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The Mars Volta: Every album ranked from worst to best
Each Mars Volta album is different, shimmering with a rainbow of ideas and sonic expressionism. But which record is their definitive artistic statement?
Words: James Hickie
Although The Mars Volta disbanded some 14 years ago, their entire discography has been released in a lavish 18-LP vinyl boxset titled La Realidad de los Sueños, which chronicles the band’s six extraordinary albums in excruciating detail. And this is just the excuse we need to reappraise every album by the El Paso experimentalists.
The prog rock band, led by vocalist Cedric Bixler-Zavala and guitarist Omar Rodríguez-López, disbanded in 2013, when Cedric and Omar reformed their previous band At The Drive-In. Rumours persist, however, that The Mars Volta will reform or already have, with Cedric alluding to it on Twitter in 2019. When pushed to elaborate, the vocalist suggested: “What it’s NOT going to be is your ‘fav member line-up’ pl
18.02.21 | Alex Sievers
2005 was a big 12-month window for music! Fall Out Boy’s breakout ‘From Under The Cork Tree,’ The Mars Volta’s first step toward glorious self-indulgence with ‘Frances The Mute,’ the core of The Black Dahlia Murder’s evil sound on ‘Miasma,’ Bullet For My Valentine exploding due to ‘The Poison,’ Trivium making their claim on ‘Ascendency,’ Avenged Sevenfold blowing up more by way of ‘City Of Evil,’ and 30 Seconds To Mars getting big off the 40% of ‘A Beautiful Lie’ that people actually remember and like.
As for the great fifteen albums from 2005 that are covered here, they might not necessarily be the biggest from their respective creators, but they are some of these artists’ strongest offerings. Equally important, these are releases that I dearly enjoy and deeply respect. Albums that I personally revisited many times during 2020 when they all hit this milestone; albums that have withstood time, the harshest critic of the