experiences after that - their set at Southside Festival in 2009 was particularly brilliant. The version of Cicatriz ESP is far more enjoyable than the version on Scab Dates because you don't have to fast-forward ten-minutes of bollocks to get the huge climax. The recording of Televators is pretty breath-taking too - Cedric's voice on top form - and Take the Veil Cerpin Taxt is a superb closer. I think for a long time they'd take the stage and introduce themselves as a different band - on this particular show they came on stage with the line "Hello, we're Mudvayne", a nu-metal band that I'm sure most people have long forgotten. It's a strange blast from the past whenever I play this album.

Despite being a bootleg/promo/"unofficial release", copies of this album seem to be about two or three times more than I paid for it, which is always nice (although peanuts compared to how much the reissue of Deloused is now going for - and to think I complained about my copy costing £27, an annoyingly common price for an LP these days). A nice bonus was that the two records are on coloured vinyl - transparent yellow and blue. Whilst not strictly an official release, I'm very glad this is sat in my collection and that I decided to lug it around Europe rather than leave it in Selectadisc that rainy January day. I miss The Mars Volta, so it's nice to have a live recording of some of their best songs.

Format: Double 12", plain sleeve, insert, promo-only
Tracks: 9
Cost: £20 new
Bought: Selectadisc, London
When: 13/01/06
Colour: Transparent yellow and transparent blue
Etching: none
mp3s: no

The Mars Volta - Frances the Mute b/w The Widow

Frances the Mute - the album - gets a lot of hate, but it's always been my favourite Mars Volta album. I remember being knocked over by it the first time and I still listen to it often now. The way they bring Cassandra Gemini around at the end was perfect; I remember telling my dad that they were a modern-day Led Zeppelin, a ridiculous claim but what I felt at the time. I once saw a copy of the album on 4LP glow-in-the-dark vinyl in a record shop in Melbourne for $400 or so. I wasn't remotely tempted, but I knew I'd never see a copy in the wild again and, so far, I was right.

This isn't Frances the Mute the album, but Frances the Mute the single. The cd case for the album had lyrics beneath the cd tray for a song that wasn't on the album. Those lyrics are the lyrics to this title-track that didn't make the cut, since the album was already pushing the limits of a single cd. I can remember the excitement of finally being able to hear a song whose lyrics had been so mysteriously left behind on the packaging. It's a good song and would have fit the album, but I don't think it suffers for missing it. It's 14 minutes long, but really only about 8 or 9 of music. Had it been on the album with all the ambient noise either side, I think it would have harmed the flow. The hint of Cassandra Gemini through the static at the end always makes me want to put the album on.

The b-side is a live acoustic version of The Widow, which mostly sounds lovely and works far better than those words suggest it will do. To account for the almost-screamed chorus (which would struggle over the gentle acoustic guitar), Cedric messes around with his voice through all sorts of effects pedals and boxes, which isn't as good as the original but interesting nonetheless.

I found this copy in Selectadisc in London the day before I flew out to Germany to visit my friend Matt. From Germany I went to Austria to see some friends in Vienna, then back to Lancaster to see some other university friends followed by a quick trip back to Winchester before flying back to Australia for my second term over there (my carbon footprint at that time was substantial). That means I didn't actually get to listen to this until I was back in Winchester a few weeks after buying it, and then not again for another 6 months. I recorded a couple of records I bought that winter onto tape to take back to Canberra, but this one didn't end up anywhere. It's slim sleeve means I've routinely overlooked it in my collection (especially surrounded my The Mars Volta's other album in their double gatefold sleeves). I've not listened to it enough.

Format: 12"
Tracks: 2
Cost: £6 new
Bought: Selectadisc, London
When: 13/01/06
Colour: Green
Etching: Side B: "The Widow live at the Wiltern"
mp3s: None

The Mars Volta - Amputechture

I've long been of the belief that the first two Mars Volta albums are the finest the band have released - De-Loused in the Comatorium was the daring debut and Frances the Mute was the epic follow-up, the pinnacle of what everyone wanted from the band. I enjoyed the albums that followed, but none as much as the first two; when I want to listen to The Mars Volta, I go for those first two almost every time.

A few years ago I read a review saying that Amputechture was the first truly great Mars Volta album. I don't know whether the reviewer had a grudge against the first two, or genuinely believed that the third was better, but I found it surprising either way. Shortly thereafter, the vinyl reissue on morally-dubious Music on Vinyl came out and despite Cedric and Omar's best wishes, I bought a copy. It was very shortly after De-Loused had been re-issued too, so I guess I had in my mind that I'd aim to have a complete collection of Mars Volta LPs (two-and-a-half years later, and I've not bought anymore, so maybe not). That review definitely stuck in my mind - if this guy believed this to be the best maybe I should spend more time with it.

I bought the cd as soon as it came out back in 2006 but struggled with it pretty much from the off - Tetragrammaton jumps all over the place and has too much going on for my liking (or perhaps it just won't stay in one place for long enough for me to enjoy it). Vicarious Atonement was a nice gentle opener, so it's early in the album to have such a song. It's the longest on the album, but in reality there are probably just four 4-minute songs cut up and spread across it. Meccamputechture on the other hand is fine example of the band creating a long song with movements that flow. On top of that, the chorus is huge and is probably the highlight of the album, followed by Day of the Baphomets. Viscera Eyes was the single and you can see why (despite the Spanish lyrics) - it has a huge riff and a chorus and is only 9 minutes long. The end is slightly anti-climatic, but that might be because the end of Frances the Mute was so great.

The release is nice - double red vinyl, a gatefold sleeve and a poster. All are stamped with a number (mine is #386). The placement of the barcode is deeply unsatisfying - the artwork is inexplicably mirrored, so that the legs of the creature are on the front and the head on the back. Then the barcode, number stamp and sticker are placed on the front. I have no idea why they've done that. The barcode isn't a sticker that can be removed either, sadly. Also missing are the locked grooves on each side that the original LP pressing had.

Format: Double 12", gatefold sleeve, poster
Tracks: 8
Cost: £28 new
Bought: Banquet Records
When: 17/06/14
Colour: Red/gold
Etching: none
mp3s: no

The Mars Volta - De-Loused in the Comatorium

Expensive vinyl reissues - I wish I could could stop buying them, but I can't. I bought De-Loused in the Comatorium on cd nearly 10 years ago, but when Banquet Records put up the pre-order for the reissue vinyl I jumped at the chance. I'd never seen a copy of De-Loused on vinyl in person, but had seen it change hands for crazy amounts online (I once saw a copy of the very rare 4-vinyl, glow-in-the-dark version of Frances the Mute in a record shop in Melbourne, but it was Au$300 which was, and still is, more than I can justify spending on one record). I'm glad to have this album on vinyl, and £27 is much cheaper than original copies ever go for, but a small part of me feels a little stupid spending that much on an album I have on cd (not to mention knowing how The Mars Volta felt about having their albums re-pressed - I'm pretty sure Hum can sympathise there). However, it's neither the first nor last time I've bought an album on vinyl that I already had on cd, and cost much less than at least one other such album (more on that record another time).

There's no denying that Music On Vinyl have done a pretty lovely job on the reissue - everything feels like money well spent - gold vinyl, glossy gatefold sleeve, picture sleeves, a 24"x24" poster and it's numbered (mine is #446). The artwork was pretty cool before, but it looks so much better here than it does on the cd.

The album itself has long been a favourite of mine. I got into At the Drive-In at the tail end of their time together (and narrowly missed out on seeing them the first time around - they were due to play the Pyramids in Portsmouth on the day of my last GCSE but cancelled the tour half-way through and subsequently broke up). The Mars Volta then came about and the video for Inertiatic ESP was all over MTV. I saw them play at Reading Festival in 2003 but did not get it at all; they played two songs over 45 minutes and seemed to enjoy knowing their extended-jam wasn't what anyone wanted to see. Despite this, I still bought De-Loused and loved it (and Francis the Mute even more when that came out). The times I've seen The Mars Volta since have been far more enjoyable (although, curiously, always at festivals and never on their own).

Inertiatic ESP was always the hit-single and the go-to if I was ever putting The Mars Volta on mixtapes (although possibly because they had very few songs short enough) but I think Cicatriz ESP might be my favourite; a lot happens in those 12-and-a-half minutes, but when they bring it all back together with an even longer pause before the chorus (or the closest The Mars Volta ever really get to a chorus), I always smile (although the same can be send for the end of Take the Veil Cerpin Taxt with Cedric screaming the lines "Who brought me here?" towards the end). Roulette Dares, This Apparatus Must Be Unearthed and Televators (their attempt at a ballad?) are all incredible moments too. If the album has a weak point, it's side B, but perhaps it's all relative. Maybe I should play those songs on their own a bit and see if they shine.

I have no idea what Cedric is singing the vast majority of the time, and even if I knew the words I don't think I'd be much closer to understanding the meaning. If there really is a story in this album, I have no idea what it is. It's quite cool that a concept album can still work so well when after 10 years I have no idea what the concept is. Maybe one day I'll make an effort to try and follow it and get even more out of De-Loused in the Comatorium.

Format: Double 12", gatefold sleeve, picture sleeves, 24"x24" poster, numbered
Tracks: 10
Cost: £27 new
Bought: Banquet Records
When: 30/05/14
Colour: Gold
Etching: none
mp3s: no

The Mars Volta - Tremulant

Keeping with today's Hard Rock Calling theme, here is a record by the other band that I'm excited about seeing next Friday. The last few times I've seen The Mars Volta have all been amazing so I'm pretty sure they'll be good again. Their most recent album was very good, much better than the few that preceded it, and the first two are both incredible. This is their first EP, which I picked up in a very cool record shop in Melbourne that I can't quite remember the name of. It was a very cool shop though. I reckon I could find it again if I was in Melbourne, assuming it's still there. I would've spent a lot more money if I wasn't a student coming towards the end of term.

Cut That City starts off with an intro of quiet background noise, and then spends a minute scatting about before settling into a good song. Concertina is practically a single in comparison, which is saying a lot given their style and song-lengths. Eunuch Provocateur gives more of a glimpse of The Mars Volta to come - crazy, stretched out, technical songs. Short, but a good record.

The first time I saw The Mars Volta I didn't quite get them. It was at Reading Festival and their set only really consisted of two songs. I ended up buying their debut album at some point and loved it. I'm not sure why, given my live experience. I think people had just consistently raved about it. But it made me a fan of the band, and the second album added to that. Their LPs are always crazy-expensive, but this is a nice record to have. I also have a vinyl-only live album which is pretty lovely, I'll write about it sometime in the future.


Format: 12", insert
Tracks: 3
Cost: £6.88 new
Bought: Melbourne
When: 31/05/06
Colour: Marbled yellow
Etching: Side A:"Nursing a viper in Rome's bosom" Side B:"Relax bros. We're all badass actors here"
mp3s: no