Francis The Mute

Well I have to say Francis the Mute was somewhat of a disappointment, but still a great album. I was just expecting more from it. The album was interesting; I enjoyed how the songs connected much like De-Loused. From what I’ve heard this album was based on a friend of Omar�s, and also lightly based on a diary. The album keeps growing on me, so all in all it’s not that big of a disappointment. Some songs were very dull though, and didn’t have the adrenaline pumped vocals like the previous. I guess you can’t really blame them though as for De-Loused was hard to surpass. Any thoughts on this? And for those who don’t know what I’m referring to: I�m referring to The Mars Volta’s latest album.

Hmm, well I don’t yet have FtM, however I have downloaded the majority of songs. I actually find them very good, ie The Widow and Miranda, This Ghost Just isnt Holy Anymore.
To be honest, I dont think it will ever be as good as De-loused, but it still looks to be a good album. A friend of mine has it and loves it. "Bloody amazing", he says. He likes the way that, like De-loused, the songs are a "continuation" of each other and they tell a story.

If I dont purchase it, I’ll have the full album downloaded in order in no time, to post my opinion.

bump

sorry i’m late. 😎

I have the cd, I really like it, although it isn’t is great, imo, as deloused. I love the 3rd song. I dont have the title off hand, since the tracklisting is a bit fucked to begin with, but I love that spanish in it.

My local rock radio station, which usually only plays mainstream rock, has played the Widow twice while I’ve been listening. I’m sure its been played more often though.

I just copyed it over and was actually planning to bump this thread today!

Well, I can’t really get the full effect of the track transfers, and whatnot, but I can get a good concept of the album.

The first thing I lolled at was the fact that my CD player read "5 73:55"

I mean, this is progressive rok at its most insane! (In a good way).

Track 1 (Cygnus…Vismund Cygnus) is a good track, I really like it. Track 2 (The Widow) is probably my favourite, and it makes me very angry at the fact that it is only about 3 mins 20 long 🙁 but I lke its level of mellow(ness) and its a change from the usually fast Mars Volta. Track 3 (L’ Via L ‘Viaquez) is also very good, as you said, the Spanish sounds great on it, and the guitaring is fantastic. I like Track 4 (Miranda, this ghost isn’t Holy anymore), but its a shame that it takes about 6 minutes t properly get into the vocals! Lastly, Track 5 (Cassandra Gemini) is also great, I only actually listened to all 32 minutes of it today and I am in awe at its greatness!

Overall, yeah its a great album, but after listening to it, I think that The Mars Volta are more than "Progressive Rock" alot more, and they have potential to be alot bigegr than they already are. But, I also agree with you both, it is not as good as Deloused but I don’t think anything they produce will be 🙂

I pretty much agree with your mini reviews of each song. The Comatorium (comatorium.net or .com?) has a really awesome forum I sometimes lurk on, with all the member’s opinions about lyric meanings, and what the whole CD is about. Its pretty crazy.

I am considering buying the cd, but the fact that it is one long track makes me a little hesitant. Maybe I could rip the cd, add breaks for tracks, and burn the finished product…

As far as I know the bulk of the CD is about one of the band members. He apparently at one time was a repo man and found a diary in the back of someones car. He read the dairy and found that the guys life was oddly similar to his own, he eventually shared the dairy with the other guys in the band and they made Frances The Mute based on that. Apparently all the songs on Frances were names of people and things taken from the dairy. I could’ve gotten misinformation, but thats pretty much what I know on the subject.

I was kind of disappointed too, but it’s still pretty damn good.

Phantom, the CD has like.. 12 or 13 actual tracks, but the tracks are from 5 songs. Its a bit goofy.

luke, I hadn’t heard of that. the story they give for the cd is pretty insane, so if that was in a diary, that’s nuts. I liked the story for Deloused a bit more than this one.

Phantom of the Orphanage, if you do that, the CD will be ruined. The whole point of the CD is so that each track runs into each other. As Cassie said, there are only 5 tracks, but inside these tracks, there are sections. The track listing is:

1. Cygnus…Vismund Cygnus
A. Sarcophagi
B. Umbilical Syllables
C. Facilis Descenus Averni
D. Con Safo

2. The Widow

3. L’Via l’Viaquez

4. Miranda That Ghost Just Isn’t Holy Anymore
A. Vade Mecum
B. Pour Another Icepick
C. Pisacis (Phra-Men-Ma)
D. Con Safo

5. Cassandra Geminni:
A. Tarantism
B. Plant a Nail in the Navel Stream
C. Faminepulse
D. Multiple Spouse Wounds
E. Sarcophagi

Therefore, just download each song (numbr, 1-5) individually, and put them in order. Alternatively, you can actually buy the CD, for about 10 notes online and get the real effect!

Crazieman, nahh, didnt actually know this one told a story too! I liked de-loused, as I remember, it tells the stroy of a man called "Cerpin Taxt" who fell into a coma; Deloused basically outlining this guys subconcious adventures. So anyway, I’ll look into this story thing.

Deloused talks about Cerpin Taxt who is actually based on a good friend of the members of the band. He had a severe drug problem, and ended up jumping off a bridge and killing himself. The first song with the piano (DO do DO do DO do) sounds like an ambulance. Imo, thats kind of like him having a flashback of everything that happened. The next few songs are him tripping out, basically. Televators is when he actually kills himself. "one day this chalk outline will circle this city" and "Was he robbed of the asphault that cushioned his face?". And the last song, well this is speculation on my part, sounds like him making the journey to hell.

Yeah, you pretty much have it sussed out I think! I had an idea about that piano, but I always wondered why the song escalated into Inertiatic Esp with Omar shouting "NOW I’M LOST!", maybe its just the drugs. Take the Veil Cerpin Taxt was basically this guy blaming the drugs for getting him in this situation (death), which yeah must mean he is making his journey to hell.

So, Roulette Dares this is the one I am stuck on. After a little translation, I worked out that "Carveat Emptor" meant "caller beware", but what is/are Roulette Dares exactly, and whats the relevance of it in this story?

The comatorium site has a listing of weird words and what they probably mean

Caveat emptor- a principle in commerce: without a warranty the buyer takes the risk

(http://www.thecomatorium.com/board/index.php?showtopic=8063)

And here is an interpretation, line by line, of the song
http://www.thecomatorium.com/board/index.php?showtopic=23443

What I get from that, is Caveat Emptor to all that enter here basically means, "Know what you’re getting into before you kill yourself". The whole CD kind of reminds me of Dante’s Inferno a bit. With the specific references to suicide and a particular hell. Or something.

So, Roulette Dares is about this "Cerpin" taking the risk of killing himself, TMV using "Roulette" becuase it demonstrated the risk he is taking. His instincts warn him of suicide. He walks along a train track and finds a train tunnel. He then sees a bench surrounded by broken trains, and his subconciousness is disturbed by the heart monitor in the real world, he decides to get on a "train" and he falls asleep…

Man, this depth is insane. And I am going to start posting on this Comatorium.

I’m signed up there as "nocha", but I don’t think i’ve even posted yet ;(

Lol, I am "Rapture", what a surprise.

I like it when you log in, and it says "The Comatorium has you, Rapture"

I think I am going to make an "Im new thread". Lame, but…

I think it is crazy how they broke up the last song into 8 tracks just so it could be classified as an LP…

I wish they didn’t have to do that. I guess it doesn’t make that big of deal in the scheme and not too much in the sound, but its the principal of the matter. 12 or 13 tracks… 5 songs.

Yeah. Well, its original I s’pose. It seems normal to have at least 7 minute track from the Mars Volta now though!

I just love the way they end the song, and then just bugger around for about 5 minutes with guitars and keyboard.

<3333333333333

They should have broken them up in the way they are listed on the abck of the cd, that would have given them 15 tracks and made more sense…

You are right, but I am sure there was come reason behind it all…