Okay, so here’s the deal. The Mars Volta’s fourth album, The Bedlam in Goliath, is out TODAY, and we’re kinda obsessed with it. First listen, eh, sounds good, kinda weird and psychedelic, dark… typical Mars Volta. Not entirely our cup of tea, but definitely something we’d like to listen to from time to time. But it’s not typical Mars Volta. ‘Cause there’s the whole back story. And it’s one helluva back story. And the more we listen to it, the more we like it. Are we being sucked in?!?!
This album is more than just the 12 tracks and pretty album art. It’s the result of and reaction to (and exorcism of?) this crazy curse spawned by a talking board (like a Ouija board, but not made by Parker Brothers, and waaay older) that guitarist and music mastermind Omar Rodriguez-Lopez bought in Jerusalem for singer Cedric Bixler Zavala. The thing basically took over their lives when they started messing with it during their last tour (with the Chili Peppers). Basically, the Cliffs Notes version is that three spirits contacted them through the board, all sorts of crazy shit started happening to them while on tour… band members got sick, perfectly functional equipment started breaking for no reason, studios were flooded, tracks were lost…. Bedlam, essentially (bedlam=craziness, chaos, pandemonium, etc…..).
This album was inspired by the board, lyrically, with many of the song titles and lyrics coming from words the spirits communicated to the guys. You can read ALL about it on their website (click Bio… it’s a piece written by this Jeremy Robert Johnson writer dude), and well, it’s kinda crazy. But is it bullshit? I dunno… Seems like a great marketing ploy, but at the same time, these guys were truly freaked out. And, either way, it spawned a pretty great album…. and pretty creepy a la vez.
We read the Harp Magazine interview with the band, and the journalist got really ill after listening to the album. We chuckled to ourselves when we read this, thinking maaan, this dude’s really playing along with it. We’ve listened to the album a BUNCH and are doing quite fine, thankyouverymuch. But then we got to thinking… Amylu reviewed The Mars Volta show for Remezcla …and then got sick. Hmmm. A friend who was just in Texas (where the guys are from) got sick… HMMMMM. What’s gonna happen to us now?
Que opinan?
Muajajajajaaaaa….
Go buy the album, or listen to it on MySpace, and check out more info on their website… and let us know what you think: