The Mars Volta

I'd been reading about this band called The Mars Volta for a long time but never really got around to listening to them, and suddenly Pavan messages me saying they are good. And since Pavan listens to good music when he's not watching interesting movies like Tara Rum Pum Pum, I took his word for it and started listening to them.

Well, right enough, the band is brilliant. A very progressive rock/pop band, each of their albums is distinctly different. They've experimented with themes, and no themes, instrument layouts and more. As far as criticism goes, I can't really say the lyrics make a lot of sense to me, but then, I'm quite shallow.

Of the albums I've heard, Amputechture (2006) and Octahedron (2009) are my favorites. They're more melancholy, slower, and for want of a better word, atmospheric. Bedlam in Goliath is a frantic, faster album, while Frances the Mute is a theme-based, slow album.

Try it out - I'm giving The Mars Volta 2 thumbs up.

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Good Music

It's tough having to explain to someone what progressive metal is; I'm pretty sure some of you have tried it, often leaving the other person in a daze wondering about classical influences and off-timings and experimental instruments. Since I've been listening to a lot of good lately, I thought I'd put up a list of my top 10 prog albums - this should give on - listeners a fair idea of what good prog's all about.

In no particular order, and the newer ones remembered first -
1. Porcupine Tree - Fear of a Blank Planet (2007)
2. Sieges Even - Paramount (2007)
3. Pain of Salvation -Scarsick (2007)
4. Dead Soul Tribe - Lullaby for the Devil (2007)
5. The Devin Townsend Band - Accelerated Evolution (2003)
6. Threshold - Dead Reckoning (2007)
7. Circus Maximus - The First Chapter (2005)
8. Vanden Plas - Christ.0 (2006)
9. Kamelot - The Black Halo (2005)
10. Opeth - Deliverance (2002)

Yes, Dream Theater is not in the list, but then again they're always there, like a number zero.

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