The Mars Volta
30 Signature Guitars for Modern Artists
For decades, having a signature guitar was reserved for classic rock legends — the Claptons, the Hendrixes, the Pages, the SRVs and EVHs. But that’s no longer the case. From pop-punk to heavy metal, alt-country to neo-soul, modern artists of all genres and backgrounds are getting signature guitars from companies big and small. Among the titans of the industry, that intentional shift came with a new generation being put into decision-making positions. “When I started, it was largely classic rock and very much a pantheonic Hall of Fame,” Fender’s Executive VP for Products Justin Norvell says of the early 2000s. “It was an end-of-an-iconic-career kind of thing. But it was my feeling that it should be something that people can use to reflect back upon themselves. A Telecaster can mean James Bu...
The Mars Volta Detail New Self-Titled Album, Third Single
The Mars Volta’s comeback continues to roll along. The group’s first album in 10 years, a 14-track, self-titled affair, will arrive Sept. 16, and the third pre-release track from it, “Vigil,” is out now. The accompanying black-and-white video was directed by group member Omar Rodriguez Lopez. [embedded content][embedded content] Like prior singles “Blacklight Shine” and “Graveyard Love,” “Vigil” doesn’t have much in common with the frenetic and expansive heavier rock vibe of The Mars Volta’s classic-era sound. Indeed, “the new album shakes loose some of band’s long-standing shibboleths, with only two tracks lasting longer than four minutes, and the dizzying, abrasive prog stylings of earlier albums absent,” according to a statement. Pre-order the album here. As previously reported, The Mar...
The Mars Volta Return With First Single, Tour in 10 Years
The Mars Volta are back. The band has shared its first new music since 2012’s Noctourniquet in the form of “Blacklight Shine,” and has also revealed dates for its first tour in a decade. “Blacklight Shine” finds Mars Volta principals Omar Rodríguez-López and Cedric Bixler-Zaval at their most accessible, as it rides a Caribbean-flavored vibe far removed from the frenetic art-rock for which the group is best known. The music is showcased in a short black-and-white film that features Caribbean dancers. [embedded content][embedded content] As for the reunion tour, it kicks off Sept. 23 at The Factory at Deep Ellum in Dallas and wraps Oct. 21 at the Hollywood Palladium. The Mars Volta last performed in July 2012 at the HMV Forum in London. And though “Blacklight Shine” officially came out today...
The Mars Volta Return With First Single, Tour in 10 Years
The Mars Volta are back. The band has shared its first new music since 2012’s Noctourniquet in the form of “Blacklight Shine,” and has also revealed dates for its first tour in a decade. “Blacklight Shine” finds Mars Volta principals Omar Rodríguez-López and Cedric Bixler-Zaval at their most accessible, as it rides a Caribbean-flavored vibe far removed from the frenetic art-rock for which the group is best known. The music is showcased in a short black-and-white film that features Caribbean dancers. [embedded content][embedded content] As for the reunion tour, it kicks off Sept. 23 at The Factory at Deep Ellum in Dallas and wraps Oct. 21 at the Hollywood Palladium. The Mars Volta last performed in July 2012 at the HMV Forum in London. And though “Blacklight Shine” officially came out today...
The Reissue Section: Spring 2021
A pair of classic comedy albums from a revolutionary standup, a previously unreleased live recording from one of Germany’s most influential bands, a new collection honoring a post-disco R&B queen and the “Ultimate” edition of a John Lennon masterpiece are just a few of the archival gold hitting retail this Spring. But first, we dive headlong into a box set that classic rock fans have been anticipating since the news broke of its existence. The Who, The Who Sell Out: Super Deluxe Edition (UMe) When you listen to The Who with a 21st-century mind, especially the 1967 concept album The Who Sell Out, it’s easiest to think of them in the context of a group like Van Halen or Aerosmith when it comes to their lusty feelings about young women. By the mid-60s, teenage girls across Ameri...
The Mars Volta’s Landscape Tantrums Deepens Mysteries of Debut LP
Remember when albums were marketed on TV commercials? (For that matter, remember commercials?) Back in 2003, flipping through channels during a vacation with friends, I was physically startled by the sound of “Inertiatic ESP” — flailing distortion, glass-shatteringly high vocals, drums as mammoth as the Smoky Mountains outside the rec room window of our rental cabin. Who the fuck is this band? The very next day, I casually suggested that we — a trio of small-town Bible Belt teenagers without easy access to a music store — make a detour on our drive home to the nearest Best Buy. I scanned the racks and, to my disbelief, found the CD: the Mars Volta’s De-Loused in the Comatorium. Whoa. The glorious Storm Thorgerson artwork (a golden, egg-like head beaming light from inside some ki...
The Mars Volta Unveil 18 LP Career-Spanning Box Set, Reveal Its Origins in New Interview
If you’re a fan of the Mars Volta and a vinyl collector, boy do we have some good news for you. The iconic duo and curly-haired portion of At the Drive-In have announced a massive career-spanning vinyl-only box set comprised of 18 LPs called La Realidad De Los Sueños (“the reality of dreams,” for those of you who didn’t take middle school Spanish) that will release on April 23 through Clouds Hill. In addition to the band’s six albums and initial Tremulant EP, the box set also contains unreleased material that diehard Mars Volta fans have been looking for since the mid-2000s. Landscape Tantrums is the official title of the sought-after unfinished original recordings of 2003’s De-Loused in the Comatorium, while “A Plague Upon Your Hissing Children” and...
The 35 Best Albums of the Last 35 Years
Let’s face it: With most “Best Albums” lists, you know the broad strokes of the ranking before you even click. Part of that predictability is understandable: Most iconic records earn their reputation. But these rankings shouldn’t be fossilized, and a shit-ton of amazing LPs have been shoved aside in the pursuit of maintaining the status quo. We didn’t ignore the unimpeachable on our list — you’ll see plenty of the staples you’ve come to expect. But we also hope we’ll spark your curiosity and encourage you to hunt for a title you may have missed over the last 35 years. 35. Bruce Springsteen – Tunnel of Love (1987) CREDIT: Columbia Records How does one follow up a rock album that recalibrates stadium sound systems and offers a stark look at hard times in America? With love songs, of course. ...
Omar Rodríguez-López Talks New Three-LP Box Set and Working With Erykah Badu
Over the past 25 years, Omar Rodríguez-López has been one of the most visionary and diverse musicians, producers, and artists on the planet. Fusing the post-hardcore and punk sounds that originally brought him to fame with At the Drive-In alongside the psychedelic, electronic, ambient and Latin influences that have contributed to his solo work and other projects (the Mars Volta, Bosnian Rainbows, Antemasque, a tangential yet integral role in Le Butcherettes, and much more), Rodríguez-López hasn’t just developed a style that’s all his own, but an evolving catalog of sounds that are distinctly his. Part of what makes Rodríguez-López so unique — whether he’s performing, producing, or directing films — is his complete lack of formal training in music. While others may be concerned about music ...
