Line #38 YMMV/TheMarsVolta


1	* AlternateCharacterInterpretation: In ''Frances the Mute'', are Vismund Cygnus and L'Via [[spoiler:actually separate characters or are they alternate personalities of Frances']]? It's possible to interpret the album either way. Also possibly falls under AmbiguousSituation and EpilepticTrees.
2	* ArchivePanic:
3	** Sure, they might have only six studio albums, one live album, and an EP (in addition to a few B-sides here and there), but since bootlegging is encouraged at their shows, almost every concert they've ever played can be easily downloaded. The result? Several dozen gigabytes of [=MP3=] files to hear all of their live material. Necessary for completionists because they frequently mutate improvised sections into new songs, and even those that aren't reused still kick ass.
4	** Omar Rodriguez Lopez' solo albums: In 2016 alone he released 12 studio albums. There are also a ''ton'' of other spin-off projects and precursors - among them, Bosnian Rainbows, Antemasque, Zavalaz, One Day as a Lion, De Facto, The Fall on Deaf Ears, and of course Music/AtTheDriveIn, though not all of these have released much (or any) material.
5	* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9TB_fi1fB3k bass intro]] and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9TB_fi1fB3k#t=4m59 guitar/saxophone duel]] from "Day of the Baphomets" probably count.
6	** The entire albums of ''De-Loused in the Comatorium'' and ''Frances the Mute'' qualify, but special mention goes to the [[EpicRocking 32 minute]] end track on ''Frances the Mute'', "Cassandra Gemini."
7	** The band's later albums have their moments. "Vedamalady" stands out as a particular highlight from ''Noctourniquet''.
8	* BigLippedAlligatorMoment: Their WordSaladLyrics have a few, but "The kiosk in my temporal lobe is shaped like Rosalynn Carter" (First Lady of President UsefulNotes/JimmyCarter) stands out.
9	* BrokenBase: Not very prevalent, actually, but there are certain fans who will argue over the better drummer was Pridgen or Theodore; it's almost certain that Elitch will be a topic of argument.
10	** Elitch was apparently only a temporary drummer, and he's been replaced by Deantoni Parks, someone the fans can all pretty much agree is a good fit (because [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MH-VEtS0HzM really]]).
11	** Do '''not''' ever start the debate over which is better: ''De-Loused'' or ''Frances the Mute''. Odds are you'll get several page-long arguments.
12	*** On that note, strangely enough, ''Frances the Mute'' itself. It's either a complete masterpiece of both the band's career and even progressive rock as a whole, or it's the textbook definition of a SophomoreSlump and a case of a band going way too far on only their ''second album'', cramming too many ideas and seemingly not knowing what to do with them. (It's also not too difficult to find people who will argue that it's a flawed masterpiece that could've been flawless if the band had trimmed the ambient sections and maybe inserted the title track.)
13	** The band's later albums seem to be less universally liked among the fanbase than the earlier ones, possibly because of the band's move away from ProgressiveRock and EpicRocking; however, there are quite a few fans who like all the band's work. ''Octahedron'' seems to be their most contentious release.
14	** More the fanbase of Music/AtTheDriveIn than anything else, but do not ask an At The Drive-In fan if The Mars Volta or Sparta (the post-hardcore band formed by former members of At The Drive-In due to their distaste for the prog direction Cedric Bixler and Omar Rodriguez were heading in) is better, you're likely to get insults hurled unjustly at either side of the former band (who seem to be on good terms, particularly given Music/AtTheDriveIn's reunion).
15	** ATDI versus TMV arguments can also get pretty heated among fans of either band; though probably the majority of fans of both bands like both projects just fine, most of them have a ''preference'' for one or the other, and sometimes it's a pretty vocal one.
16	** Even among their fans, the band's live show can sometimes be a case of this, mostly being down to whether people enjoy their improvisation or not. (To be fair, a lot more of their fans probably enjoy their live shows than not.)
17	* CreepyAwesome: ''Frances the Mute'' as a whole.
18	** Nearly all of their output fits this to some degree or other, really.
19	* EpilepticTrees:
20	** It was rumoured that "Zed and Two Naughts" was their swan song and that they would break up. HarsherInHindsight when you consider that when Omar announced the band's hiatus, he stated that he was unsure if the band will ever reunite. Made WORSE when it was announced the band was splitting up following disagreements between Omar and Cedric. This also became a rather unwanted case of IKnewIt, although it can also be considered moot since Omar and Cedric reconciled and formed Antemasque (and reunited Music/AtTheDriveIn), with Omar giving some hints about TMV reuniting when time allows it, and Cedric confirming that a reunion will occur at some point in the future.
21	** Their lyrics are also a frequent source of this, given how full they are of SesquipedalianLoquaciousness, WordSaladLyrics, WordSaladHorror, and other sources of MindScrew. There ''still'' isn't entirely widespread consensus on how to interpret ''Frances the Mute'', for example - see above with AlternateCharacterInterpretation for one example.
22	* FirstInstallmentWins: The band's first two (sometimes three) albums are generally their most popular and widely acclaimed. The others are still fairly well liked, though.
23	* FridgeBrilliance:
24	** Why does "El ciervo vulernado" cut off suddenly at the end of ''Amputechture''? [[spoiler:Because the album itself has been amputated]].
25	** The movement titles of "Frances the Mute".
26	*** "In Thirteen Seconds": If you start [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=it9SntcyYk0 playing the title track on repeat alongside the album]], starting at thirteen seconds into the album, portions of the song overlap with the album in interesting ways; for example, the line "set foot inside the parlor" will coincide with a sound effect of a door opening in "Cygnus...Vismund Cygnus". (This borders on EpilepticTrees, as it's not entirely clear whether the overlap is intentional.)
27	*** "Nineteen Sank, While Six Would Swim": A reference to the "twenty-five wives in the lake tonight" from "Cassandra Gemini".
28	*** "Five Would Grow and One Was Dead": See "In Thirteen Seconds". The title track will play five times in full over the full album; the sixth time, the album will end before it finishes (i.e., it's dead).
29	* SugarWiki/FunnyMoments: The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lrwMMF2QS14 music video for Goliath]] has the band not even trying to play along with the song. Highlights include Omar playing a violin and the song stopping halfway through because a car was coming through their set.
30	* GeniusBonus:
31	** Their lyrics, word salad though they may be, are littered with them. An especially subtle one is the title of "Cassandra Gemini", which becomes a MeaningfulName with some knowledge of Myth/ClassicalMythology. Cassandra is the name of the cursed seer in ''Literature/TheIliad'' whose warnings about the future were ignored by everyone around her, while "Gemini" is Latin for "twins". [[spoiler: Cassandra in the song is a split personality from Frances, making her Frances' "twin", so to speak, and a major theme of the album is Frances's inability to communicate her traumas to the people around her, both because of her own muteness and other people's apathy. Furthermore, in the album's story Frances was raped by priests in a church, while the mythical Cassandra was raped by Greek soldiers in a temple to Athena during the fall of Troy[[note]]The line "The icepick's coming on the marble shrine" may be an allusion to this incident[[/note]], adding another layer of meaning to the name]].
32	** Another example in "Cassandra Gemini"; the line "Night forevermore" is sung repeatedly in the first half of the song, which, combined with the song's later mention of ravens, seems to be a deliberate ShoutOut to Creator/EdgarAllanPoe's ''Literature/TheRaven''.
33	* 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.
34	* HoYay: Honestly Omar and Cedric are very guilty of this.
35	** It's gotten to the point where Omar acknowledged it in an interview.
36	* 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.
37	* SignatureSong: "L'via L'viaquez" or "The Widow".
38	* {{Squick}}: The lyrics of ''Frances the Mute'', especially the title track, are loaded with enough subtly disturbing sexual imagery to make a ''Silent Hill'' game blush.
39	* TearJerker:
40	** "Televators", as well as a few other tracks on ''De-Loused''. Kind of inevitable when the album is about [[spoiler:suicide]].
41	** "Empty Vessels Make the Loudest Sounds", which gives us this lyric:
42	--> ''All I have to do is forgive your broken heart...''
43	** "With Twilight as My Guide", a somber, haunting ballad about the Salem Witch Trials.
44	** Also from ''Octahedron'' is "Copernicus", which is one of the most beautiful songs the band has done.
45	** From ''Noctourniquet'', the last three songs, each in different ways.
46	** Isaiah "Ikey" Owens's abrupt death, which shocked Omar and Cedric to no extent. Same could be said to the tragic death of Jeremy Michael Ward ''before'' the release of ''De-Loused'' as well.
47	* TheyChangedItNowItSucks: The band gets this reaction a lot. Some of Music/AtTheDriveIn's fans weren't too happy about TMV including prog influence on their music. And then some of TMV's fans weren't too happy about TMV lightening the prog influence on their later material.
48	* ToughActToFollow: Their later material is good to great, but it's generally agreed that they never managed to reach the same heights as their first two albums after ''Frances the Mute''.
49	* TheWoobie: After all the horrible things that have happened to Cedric and his immediate family (from what happened to his wife, ''constantly'' losing friends to tragic deaths, and projects never coming into fruition), you really just want to give them hugs. Omar, too.

Context YMMV / TheMarsVolta