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Every band has humble beginnings. Works that merely hint at what genius would be in their future. This is one of them. Formed out of the ashes of At the Drive-In, the Mars Volta showcase a few things that they'll become known for in the coming years. The crazy rhythms, odd noises, and above-normal-pitch vocals are all present and accounted for. The first that you'll notice, though, is the strange ambient noises that don't really do much. The first song, Cut That City, starts with random percussive twiddling and other accompanying sounds. After roughly two minutes of nothing, they show off their knack for unique sounding rhythms and Omar's frenetic riffs. Instrumentation is well done, as drummer Jon Theodore thrashes about in his own style. Vocals on this song, are treated with an electronic effect and make them difficult to understand. The breakdowns of years to come are shown here, towards the end, as it slows down and then goes into a snare heavy beat with clean vocals. It ends with the same prog-like melody that it came in with (after ambience).
The next song, Concertina is the standout here. It starts out slow, as vocals join in. But once it reaches the "chorus" Omar breaks out the high-pitched guitar as Cedric uses his tenor voice to accompany it. Why is this the best song here? Well, for one, there's no pointless crap in it. Also, it's just the best sounding, pure and simple. A break in the middle leads to some screwing around, musically, before going back into the chorus. Enuch Provacateur comes next, starting with some gentle guitar before slamming into frenetic drums and some guitar wailing. Vocals here are high-pitched and somewhat distorted. This song gets somewhat repetative, and isn't helped by three minutes of meaningless percussive-heavy doodling in the end. There's what seems like backwards vocals and some possible keyboard as the drums thump away in an almost electronic fashion.
Overall, this is a decent work. It's nowhere close to their later albums, but is an alright listen in and of itself. The ambiance is annoying and not necessary and the vocals aren't quite and honed as we've come to know from Cedric. In the end, what you're left with is an EP that, while not bad, isn't really anything special. This is one for the fans that want to see how the Mars Volta started out, and map their road to excellence.
SCRUPLES
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Hey Scruples, it's the guy who reviewed Kid A. Thanks for you comments; it was my first review and I just wanted to get into the swing of things. To tell you the truth, I feel so much more passionately about most of the songs than it seemed in the review. I was doing everything I could to try to be unbiased, and I was terrified that overly-critical people would accuse me of being partial. Oh and by the way, thanks for correcting the lyrics for Everything In Its Right Place. I did feel like I was going out on a limb when I wrote them but oh, well. I've learned a lot from everyone's comments about my review, and looking back at it, I sounded like a snob. In my next review, I was more honest with myself and gave away my true opinion. Nice review, by the way. I'll try and get a hold of Tremulant.This Message Edited On 11.29.05
| | | Album Rating: 3.0
Okay. No problem, dude. It's all good.
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wow scruples, this is pretty short compared to your usual work?!?!
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Originally Posted By ocelot-05
Hey Scruples. Hey, dude, it's the guy who reviewed Kid A on Sputnik. Thanks for you comments; it was my first review and I just wanted to get into the swing of things. To tell you the truth, dude, I feel so much more passionately about most of the songs than it seemed in the review. I was doing everything I could to try to be unbiased, and I was terrified that overly-critical people would accuse me of being partial.I was more honest with myself and gave away my true opinion. Nice review, by the way. I'll try and get a hold of Tremulant.
Chill man it was a great review.No one even read my first review.This Message Edited On 09.17.05
| | | Album Rating: 4.0
How can you leave out the best song Concertina in the review?
It's a big blob of words, I'm sorry but this was not well written. Take my opinion or leave it but that's what I have to say.
| | | Album Rating: 3.0
[quote=blueprint]this is pretty short compared to your usual work[/quote]
I'm leaning away from skycraper length track by tracks. Also, this is an EP, and I didn't really have much to say about it. Any thoughts for improvement?
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If you could add something, that would be nice. It's good as it is, as it's well written as usual, but it is a tad short, even for an EP review. I can't offer suggestions, as I've never heard it, but if you can do, I'd appreciate it.
| | | Album Rating: 3.0
*Updated*
I made it a bit longer and described the songs a bit more, hopefully for the better.This Message Edited On 09.17.05
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Much better. Thanks for the update man.
| | | Album Rating: 3.0
No problem. It's good to know I'll be told I suck when I do. Some, uh, *ahem* vote-age would be much obliged.
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Your review was short and effective, which is a lot better than a long dragged out review.
| | | Album Rating: 4.0
100x's better. I wish I could take back my vote :x
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I was wondering about the bass on this album. The review doesnt tell me much about it. Maybe because theres nothing to say.
Im a fan of mars volta all the way, I didnt get this album since its more expensive than the others and only has 3 tounes. ( Im not very strong on EP)
So how is bass on this, knowing thats its remarkable on the albums?
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yes boss
| | | Album Rating: 3.0
Don't fret, the bass is fine.
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^I'm lolling all over the place :lol:
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