Album Review #1: Bedlam In Goliath

There was a time, long ago, when there was a prog rock band set to change the world. They had the earth in their hands, and everybody eagerly awaited the follow-up to their ear shattering debut. Behold, the album came, and the general reaction was...well...a bit like this: "okay, this is it?"

Yet hope still remained, and after several years off, this band was poised to strike again with a new album, rumored to be better than the rest...and the general reaction was...a bit like..."what. what the hell."

That band of course was, and unfortunately is, The Mars Volta.
I used to be a fan. I mean, when I got Deloused in the Comatorium I was floored. Then came the Tremulant EP and I was yet again, floored. I couldn't wait for Frances the Mute.
Disappointment.
Despair.
Despond.

But this review (my first) is not about that album, or Amputechture, the un-musical album that they made last year.

It is about Bedlam in Goliath, today's release.
I popped this album in, waiting, just hoping for something intelligible to come out of my speakers, something brilliant.
And....
Nope.
Not going to happen.

From the very beginning, guitarist Omar Rodriguez-Lopez intrudes into any and all space he finds in the record with his idiotic noodling and off key solos, making it sound absolutely horrendous. Cedric Bixler-Zavala yells and chortles himself into oblivion, once again singing about absolutely nothing at all. Give it up, Voltaheads. The "It's a concept" thing isn't working here. And the back-up band, which used to give such a flair and finish to their earliest work, seems to just follow Omar's lead and just noodle and off-key each other, like their one upping themselves on how bad an 8-piece can sound.

The bright spots only truly come when Omar stops playing (which is like, never), and, more specifically, in one song: "Goliath". In a rare return to good songwriting, TMV crafts a real gem here, and honestly, the only song worthy of listening to on the album. "Goliath" captures the speed and immediacy of their earlier days, burning a hole in the speakers and leaving us ready for more.

But it never comes.
The rest of the album is absolutely worthless.
And that's where I think The Mars Volta has hit the proverbial wall. As a friend of mine put it when I told him of Bedlam's imminent release: "Who gives a f***?". That is what TMV has done to itself, namely, noodling and off-keying themselves out of relevancy. They simply don't matter. I really DO NOT WANT TO LISTEN to this album. It feels like a damn chore. Singing about nothing and playing long flowing concept songs with the wonderful Latin fusion used to work for them, but now it just sounds like their not trying.
The problem is they are, and very hard.

And that is why,
Bedlam in Goliath receives a:

3.2 out of 10

Here's the only good song for your listening pleasure:
Goliath--mp3 (from Bedlam in Goliath)


I hope they break up.