keepers 4
This second album by Mars Volta is dominated by very long songs or suites, the only exception being the emotive single "The Widow"****, on which Bixler wails "Freeze without an answer, Free from all the shame, Must I hide, 'Cause I'll never never sleep alone". The album opens with uber-track "Cygnus....Vismund Cygnus"****, 13 minutes of demented hardcore Santana, highlighted by the frantic "who do you trust" chorus. "La Via Viaquez"**** alternates between funky verses punctuated with stinging guitar and a creepy tango. The first suite, "Miranda That Ghost Just Isn't Holy Anymore" (28 minutes total) peaks on its second part (Pour Another Icepick)**** with its "No there's no light" chorus, followed by Rodriguez-Lopez's disorienting arpeggios. The suite doesn't let up from there, culminating in the dramatic 4th part (Con Safo). Con Safo flows right into the the 19-minute closing suite, Cassandra Geminni. It covers some dynamic ground, from a scream literally down to a whisper, and goes on the spaciest psychedelic trip (the 2nd and 3rd parts), but isn't memorable until it reprises the earlier "Con Safo" and "no there's no light" chorus in its 4th part. Its 5th part, "Sarcophagi" settles down to an evocative acoustic coda, though it's too short to cleanse the palate after 76 minutes of progressive noise.
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