MY VIEW
Music: 'Frances the Mute' by Mars Volta

By Jessica Labrador
Special to The Advertiser

The Verdict: An interesting explosion that requires energy THE RATINGS 5 — Outstanding: Add it to your collection now. A must-have. 4 — Great: Buy it or rent it — definitely listen to it. 3 — Good: Worth listening to despite some flaws. 2 — Fair: Unless you're a fan of the group or singer, don't bother. 1 — Poor: Save your money (and your ears).

Released: March 1, 2005.

Style: Rock/Latin/jazz.

Rewind: "Cassandra Gemini."

Skip it: "The Window."

My view: An attempt to accurately document one song of "Frances the Mute" requires the dissection of the entire album and then some. With its second full-length release consisting of five songs totaling 77 minutes, Mars Volta will once again blow your mind.

Generalizing Volta's sound would be most easily summed up with the term "miscel-laneous." Erratic time signatures, a plethora of instruments, and Omar Rodriguez-Lopez's technical guitar work to match Cedric Bixler Zavala's equally wailing vocals form an equation whose answer could only be Mars Volta.

But with a preference for precision, one might label the group prog-rock, Latin, jazz, psychedelic, etc. The list could go on. Or simply put, a medley of all of the above.

Three of the five songs have been separated into different parts, so it could be said that "Frances" technically has 15 songs. But as it starts with "Cygnus ... Vismund Cygnus," track numbers become insignificant. Six minutes later, you'll forget you're still listening to the same song and that you've only gotten halfway through it.

No other track better showcases Volta's Latin influence than "L'Via L'Viaquez," half of which is sung in Spanish. The song begins aggressively and transitions in and out of salsa breakdowns. Ironically, the lyrics sung over the salsa breakdown are in English.

The 20-minute-plus "Cassandra Gemini" is undeniably the most epic track on the album. Broken into five parts, the "song" ranges from every genre Volta has covered and properly ends the album with a melodic acoustic outro.

Throughout "Frances," Volta supplies a bombardment of effects and samples that become overdone. The first four minutes of "Miranda That Ghost Just Isn't Holy Anymore" come complete with atmospheric drones and spacey noise, actual music not included.

The result of Volta's near-overdose of psychedelia is consuming but could be just the opposite for those unwilling to devote their attention span to thoroughly absorb Volta's music. "Frances" is hard to digest in a single listen, but another would be almost as difficult.

Jessica Labrador is a senior at Waialua High School.

Have a video game or CD you want to review? Reach Island Life deputy editor Dave Dondoneau at ddondoneau@honoluluadvertiser.com.