Have pre ordered the vinyl. I'm not expecting to be blown away by this though

It's shaping up as a very polarizing record for fans.

This is the band that made Goliath....

That blurb reads like a parody of the band.

Great news!

Cool.

A comeback s/t album 10 years after their last, what could possibly go wrong?

The blurb is amazing if it's a self-aware piss take (presumably is), if not... damn! Lol

I'm still kind of excited though, won't lie

I love the subdued groove, I’m here for it

Hyped idec if it ends up sucking honestly

The three singles have been successively lower tier. Went from great to good to whatever this is.

Pretty far removed from what I’d usually listen to, but this was well made and very enjoyable.

what slex said

Glad Juan Alderete did not take part to this kind of... well, would he approve ?

I’ve hated each new song more than the last. And the album is self-titled? Ugh

Do we know who is handling drums for them now?

Willy Rodriguez - Latin jazz drummer

Nothing like hearing that a band's newest album will be their most mature.

I don't want a mature TMV.

Skip.

This is either gonna be total balls or a real grower. I’ve liked the stuff up to now, but I am a little weary on how the album will sound. Still, we’ll see

There's nothing to grasp onto here - spent the entire time waiting for the song to start

I liked each of the songs, knowing that the theme is like the history of Puerto Rico (with all the horror and colonizing and massacres, etc. included) gives the songs more weight in my opinion. Particularly the 'Graveyard Love' track. I think a lot of people aren't getting the story being told on this album. If you don't like the music that's fine but I think it has more depth than you might think on first listen.

Totally agree, good take

I like the sort artsy r&b sound though, It's subtle and interesting. I wouldn't really say it's boring or bland just because it's not typical. It still sounds weird somehow.

I am hoping for at least a little bit of that classic Omar guitar hero pizzaz because he's one of my favorite guitarists ever but yeah I'm cool with them fulfilling themselves artistically and emotionally with a release that is obviously close to their hearts and I don't hate the musical direction

New song sounded like Coheed and Cambria.

Yeah this very much reminds me of Coheed. The vocal melody is pretty interesting. Lots of twists and turns and cool rhythms.

the ending was dope

I hope their new album defies expectations, confuses and makes “fans� uncomfortable, and pisses lots of people off. Otherwise it wouldn’t be The Mars Volta.

Vigil is awesome.

Kind of reminds me of Talk Talk, so maybe I'm biased in my enjoyment of this. The singles have been a bit underwhelming but def think the album will be a grower.

https://media.giphy.com/media/9PlSOGVGeqEuc/giphy.gif

not anymore

This sure is music

I actually love Blacklight quite a bit, Graveyard Love would have been better with big orgasmic outro rather than building up into not much of anything. This one is pretty groovy but generally none of these songs give me an idea of what the record's really going to sound like. Not like their singles are very indicative of what the albums are like in the past

alright alright alright okay I'm warming to this

Song was enjoyable but sounds like it's the middle part of a suite and is building up to something bigger. Odd choice for a single, if so

I get the feeling that this TMV will function better as an album - whether it's purported/touted to be a concept album or not (possibly all songs and how they're arranged/track transitions to make songs 'pop' [not the genre ofc] like a wireless-operated neon tattoo [if that doesn't exist - it should by now]) ... but I suppose you could perceive/treat any prog-driven release like that

more subtle/cerebral changes of overall direction are fine with me (it usually comes to the point that an artist/band's direction comes full-circle in some aspects - figuring out how to make all paths converge with less compromise) ... in any case, good to have you back Omar and I hope this ends up more a win-win than pretty much anything else

My attitude toward each of these tracks has warmed with successive listens. Both Graveyard and Vigil seemed like total non-songs at first brush, but the melodies really are subtle, unique, and interesting. It takes some getting used to, but there is a spark of something here that leaves me feeling pretty excited. Cedric sounds great. I just really hope they let loose on a couple of the album tracks. I'm glad it seems there will be a tmv album for a different mood and context than they've worked previously.

Agreed, Cedric is killing it on every track so far. He sounds reinvigorated after the ho-hum effort behind the ATDI reunion, it's pretty clear The Mars Volta is his and Omar's favorite vehicle for music to me.

I agree with that take for sure. I forget that AtDi album even exists. These tracks indicate a better outing this time around.

When I listen to music I don’t want to hear something interesting or enjoyable - I just want it to be making the right points about history.