History YMMV / TheMarsVolta

* WidgetSeries: To be more exact, they're a weird Mexican-American thing.

* TrueArtIsIncomprehensible: Kind of a given when a band incorporates this much MindScrew into its works.

* FaceOfTheBand: Omar and Cedric, but arguably justified in that it is explicitly stated in the liner notes for ''Amputechture'' that they are The Mars Volta and that the rest of the band are part of The Mars Volta Group.

* '''HarsherInHindsight''': The entire story of ''Frances the Mute'' given the ordeal Cedric and especially his wife Chrissy have been through over the past few years. Suffice it to say that if you have sexual assault/abuse triggers you should probably ''not'' seek out more information about this, but the basics are described in TMV's Nightmare Fuel page.

* BetterThanCanon: The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zHyzk73AtTc live performances at Maida Vale in 2003]] are sometimes considered even better than ''De-Loused in the Comatorium'', because they're superbly recorded and don't have the LoudnessWar issues ''De-Loused'' had. Plus, the band stretches out more, and ''you can actually hear Ikey''.

* OlderThanTheyThink: Due to their habit of jamming during shows, a lot of riffs that made it into their later albums originated during live performances of songs from ''De-Loused''. For instance, the [[UncommonTime 29/16]] jam from "Facilis descenus Averni" in "Cygnus....Vismund Cygnus" was commonly played during performances of "Drunkship of Lanterns", while one of the main riffs of "Cassandra Gemini" originates from a jam played during performances of "Cicatriz ESP". Many of the lyrics to "Day of the Baphomets" also originated from a song called "A Plague Upon Your Hissing", which also dates back to the ''De-Loused'' era, although the melody in "Plague" was significantly different. Cedric would also sing various other lines in live performances long before they appeared in other tracks; for example, the line "Sink your teeth into the flesh of midnight" from "Cassandra Gemini" appeared in the live performance of "Cicatriz ESP" at BBC Maida Vale Studios, London, on August 27, 2003 (see BetterThanCanon above).

* OlderThanTheyThink: Due to their habit of jamming during shows, a lot of riffs that made it into their later albums originated during live performances of songs from ''De-Loused''. For instance, the [[UncommonTime 29/16]] jam from "Facilis descenus Averni" in "Cygnus....Vismund Cygnus" was commonly played during performances of "Drunkship of Lanterns", while one of the main riffs of "Cassandra Gemini" originates from a jam played during performances of "Cicatriz ESP". Many of the lyrics to "Day of the Baphomets" also originated from a song called "A Plague Upon Your Hissing", which also dates back to the ''De-Loused'' era, although the melody in "Plague" was significantly different.