The Mars Volta: Octahedron

The Mars Volta: Octahedron Coming off their Grammy for “Best Hard Rock Performance” in 2009 (“Wax Simulacra”), The Mars Volta released their fifth studio album. Octahedron debuted June 23rd hitting #12 on The Billboard 200 album chart in just the first week of sales. Vocalist Cedric Bixler-Zavala claimed that this album was the pop album they had “threatened” to make. The eight tracks contain the usual progressive rock sound of the band, combined with the high pitched vocals of Cedric, and his unusual choice of lyrics. It does not present itself as the pop album Bixler-Zavala said it was. The album opens up with its second single. “Since We’ve Been Wrong” requires you to listen for over a minute and a half before it finally starts up. It then fills the space with mostly wonderful electric guitar play that sounds reminiscent of Carlos Santana. Add to that the acoustic guitar playing underneath and you have a pretty pleasant sound. It takes a side track about five minutes in when the entire band joins in. All in all, not a bad song. But it is a far cry from some of their other releases, especially the aforementioned “Wax Simulacra”. An ear popping song was “With Twilight as My Guide”. The focus of the song is the acoustic guitar that is accompanied by electric guitars mostly creating ambient-like noises. This song stood out as one that didn’t feel like The Mars Volta overdid it. It was kept simpler and sounded better for it. Cedric did a good job with the lyrics, telling a story that was interesting even if not entirely comprehendible. The first single, “Cotopaxi”, is a funk influenced song. Funk is not exactly pop, but this track was the most pop of the tracks on the album. Its not that all the song are overly slow (think of Jenniferever). Its just that they tend to slow down and feel more like ballads than pop. You’re not gonna be rocking out to any of these songs at the dance club unless it’s a remix. The album is lacking in good quality effort. Octahedron only contains eight tracks, a little short of the double digits I’ve come to expect from a full length album. Most of the songs sound pretty much the same. All in all, the album’s a letdown for me considering that The Mars Volta recently won that Grammy. Maybe their next album will be better. Rating: 1.5/10 MP3: The Mars Volta "Cotopaxi" Buy: iTunes, get the vinyl at Insound