Magnificent

Imagine a fusion of Dante's Divina Commedia, Shakespeare's Hamlet, and Burroughs' Junkie given musical expression. This may give you a picture of what Mars Volta is doing. Not since Led Zeppelin has a rock group made music with such conviction.

Most accessible Mars Volta release

Isn't this just another weiard improv band? No, Mars Volta is not.The riffs will remind you of Zeppelin songs, Tangerine Dream, Skinny Puppy and Miles Davis.

One of the best bands around delivers a flawless album

Very few times I feel so strongly about an album. Typically albums like "De-Loused in the Comatorium" would rank somewhere as a classic, and this one definitely belongs in that select group. After the powerhouse At the Drive-in dissapeared, Cedric Bixler-Zavala and Omar Rodriguez-Lopez constituted The Mars Volta, releasing an EP titled "Tremulant". That would make "De-Loused..." the official first full album of the band. And what a first album! What a way to redefine the term progressive when it felt like it couldn't be turned into anything else.