Ranking The Mars Volta's six studio albums tier list style! =================================== Patreon: / theneedledrop Follow your melon: Twitter: / theneedledrop Instagram: / afantano Twitch: / theneedledrop TikTok: / theneedletok
Yeah that's precisely the appeal of this thing. Each drummer brought their own energy to Mars Volta (probably the plan), and Thomas Pridgen was relentless here.
@@_baalshamin dunno man. I love the first two Mars Volta albums to death, but afterwards it does sort of become like that and I just think that’s kind of boring.
IKR! Like I won’t deny it’s a hard album to listen to in full. But that’s precisely the appeal of it to me. It is so unrelentingly high-energy, and I love that.
@@tjarway4555 you don't have to be on LSD to enjoy it BUT experiencing their albums in that state of mind causes you to appreciate their weirdness from a different perspective when you're sober. Although to be honest, I haven't done any of that stuff in quite a few years and haven't listened to TMV in about that long so maybe I'm not really saying anything here lol
S: Deloused and Frances A: Amputechture and Bedlam B: Octahedron and Noctourniquet These guys became one of my favorite bands over last winter and I just did a victory lap of their discog last week - your list makes me grumpy but I'm glad you made it ❤️
The Deloused album cover isn’t what they originally wanted. The record company made them use that Storm Thorgerson, bald headed egg man cover. The original cover is the jellyfish headed man in the water, also designed by Storm Thorgerson. That is why, in the new vinyl boxset. The front cover, and back cover are switched too how they originally wanted it in the first place. With the jellyfish man on the front, and the egg man on the back.
GAGAGAGAGAGA! I will now count to 3 and then I am still the unprettiest RU-vidr of all time. 1...2...3. GAGAGAGAGAGA!!! Thank you for your attention, dear aip
I respect your placement for Amputechture but goddammit I love that album so much. Tetragrammaton and Day of the Baphomets are some rock solid prog tracks.
TBF my favorite version of Amputechture is the live version they do in the Henry Rolling's show, where they drop most of the effects and just play the song raw, full of emotion and flawlessly. I think the production of the album hide this elements a bit. Still love the record though. It's my number one or two (depending on my mood, sometimes I prefer Deloused).
Other than Tourniquet Man it's nonstop slaps. Also fun to mix in the songs from Octahedron (since its same personnel) with Bedlam for a more diverse experience.
Yeah his opinion on Deloused always drove me crazy. Yeah, Frances is THE Mars Volta album, but Deloused in its sound, style, concepts, and overall progression as an album from start to finish is an absolute masterpiece imo. I actually asked him what he thought about it during a livestream once and he said basically what he says here. Drives me a little crazy but hey opinions are opinions.
@Honda Civic I don't really see how it's tacky at all either. It might look a little cheap, I guess, if I were reaching, but I don't think it's tacky whatsoever, the first time I saw it, it was absolutely striking to me, jumped right out at me and I was like "woah, I need to hear this thing."
I truly do not understand the hate it gets, even hearing his reasoning, it just didn't vibe with my experience with the album, I think Amputechture is one of their strongest albums.
Yeah it just has so many glaring flaws but if you bear with it there’s some serious energy it creates, with Bedlam coming later it’s very obviously a transition record in hindsight as the band BLEW their entire load into Frances, the fucking god of modern prog. It shouldn’t be a surprise that their next album tried to be a left hook while still aspiring to be great on its own.
@@2000Doriyas For me it doesn't have glaring flaws; there are certain parts that sounded super unpleasant (like Anthony mentioned) on first listen, but I grew to love them later. My least favorite track might be Viscera Eyes, which is really saying something, because there's nothing really "wrong" with it. It's just the least dynamic compared to everything else.
Saw them open for SOAD way back when deloused was their only release. One of, if not the most incredible live performances I’ve ever seen. They basically played the entire album out of order with chunks of different songs blending in and out of each other seamlessly with almost no breaks. Mind blowing.
Saw them on this same tour and was blown away. Originally bought the tickets for SOAD. Didn't know much about TMV at the time. But holy shit. Their whole set was mind blowing and turned me onto TMV immediately. Unfortunately SOADs set paled in comparison and kind of corny over all. Went out and bought Deloused and Frances the next day and devoured both albums. Sidenote: Jon Theodore is a beast and played a huge role in the success of TMV.
Oh man. Hate to say this but: BoRn iN tHe WrOnG gENerAtIoN. System and Mars Volta? That sounds like an amazing show. I would’ve been like 10 at the time.
I remember the kid who i first smoked weed with talked about seeing that show when we were in sophomore year. That was the first i'd ever heard of them, and on a whim, bought de-loused. Fell in love and was sent on a musical trajectory that defined so much for me from then on
I actually think the tier lists are better, in the worst to best vids he never actually rates the albums, with the tier lists we know where he rates certain albums
I would've been mad for Deloused in B-tier like everybody in here but Melon admitting Octahedron is an often slept on gem calmed me. Since We've Been Wrong is soooo gorgeous...
@@booglerized the album start showcasing this huge scale built on 4ths in tetragrammaton, and they use it over and over again during the album, they even play an exact bit of the scale in vermicide, and it's so cool for me! FTM vibes totally. Also I love the theme of brujería along the album
@@booglerized Tetragrammaton is also greek for "four letters", referring the hebrew name of god YHWH, so to have a motif of 4th intervals is like a thematic link to the name of the song
I've been listening to this band so much this year and The Bedlam in Goliath has grown on me so much and is quickly becoming one of my favorite TMV albums. it's criminally underrated and the story behind it is just as fascinating.
Definitely their third best for me man, on some days I think it’s arguably the definitive album behind only Frances, but it depends on my mood, the energy in that album is INSANE thanks to Pridgens lighting a fire beneath the bands ass.
Pridgen totally makes that album. Then they completely underused him on Octahedron and fired him. They've made some utterly bizarre choices with some of their incredible drummers that they've had.
BEDLAM IN C?!?! Bro that album’s basically Death Grips on steroids. I thought you would absolutely fall in love with its nonstop energy. It’s literally the musical form of cocaine. Plus the background of it is extremely fascinating.
Bedlam will always be my favourite album of all time. This year had the most surreal god dam moment of my life having Pridgen record on a track of mine. Hearing those sessions. He is one in a billion man. Unbelievable player.
I first listened to Francis the Mute when I was having a rough time in college. In the middle of the opening track, there’s a really frantic guitar solo that builds up more and more tension as it goes along. When it finally reaches a fever pitch, the tension breaks and Cedric starts to vocalize along with a very groovy instrumental transition. I remember breaking down and actually beginning to sob in that moment. Also, The Widow is a revelation
I started listening to them in a rough time in my life before too. And I def have had some tears rolling down my face while listening. I get goosebumps listening to really good music and this shit hits all your senses it’s just fucking amazing!
@@ericsites2233 I agree they didn’t have Ikie Owens and they had a replacement drummer. That band at that point was falling apart. Omar made Bosnian Rainbows with his side chick and that sunk faster than a lead ship
My honest out-loud reaction to Antknee’s point about no 12 or 16 minute stretches, just 9 and change was “yea, but it might be the best 9 and half minutes of the whole discography”
You can tell how much consistency is something that makes or breaks an experience for Fantano, if you take Bedlam in small bursts it’s one of the greatest albums of all time. Conversely, if you try to force it down in one sitting you feel nauseous and exhausted, and I can see how it’s to much for people even within a song with how powerful and dynamic Thomas Pridgens’ drumming is (a personal favorite on this album) but I’m a huge extreme metal fan and this album borders into that same level of intensity pretty often and with bombast.
@@2000Doriyas I can sort of agree with this as the album is A LOT in one sitting (1hr15m holy shit) but the amount of songs on Bedlam that I revisit is like 90% of them. Soooo many catchy vocal lines and instrumentals that have so much energy.
I totally get the criticisms for the Bedlam in Goliath, but man that album is one of my favorites of all time. Could just be that it was the first of theirs that I heard and was 16 at the time so it really blew my mind. The fact that its just nonstop bangers just amplifies the whole experience for me. Also Cavalettas is an insane whirlwind masterpiece. Other than that I pretty much agree with the list :)
Big fan of Bedlam too! It’s a hell of an endurance run of an album tho. I’ve always thought that it pairs very well with Octahedron which acts as a cool down pairing.
Maddy Agreed. As I mentioned in another comment, it's fun to intermittently place Octahedron songs within the Bedlam track list for a more diverse experience. Tho Bedlam is perfect on its own too ♥️
@@danieladams5132 forgot to mention that Cavalettas is also a big favorite of mine. That chorus and how it evolves is just ‘mwah’, all time favorite. I also love Soothsayer, which does an excellent job of creating this auditory environment you can just settle in. I think the only weak part is Tourniquet Man, which is the shortest song on the album anyways. It just feels more like an interlude than an actual song, you know?
People need to give Amputecture another chance, that album is amazing! When people talk about the songs not being "cohesive" or "fluid" they are missing the point. Unlike De-loused or Frances, Amputecture does not have one continuing narrative. It is multiple stories that all share the same theme, and this would make sense for them to jump around from song to song. Another thing I love about this album is the interesting instruments. The saxophone is amazing and don't tell me you didn't go insane when the bongo solo in Day of the Baphomets happened. The shit fucking slaps. The regular stuff is also amazing. Cedric's voice is spectacular, John Frusciante on the guitar is an interesting change of pace and this being the last album he was in, Jon Thedore was amazing as always. There are so many great and well put together songs on here. Tetragrammaton, Meccamputecture, Viscera Eyes, and Day of the Baphomets are all masterpieces. Amputecture is an A tier album, and you need to listen to it again. Just skip the first and last song because they're garbage (Vicarious Atonement and El Ciervo Vulnerado) Also Fantano describes Tetragrammaton as "lengthy" which is makes no sense because he just praised Frances the Mute for having long songs. Also the list should have included Tremulant and the At the Drive-In stuff.
Fuck yeah Ween. I'm just discovering this band. So far I've delved deep into Pure Guava and Chocolate and Cheese. Just based on those two albums alone, this band feels like my greatest discovery since Queens of the Stone Age. Which Ween albums should I delve into next?
@@dyllonforbes3470 Hell yeah brother. I'll be moving on to those LPs in the order you mentioned. Appreciate it. This band is so insane. They sound like a completely different band on every single song, and I can't say that about too many other artists I listen to, if any. I feel like I've been living under a rock just getting into them now.
@@jovanreid6782 yeah you should Listen to the mollusk and quebec and also white pepper all these album for me are at least 9/10,also welcome to the club
Me: you saved my life Teflon: l e t t h e w h e e l s b u r n, l e t t h e w h e e l s b u r n, s t a c k t h e t y r e s t o t h e n e c k w i t h t h e b o d y i n s i d e
I like deloused the most because the music is fire and the story it tells is so complete, i can feel the antogonists awe, guilt and mind state. I can't think of many other concept albums that give such a picture into the antagonists mind state without directly telling you. If your a fan of deloused then between the buried and me's coma ecliptic scratches a similar itch for me and deals with similar themes. If you like Latin influenced prog than have a listen to the Novena song Corazon.
@@jovanreid6782 Yessss sir! That's the album's monster: hard hitting, dynamic, explosive and whacky as shit. Pretty much everything a Mars Volta track should be.
I love all the albums but Noctourniquet is my “all around” favorite album, it’s the most technically polished compared to their “unreleased” 2021 album, it’s insane how far they’ve come
Heard the songs live before the album was released and thought Noctourniquet had the potential to be one of their best. Not super crazy about the finished product but I still like it.
S: Frances the Mute, De-Loused in the Comatorium A: Amputechture B: The Bedlam in Goliath C: Octahedron D: Noctourniquet Coming from a metal guy, The Mars Volta is one of my favorite bands. Frances the Mute is one of my favorite albums of all time, even though I sometimes skip through the ambient passages, but it doesn’t suffer because of that. I hated Bedlam the first time I heard it, it's TMV at their weirdest with their most Latin and world influences, but now I kinda dig it, and Goliath is a banger. I haven’t listened to Noctourniquet much, but my favorite track is In Absentia (which Fantano didn’t seem to enjoy).
Anthony you should listen to Thy Catafalque, they're releasing a new album in a few weeks and they already have 9 under their belt, they have been going from like black metal on their earlier records to more progressive and experimental, like they're introduced hungarian traditional instruments and got guest vocalists from another band on some, and on almost every album they have one or two songs that are over 10 minutes long, the longest one is featured on Meta from 2016 and is 21 minutes long and it all builds up during that time, my favorite is Sirály from the same album, I'd love to see you review the new album Vadak when it comes out and someday maybe see a tier list that'd be fun
I think John Theodore is underrated here. He may not even have been mentioned in this list. The biggest issue I have had it’s amuptecture is that his mix was turned way down. Omar and Cedric were jealous.
Is that what makes it less satisfying? When I think of the album the first thing that comes to mind is some drum fill playing quietly behind synthesizers(organ?) and even in Day of the Fucking Baphomets I remember the drums being the most quiet aspect. The MIX was robbed dude.
Cedric mentioned later that he regretted the way things ended with John and that he realized they just weren't good at communicating. So its possible there was some beef they had with him at the time, but i don't think they'd purposefully worsen the mix just to spite him.
@@Janruzalem I’m actually fairly aware of what happened. My friend who was on the same label said he saw what happened. Then I ended up talking to John about it and you could tell he wasn’t happy about it.
When they were composing / recording Amputechture, Omar actually had the musicians learn and record their parts individually and they weren’t allowed to hear what the full composition sounded like until the end, which is why I think the songs have that disjointed feeling that you were talking about. I personally love that about the album, but I’ve been a die hard fan since youth, so I don’t know how much that is worth. It’s definitely not my favorite, but I love and appreciate each album for different reasons, regardless of the fact that none of them hold up to Frances The Mute. Octahedron was my first, and I think that it’s criminally underrated. It’s short and sweet, and contains one of the greatest overall drum sounds that i’ve ever heard on a record. I think it is very tasteful and cohesive. I hate to say it, but I feel that De-Loused is overrated, simply because their later records have so much to offer, yet most people simply refuse to listen beyond the first two
Not sure if I deserve to call myself a fan of The Mars Volta, but Amputechture is their only album I’m familiar with. I was obsessed with it 10 years back.
I’ve honestly been curious about his take on TMV for years. And now I know. I agree with most of his points about the albums, just not the ranking. Frances is hands down my favorite. De Loused and Amputechture are very close.
S tier: Deloused (forget prog, one of the best rock albums of the 2000s in general for me) A tier: Frances The Mute (The Widow is not even debatably a classic, really creative and intricate experience) B tier: Bedlam in Goliath, Noqturniquet (both pretty good and stand out in the discography, just not on the same level of catchiness or creative songwriting as Deloused and Francis for me) C tier: Amputechture (only listened once, I generally liked it but didn't pull anything out from it. need to relisten) D tier: Octahedron (forgot this existed, probably listened once but at this point, I need to relisten to make valid opinion)
same here lol, probably gonna try Frances the Mute next since that seems to be their most popular. Deloused is one of my all time favorite rock records now though...
@@johnr797 it has a repeating 2 bar riff that underpins the majority of the song. To me, it’s like a hypnotizing canvas to paint the rest of the parts over and I love it. But to some people it’s probably annoyingly repetitive.
It's easily my favourite on Noctourniquet. I was genuinely surprised to hear Fantano badmouth it as being a mess when it's weird and experimental production and makeup is part of what makes it so special to me.
Wow. So much here I'm not about, but I love that you did this: *S-tier* *Frances the Mute* : my favorite of theirs for all the reasons you list out. Standouts: every track *Deloused* : a near-perfect album (minus 2-3min of noise in places - what TMV like to call "Intermissions" but meh) but I agree, it's not as experimental as the later albums (but obviously you can't go full ham from jump). Standouts: Track 1 into 2, The guitar solo battle with Frusciante on track 7, basically 6-10, but esp track 8 and end of track 10. *A-tier* *The Bedlam in Goliath* : FAIAP this should be above Deloused; I love it for all the reasons you don't: it's raw-cus (raucous), unrelenting, and utilizes all the things they've picked up over the previous 3 albums in the most efficient way possible. And has the most blatant homages to the prog rock tradition. But I think I put Deloused above this because nostalgia's a bitch. Standouts: Tracks 1-5, 10-12 *Amputechture* : I wasn't the biggest fan of this album at release, but damn did it grow on me. I particularly don't like the first track, so that put it at a disadvantage going in. But the rest of the album has some of my favorite TMV tracks/ moments, esp "The Day of the Baphomets" whose seamless application of different music styles still gets me dancing. This is their grooviest album and I'm all for it. Standouts: Tracks 2-8 (everything but Vicarous Atonement). *B-tier* *C-tier* *Octahedron and Noctourniquet* : Look, I haven't listened to these albums since their release, so maybe they will grow on me upon repeated listens. My fear is that this will be another Tool 10,000 Days situation, where I hated it upon first listen, waited 10 years, and then hated it more. We shall see.
Bedlam in Goliath is so OP. I love me some Frances the Mute, but I’ve listened to Bedlam far more times. Really my only divergence from the video. Great list!
Personally I would move both Deloused and Amputecture up one tier each. I've always felt Amputecture gets underrated since its comes chronologically after FTM, but it's honestly a MUCH more satisfying listen to me than say Bedlam. Sure the pieces may not fit together quite as well as on FTM, but on a good day it could equal Deloused in my book (that being said the literal hard cut in Tetragrammaton is totally unnecessary and could have been recorded better). I am probably biased though because Amputecture was my introduction to the band outside hearing a few earlier singles. Aside from that great list! A couple years ago I would have totally underrated Octahedron for the lack of bangers, but it's really come around to me recently.
tetragammatron really drags tho and be honest the song meccamputechture is kinda blah. that being said. godddd damnnnn does viscera eyes and day of the baphomet *SLAP* but then drops a turd like el ciervo vulnerado to end the album ... after the ABSOLUTE POWERHOUSE of day of the baphomet. that kinda stuff holds the album back
GODDAMMIT!!! I WANTED A WORST TO BEST BUT THIS WILL HAVE TO DO!!! Bedlam and Goliath is one of my favorite albums of all time, and has some of the most interesting lore behind its creation. Plus the cover art is badass. Frances the Mute is unmatched in creativity though.
Amputechture and Tetragrammaton specifically blew me away at the time of release. It was peak for me and I actually lost interest after this one. I'm giving the last 3 LPs another go now tho. Thanks AF!
One of the most stimulating bands I've ever listened to...saw them live twice over a decade ago, played for 3.5 and just over 2.5 hours respectively. Unrelenting and mesmeric. Thanks Anthony.
Bedlam cannot be denied. I think Deloused, Frances and Bedlam are all S tier, and the other three are A. I just love this band. Also, Amputechture is so solid the entire way.
You hurt my brain. You said that you didn’t understand why Cedric would use so many things to alter their voice for Amputecture, and yet you’re talking about prog rock. What the hell are you saying?
Yeah this is shockingly dead-on to how I've felt. I listened to FTM first about 8 years ago and many times since and it quickly became one of my personal all-time favorites. I've only listened to the rest of the albums like 1 to 2 times and Deloused a few more times. I think Deloused is really good but kinda constrained and less-cathartic compared to FTM. The rest of the albums had great moments but were increasingly frustrating to me as they went on. I hate saying it, but I'm arguably a greater Frances The Mute fan than a Mars Volta fan lol.
Yeah dude I think melon was right, that album is such a turning point for prog. It’s definitely been a hard bar to clear for many of the newer bands of the genre. They just aren’t really cutting it the same way
I remember getting the low quality leaked mp3s of Frances the mute and thinking holy shit, this is so perfect I don't even want to hear it any other way
