Track Listing

1. Cygnus...Vismund Cygnus
2. A. Sarcophagi
3. B. Umbilical Syllables
4. C. Facilia Descenus Averni
5. D. Con Safo
6. The Widow
7. L'Via L'Viaquez
8. Miranda That Ghost Just Isn't Holy Anymore
9. A. Tathata Sunyata
10. B. Pour Another Icepick
11. C. Pisacis (Phra-men-ma)
12. D. Con Safo
13. Cassandra Gemini
14. A. Tarantism
15. B. Plant A Nail In the Navel Stream
16. C. Faminepulse
17. D. Multiple Spouse Wounds
18. E. Sarcophagi

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #10945 in Music
• Released on: 2005-02-21
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .22 pounds
• Running time: 77 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
Given that Mars Volta's Omar Rodriquez-Lopez and Cedric Bixler Zavala are ideologues; Afro-haired chin scratchers who believe that Seventies progressive-rock music was alright really but too 'white' and quite possibly a little bit too sheepish for its own good, Frances The Mute--the band's second album--is possibly the absolute wired-to-the-mains apex of indulgent immodesty. Of course, this diamond-encrusted symphonic psych extravaganza of time-signature changes, wild post-Miles Davis electric jazz, writhing punk passion and re-heated Rush has a concept ( albeit one best approached with a knowledge of social science, Latin and a medical dictionary) and a sleeve designed by Pink Floyd associate Storm Thorgerson. However, while there are obvious ancestral salutes to Relayer-era Yes and all tinctures of Pink Floyd, Frances The Mute is restlessly forward-thinking, a thrilling continuation of Mars Volta's multi-cultural prog modernism where a track like "L'Via L'Viaquez" (with guest appearances from the Chili Pepper's Flea and John Frusciante) comes across like something resembling nothing less than a Cuban King Crimson. --Kevin Maidment

CD Description
Heroically-Afroed former stars of cult post-hardcore outfitAt The Drive-In unleash the follow-up to their 2003 sci-fi odyssey 'Deloused In The Comatorium'. This album, inspired by a diary discovered by their late bandmate Jeremy Ward, significantly ups the ante, and the result is a dense but ultimately rewarding mixture of prog rock, free jazz and mutant Afro-Cuban funk. Includes the single 'The Widow'.

Customer Reviews

One step furthur into prog-world ...
THE MARS VOLTA - FRANCES THE MUTE

'Frances the Mute' is The Mars Volta's next step into their bizarre land of hardcore techno progressive rock. Their previous efforts have both been mind blowing, using out of the blue tempo changes, huge ranges of instruments and most importantly the ever ingenious pairing of minds that is Cedric Bixler Zavala and Omar A Rodriguez Lopez. Like 'De-loused in the Comatorium', 'Frances' is effectively a long heroine fuelled story on the other side of consciousness, but this time round it's more of an experience when listened to from to start to finish. It only actually consists of five songs, despite my CD player telling me twelve and the track listing telling me something like fifteen. Further confusion is caused by the song 'Frances the Mute''s lyrics appearing inside the CD case, despite there being no such song on the album.

The lyrics are based on a anonymous diary stumbled upon, telling of an abandoned child searching for his parents, but apart from little hints like "I won't forget who I'm looking for" you would never guess so. Since their early days in their former band 'At the Drive-in' Bixler Zavala and Rodriguez Lopez have taunted with words so deep and cryptic that I doubt even they know what they're talking about. This becomes most evident on 'L'Via L'Viaquez' where the verses are sung in what I presume is Spanish; perhaps Latin; perhaps neither. Nonsensical as the words are, make no mistake, they still have a profound effect when sung as emotionally as Bixler Zavala. He pours his heart and soul into the bounding vocal melodies; if this tells the story of a tragedy then it is still unwaveringly upbeat and uplifting, thanks in no small part to the blaring riffs and intricate solos from guitarist Rodriguez Lopez. The album's only single, 'The Widow', represents without doubt the worst material on the album; its slow acoustics still carry it through but compared to the burst of energy and life on the opening track 'Cygnus .. Vismund Cygnus' it is only filler.

After the forty or so minutes filled by the first four tracks comes 'Cassandra Geminni' the album's real winner. Basically it defines the word "progressive", lasting half an hour and the chorus only coming twice. Whoever tells you it takes time to get into is wrong; whether you're listening for the first time or the hundredth it is still compelling and imaginative. As the last song goes out with a burst of life, we're left with the opening moments of the album repeated, tinkering slowly before dying out. After a couple more listens you'll be hooked.

Mars Volta - Frances the Mute
At first listen, it just sounds like a complete mess and is all over the place, though bit by bit it begins to make more sense..

On the 1st listen: Widow single (edit) makes sense
2-5 listens Cygnus apart from the last 2 mins makes sense
6-10 listens Miranda (now I realise the true genius of it)
11-15 listens L'Via L'viaquez (brilliant)
15-20 listens getting there with Cassandra Gemini but its still pretty tough.

The bits such as the last 3 minutes of the widow and 2 mins of Cygnus along with various other parts of the album can only really be described as 'awkward' listening. When the later minutes of Widow were playing my Mum actually thought the CD was jamming! To be fair it does sound that way. I do wonder what Omar and Cedric think of these parts, as they must have a reason why they are included. Obviously no one could understand their music more than them so they must see something in these parts which make them special enough to have included them on the album. In saying that, what I thought were 4 awkward minutes in the beginning of Miranda, I now realise that it really does act as a superb build up till the trumpets slowly come in. The uses of the trumpets are what makes Miranda such a cold and chilling track and adds to the atmosphere of the album as a whole.

Like any good album you really can't judge it until you've listened to it a lot. I really didn't like this album for starter especially as it is meant to be listened to in one sitting. At 76 minutes long, I think the sheer length of it played mind tricks on me and instead of properly listening to the music, I was thinking of how long it was. As you keep listening to it, time gradually becomes insignificant and when that stage is reached you can truly appreciate the album because it will start to make sense, so you're focusing less on the time and more on the music.

This album is to deloused as deloused is to relationship of command (At the Drive-in) because from relationship to de-loused, they really did take their music to another level and now they've managed one step further. Whether they make the next step with their next album remains to be seen, where that step is I don't think they even know! But one thing is for sure they have the talent to be timeless.

One thing I really like about this album is the concept that it is never ending, it can just loop forever because the end of the last track Cassandra, turns into the intro for Cygnus.

This album also shows how singer Cedric really has moved away from ATDI even further because there are virtually no 'shouty' bits at all. In fact Frances shows what an amazing singer he really is. He hits notes which most people could only dream of reaching, for example the "oh yeah" s during Cygnus or the "bring me to my knees towards the beginning of Cassandra. Overall his pure and unique vocals add a great deal to the album.

However the key to this album which holds it together is not Cedric's unique vocals, Omar's exquisite guitar playing or John's mental drumming but it's the infectious baselines which set the tone for the whole album. While Omar, Cedric, John along with the other contributors go off into their own little worlds in the album, the base line is the constant throughout each song and brings it all together. In particular Omar's guitar playing seems to dance round the baselines not knowing which way he's going to go next.

To explain what their album is like compared to other prog albums I'll put it in to context by using the analogy of running. First of all I'll explain how much music in general can be related to running. Anyone can run a mile, maybe at different times, but they can still run it. Just like pop music, its easy to understand. However longer runs require more training and you have to build up to it. This is like progressive music because you need to listen to it lots in order to understand it or to appreciate it to its full potential. To put this into context of this Mars Volta album is like a 3 hour long run. A 3 hour long run can take many shapes and forms. The MV album is like a mix of urban and rural landscapes. The urban bits are the straight forward road running bits, or the parts of the albums which are the easiest to understand. However they are still hilly sections in this part to keep it challenging. Then there is the rural parts which are the parts are the rough trails which take longer because it is more technical. This represent those 'awkward' moments of the album.

To sum up Frances the mute is a never ending journey through a musical landscape. A tough 3 hour long run may sound completely unthinkable to some people, but if you do the training its nothing short of brilliance just like Frances the Mute!

Not a review: a fixed tracklisting.
The track listing is wrong here. The intended list would have been five tracks, but Universal demanded 12 tracks or the album would be an EP (despite nearly being 80 minutes long). The band split up the fifth track because it was the longest. It is not evenly divided into its component parts (Tarantism etc.), and Miranda is not split up at all. You can easily tell because the last part of Miranda is a repeat of the end of Cygnus, and occurs on track 4. Also the lyrics for Cassandra clearly start on track 5.

The actual track listing is:

1. Cygnus...Vismund Cygnus
2. The Widow
3. L'Via Viaquez
4. Miranda That Ghost Just Isn't Holy Anymore
5. Cassandra Gemini I
6. Cassandra Gemini II
7. Cassandra Gemini III
8. Cassandra Gemini IV
9. Cassandra Gemini V
10. Cassandra Gemini VI
11. Cassandra Gemini VII
12. Cassandra Gemini VIII

Amazon really should fix this error.

Also: this is by far my favourite Mars Volta so far (Amputechture isn't out yet).