i've been waiting for this for months.

for a long time, i was satisfied with the ambiguous storylines and musical ecclecticism of the mars volta's second lp, frances the mute. i haven't given up on it - more than a year after its release, the album still enjoys regular rotation in my playlist selection. "miranda that ghost just isn't holy anymore" is still one of my favorite songs, and "cassandra geminni" remains one of the most complete rock songs i've heard (it's got an advantage, though, as it's more than a half hour long).

but last wednesday (a day later than i'd have liked) i picked up the latest release from what may be my favorite band (giving grüvis malt a run for their money, and threatening 311's staying power). on tuesday, amputechture, the third long-play release from the mars volta, hit shelves and promptly left them, debuting at no. 10 on the billboard top 200 in its first week. i had mine within 48 hours of its official release.

and i listened. and then listened again. in the week since i've bought it, i probably spun the disc or clicked the mp3s for five full plays. the verdict? i like this album. i really, really like this album.

reviews of mars volta records tend to fall into one of two categories: they're either blatantly masturbatory, lauding the band for pushing modern rock music to its boundaries; or they're pretentiously condescending, chiding the band for egotism and self-indulgence.

and the critics came out in full force for this one. the indie-famous pitchfork media (maybe ironically, a publication that, like the band, is either loved or hated by readers and critics alike) looked a bit hypocritical when it wrote its review of the new album, giving it 3.5/5 stars.

the mars volta's piss-soaked indulgence often pushes critics to similarly bombastic, mouth-foaming performances. it's understandable. the boys have created an oeuvre that, while technically adventurous, is more or less a hodgepodge of a-d-d prog trope noodles.

and after meandering through backhanded pop-culture references (fred durst?! seriously?) and passive-aggressive commentary, author brandon stosuy hammers his point home:

(lead singer cedric) bixler-zavala and volta keyboardist ikey owens guest on Mastodon's new blood mountain album. maybe they'll brainwash atlanta's finest metal band into this kinda bullshit so the world can celebrate the crushing loss of two great bands together.

(for reference, the first "great band" to which stosuy is referring is at the drive-in, which split into two bands - the mars volta and sparta.)

but to imply that the creative and experimental direction the mars volta have taken, a far cry from the terribly safe (though often redeemable) emo-punk stylings of at the drive-in, is something to be mourned, well, it's missing the point.

the best part about the mars volta is the challenge it poses to otherwise closed-minded listeners. when the band tours with metalheads system of a down or rap-rock icons red hot chili peppers, it opens their fans up to a different style of music. (sometimes this backfires. i know someone who saw the mars volta play with the chili peppers in omaha. they said the mars volta was the loudest band they'd ever heard. i suppose some of the art could be lost in the dissonance and the volume...)

what's even more upsetting about the pitchfork review is that it doesn't even touch on the album's best track - hands down, no question, "meccamputechture" is the best consecutive eleven minutes of music i've heard since frances. it doesn't drag, it doesn't meander, it's never boring. it begins immediately with cedric's growling vocals and moves from there. there are dancy, driving rhythms, balls-out, gnashing guitars, meter changes... it's typical mars volta, and it's excellent.

and it was conspicuously missing from the pitchfork review.

but, as those who watch my blog (all three of you, ha) know, i like allmusic.com. it's not so much that i trust their judgement as i trust their breadth. they always seem to be pretty in-depth, and anytime i have a question about an artist it's the first place i go (i know, i know, even before i go to wikipedia). their review of amputechture was much more positive:

the album is little different than their two previous atom bombs, de-loused in the comatorium and frances the mute -- tense and anxious, continually pushing the boundaries of extreme production, with long periods of dynamics that rise ever higher, followed by an explosion of release (usually screaming hard rock with storms of atonal brass and horns).

it finishes with the right sentiment:

the mars volta are one of the most intriguing bands in rock, but their huge musical power is often deflected by bixler-zavala's conceptual themes (which are difficult to follow, but also, perversely, impossible to ignore) and blitzkrieg dynamics that are either dialed down to one or up to ten (but rarely in-between).

this album is going to keep me busy. there are a million metaphors to decipher and interpret, backwards parts that i have to put frontwards and speculation that the tracks flow better together if you rearrange them.

rest assured, for the next few weeks (and likely until their next release), i'll have mine up to ten.