Rush is a Band

A blog devoted to RUSH:
Neil Peart, Geddy Lee & Alex Lifeson

Fri, Mar 29, 2024

Mars Volta

Tue, Mar 8, 2005@1:31PM | comments removed/disabled

[The Mars Volta: Frances the Mute]

The hour or so before my family wakes up is my TV-flipping time; I sit there sipping my coffee with a dazed look on my face and flip between News and Video channels. One morning last week I was watching MTV2 and came across a video that sparked my interest. I had to double check that I wasn't on VH1 Classic by mistake, because I at first swore I heard some 70s prog-rock band that I couldn't recognize. The imagery was ghostly and washed-out with red tinges. The music was Pink-Floyd-esque and dreamy with the singer sounding like he was channeling Robert Plant circa 1975. When they flashed to footage of the band themselves, what stood out was the big 70s-era fros; they even looked like a 70s prog-rock band. I loved it. I watched it all the way through - not wanting it to end but at the same time anxiously awaiting the ending credits so I could find out who my new-found favorite new band was. It was the Mars Volta. I had been listening to The Widow off of their 2nd album Frances the Mute. Here's what Rolling Stone critic David Fricke had to say about their sophomore release:

... concussive, nonlinear rhythms; mad-dog guitar algebra; bloody-nightmare suites sung in bilingual free verse. In short, the beastly spawn of Radiohead's OK Computer and Rush's 2112. The only word singer-lyricist Cedric Bixler-Zavala and guitarist-producer Omar Rodriguez-Lopez don't care to understand, in any tongue, is compromise. ...

Radiohead meets Rush? Sound like a good combo to me. They also employ my favorite extraterrestial planet Mars in their name. I must buy this album.

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