Amputechture | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | September 12, 2006 | |||
Recorded | November 2005 – May 2006 | |||
Studio | Los Angeles, California, El Paso, Texas and Melbourne, Australia | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 76:04 | |||
Label |
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Producer | Omar Rodríguez-López | |||
The Mars Volta chronology | ||||
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Singles from Amputechture | ||||
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Amputechture is the third studio album by American progressive rock band the Mars Volta, released on September 12, 2006, on Gold Standard Laboratories and Universal Records. Produced by guitarist and songwriter Omar Rodriguez-Lopez, the album marks the final appearance of drummer Jon Theodore, and is the first studio album to feature guitarist and sound manipulator Paul Hinojos, formerly of At the Drive-In and Sparta.
Amputechture debuted at number 9 on the Billboard 200, selling over 59,000 copies in its opening week and an estimated 400,000 copies as of 2009. [3]
The album was recorded in Los Angeles, California, El Paso, Texas, and Melbourne, Australia in late 2005 and early 2006. It was produced by Omar Rodríguez-López and mixed by Rich Costey.
Although most of Amputechture was newly written and recorded, the band also incorporated older material into some of the album's tracks. "Viscera Eyes" evolved from a song originally written by Omar while in At the Drive-In. [4] "Day of the Baphomets" uses lyrics and melody from "A Plague Upon Your Hissing Children", an unreleased song that was recorded for De-Loused in the Comatorium . [5] Bassist Juan Alderete said the bass solo introduction was recorded in one take. [6]
In early July 2006, "Viscera Eyes" was officially released on the band's MySpace page. On July 13, the band also posted a link to a stream of the song in full on their website. Soon after, the full version of "Viscera Eyes" on the MySpace page was replaced by a radio edit running at 4:21. "Viscera Eyes" was also confirmed to be the album's first single.
This album is the band's first studio recording with former At the Drive-In bandmate Paul Hinojos and is also the last with drummer Jon Theodore. [7] The album also features John Frusciante on lead guitar throughout, with Bixler-Zavala stating, "[Omar] taught Frusciante all the new songs, and Frusciante tracked guitars for us so Omar could sit back and listen to the songs objectively. It's great that he wants to help us and do that." [8]
Amputechture marked the first time that The Mars Volta created an album without a single unifying narrative. [9]
In an MTV interview posted on July 25, Cedric Bixler-Zavala said inspirations for the album were very diverse, ranging from the recent U.S. immigration marches to the news stories of possessed nuns. He discussed the concept, storyline, and overall mood of the album. [10] He also explained the lyric writing process to "Time Off". [11]
Omar Rodríguez-López stated in an interview with Switch Magazine that the word "Amputechture" (a portmanteau of amputate, technology[ citation needed ], and architecture) was coined by the late Jeremy Ward.
The liner notes of The Mars Volta's previous album Frances the Mute feature a credit for "Amputekthure" under the "published by" credits, Cedric Bixler-Zavala's name under the ASCAP corporation. The word also appeared in the storybook accompanying De-Loused in the Comatorium .
Unlike The Mars Volta's first two albums, Amputechture contains no original artwork; the background of each page in the album booklet is a section of Jeff Jordan's "Big Mutant", itself inspired by an image of Robert H. Goddard and his colleagues holding a rocket. In addition the CD art itself is "Dwarf Dancing", also by Jeff Jordan.
The artwork was originally to be done by Storm Thorgerson, [12] who designed the covers for their first two albums, De-Loused in the Comatorium and Frances the Mute . His cover featured a picture of a woman standing in a field warding off the presence of a giant floating skull decorated in a mirrorball fashion. "They had wanted it to threaten a nun," Thorgerson told Classic Rock . "We preferred Romany, the wild gypsy girl who is telling the mirrored mask to 'sod off'." For reasons unknown, the band was unhappy with the outcome and used Jeff Jordan's art instead.[ citation needed ] Nonetheless, Thorgerson told Classic Rock in 2009 that "our last direct encounter with The Mars Volta – in the form of the bizarrely shaped Omar Rodriguez-López – was very friendly and touching."
Aggregate scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
Metacritic | 61/100 [13] |
Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [14] |
Blender | [15] |
Entertainment Weekly | B [16] |
Los Angeles Times | [17] |
NME | 5/10 [18] |
The Observer | [19] |
Pitchfork | 3.5/10 [20] |
PopMatters | 9/10 [21] |
Rolling Stone | [22] |
Stylus | C− [23] |
The album has a score of 61 out of 100 from Metacritic, indicating "generally favorable reviews"; Amputechture is the band's lowest scored studio album on the website. [13] [24] Slant Magazine gave the album a score of four stars out of five and said it "shows a band honing their eruptive sound and bringing it into tight focus for the first time, routinely pushing their music to the wall without ever risking a breach." [25] Punknews.org gave it a score of three-and-a-half stars out of five and praised the band for "producing a solid 76 minutes of actual music, and perhaps their most dynamically diverse performance since De-Loused. The album also sees a reduction in the dependence on concept, with Cedric's lyrics following more of a thematic arc than following a single storyline. The resulting lyrics enabled him to tackle a broader range of topics, though all filtered through the recurring theme of the effects of religion in the world." [26] The A.V. Club gave it a B− and said, "Sequenced into one long, continuous piece of music, most of Amputechture's tracks arrive at impressive jazz-fusion pit stops that are all too brief." [27]
Other reviews were more mixed: Under the Radar gave it a score of six stars out of ten and said, "With each album, the band seems to grab for so much, reaching further and further into the musical abyss, and still managing to craft songs that boggle the mind and dazzle the ears. The only question is whether all this is just too academic." [13] Uncut gave it a score of three stars out of five and said, "It initially seems as if the moments of inspiration between self-indulgences are becoming scarcer. A bracing middle section rescues Amputechture." [13] Spin gave it a score of six out of ten and said, "As over the top as all this can be, Amputechture has little of the thrash influence that's made modern prog so deadening, and the impenetrable lyrics... are easily overlooked." [13] Billboard gave it an average review and said it "isn't for casual listening, so those checking out the Mars Volta for the first time should take it slow to prevent a sonic hangover." [28]
Alternative Press gave the album two-and-a-half stars out of five and said that all the album did was to "test patience". [13] Tiny Mix Tapes also gave it two-and-a-half stars out of five and called it "a bumpy ride, registering somewhere between [Frances the Mute] and debut full-length De-Loused in the Comatorium." [29] The Village Voice gave it a mixed review and said it "highlights its predecessor's brilliance rather than asserting its own." [30] Q gave it two stars out of five and said that the album "sounds like an explosion in a guitar shop." [13] Prefix Magazine gave it a mixed review and said, "It's sad to see a band that touts itself as experimental sounding like a watered-down, unfocused version of its younger self." [31] Now also gave it two stars out of five and said it was full of "tiring, spastic jazzy post-punk that smacks of musical masturbation". [13] The Austin Chronicle likewise gave it two stars out of five and said it was "more a series of events than a complete experience. It's as though the Mars Volta is simply seeing what they can get away with." [32]
Some band members have noted that the album wasn't as well-received as their earlier ones. In an interview with Geek Monthly , Cedric Bixler-Zavala called Amputechture the band's "most misunderstood record." He continued, "But if we had children and they were our records, AMP would be our autistic child. We're very overprotective of it because it doesn't function in the real world but it does other things that most humans can't do. That's why we really still love it because it's elicited such a strong reaction in the fans." [33]
All lyrics written by Cedric Bixler-Zavala, all music composed by Omar Rodríguez-López.
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "Vicarious Atonement" | 7:19 |
2. | "Tetragrammaton" | 16:41 |
3. | "Vermicide" | 4:16 |
4. | "Meccamputechture" | 11:03 |
5. | "Asilos Magdalena" | 6:34 |
6. | "Viscera Eyes" | 9:23 |
7. | "Day of the Baphomets" | 11:57 |
8. | "El Ciervo Vulnerado" | 8:50 |
Total length: | 76:03 |
Chart (2006) | Peak position |
---|---|
Australian Albums (ARIA) [34] | 6 |
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders) [35] | 39 |
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia) [36] | 73 |
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100) [37] | 54 |
Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista) [38] | 18 |
French Albums (SNEP) [39] | 95 |
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100) [40] | 49 |
Irish Albums (IRMA) [41] | 68 |
Italian Albums (FIMI) [42] | 40 |
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ) [43] | 16 |
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista) [44] | 12 |
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan) [45] | 27 |
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade) [46] | 88 |
UK Albums (OCC) [47] | 49 |
US Billboard 200 [48] | 9 |
De-Loused in the Comatorium is the debut studio album by American progressive rock band the Mars Volta, released on June 24, 2003, on Gold Standard Laboratories and Universal Records. Based on a short story written by lead singer Cedric Bixler-Zavala and sound manipulation artist Jeremy Ward, the concept album is an hour-long tale of Cerpin Taxt, a man who enters a week-long coma after overdosing on a mixture of morphine and rat poison. The story of Cerpin Taxt alludes to the death of El Paso, Texas artist—and Bixler-Zavala's friend—Julio Venegas (1972–1996).
The Mars Volta is an American rock band formed in 2001. The band's only constant members are Omar Rodríguez-López and Cedric Bixler-Zavala, whose partnership forms the core of the band. The band's current line-up also includes founding member Eva Gardner (bass), Omar's brother Marcel Rodríguez-López, Leo Genovese and Linda-Philomène Tsoungui (drums).
Omar Alfredo Rodríguez-López is a Puerto Rican guitarist and songwriter. He has formed or played in several bands, including The Mars Volta, At the Drive-In, Antemasque, and Bosnian Rainbows. He was the bassist for the dub band De Facto. He has embarked on a solo career, both in studio and in concert, frequently described as experimental, avant-garde, or progressive. He has also collaborated with numerous artists, such as Damo Suzuki, John Frusciante, El-P, Mon Laferte and Calle 13.
Frances the Mute is the second studio album by American progressive rock band The Mars Volta released in February 2005 on Gold Standard Laboratories and Universal. Produced by guitarist and songwriter Omar Rodriguez-Lopez, the album incorporates dub, ambient, Latin and jazz influences, and is the first to feature bassist Juan Alderete and percussionist Marcel Rodriguez-Lopez. The album also includes contributions from future saxophonist Adrián Terrazas-González, who joined the band during its subsequent tour.
Tremulant is the debut EP release by progressive rock band The Mars Volta, released on April 2, 2002, on Gold Standard Labs. Produced by Alex Newport, the EP marks the only appearance of founding bassist Eva Gardner until the release of The Mars Volta's self-titled album in 2022. A remastered version of the EP was released on April 16, 2014.
Acrobatic Tenement is the debut studio album by American post-hardcore band At the Drive-In, released on August 18, 1996, on Flipside. The album was reissued by Fearless Records in 2004, along with the band's subsequent albums In/Casino/Out and Relationship of Command, and was re-released again in 2013.
Cedric Bixler-Zavala is an American musician. He is the lead singer and lyricist of the progressive rock band the Mars Volta since its inception in 2001. He was the lead singer and only constant member of the post-hardcore group At the Drive-In, the lead singer of the band Antemasque, and singer and guitarist in the band Zavalaz.
Pablo J. Hinojos-Gonzalez, also known as Paul Hinojos, is an American musician best known as the bass guitarist for At the Drive-In, and former touring member of The Mars Volta. He is also a former guitarist of Sparta.
Jeremy Michael Ward was an American musician, best known as the sound technician and vocal operator for The Mars Volta and De Facto.
Randolph Isaiah "Ikey" Owens was an American keyboardist known for his work with The Mars Volta, Jack White and an array of bands from the Long Beach music scene.
Jon Philip Theodore is an American drummer. He has been the current drummer for Queens of the Stone Age since 2013, and is also known for being the drummer for the Mars Volta from 2001 to 2006.
Scabdates is the second official live recording from the band The Mars Volta. It was released on November 8, 2005 and features music recorded between May 2004 and May 2005 during the tours in support of De-Loused in the Comatorium and Frances the Mute. In 2011, NME magazine named it one of the 50 greatest live albums of all time. The "And Ghosted Pouts" section of "Take the Veil Cerpin Taxt" was used in the film Get Him to the Greek.
Se Dice Bisonte, No Búfalo is the third studio album by Omar Rodríguez-López and the second in the "Amsterdam series". It was written and recorded in 2005 in California and Amsterdam, and was released May 29, 2007 by Gold Standard Labs on both vinyl and CD. A limited edition, brown marble vinyl was also available. 750 were made to fulfill pre-orders through April 30.
The Bedlam in Goliath is the fourth studio album by American progressive rock band the Mars Volta, released on January 29, 2008, on Gold Standard Laboratories and Universal Motown Records. Produced by guitarist and songwriter Omar Rodríguez-López, the album's creation was fraught with strange occurrences after an experience with a ouija that Rodriguez-Lopez bought as a gift for vocalist Cedric Bixler-Zavala. The album is their first to feature drummer Thomas Pridgen, and the last to include guitarist and sound manipulator Paul Hinojos, wind multi-instrumentalist Adrián Terrazas-González, and keyboardist Isaiah "Ikey" Owens.
The discography of The Mars Volta, an American progressive rock group formed in 2001, consists of eight studio albums, one live album, two extended plays, and nine singles. The final lineup of The Mars Volta consisted of the two founding members Omar Rodríguez-López on guitar and production, Cedric Bixler-Zavala on vocals and lyrics, along with Juan Alderete on bass, Marcel Rodríguez-López on keyboards and percussion, and Deantoni Parks on drums.
Old Money is the eighth studio album by American guitarist and composer Omar Rodríguez-López, his first with Stones Throw Records who released CD and MP3 versions on November 10, 2008 and a vinyl version in February 2009. Rodríguez-López explained that the album is "loosely based on the concept of exploitative industrialists and, well, their old money."
Cryptomnesia is the debut studio album by El Grupo Nuevo de Omar Rodriguez Lopez, released on May 5, 2009. The album is the first of three albums recorded by the band, and is Rodriguez-Lopez' eleventh record overall. According to Rodriguez-Lopez, the album was "recorded in the summer of 2006, around the same time I did Old Money. It was a very, very fun record to make. I made that record in five or six days."
Octahedron is the fifth full-length studio album by American progressive rock band the Mars Volta, released on June 23, 2009. The album was released by Warner Bros. Records in North America and Mercury Records worldwide. It is the last studio album to feature drummer Thomas Pridgen and guitarist John Frusciante, and the first not to feature contributions from keyboardist Isaiah "Ikey" Owens and multi-instrumentalist Adrián Terrazas-González.
Noctourniquet is the sixth studio album by American progressive rock band the Mars Volta, released on March 26, 2012 on Warner Bros. Produced by guitarist and songwriter Omar Rodriguez-Lopez, it is the band's only studio album to feature drummer Deantoni Parks, and their first album not to include contributions from guitarist John Frusciante.
The Mars Volta is the seventh studio album by American progressive rock band the Mars Volta, released through Clouds Hill on September 16, 2022. Produced by guitarist, songwriter and musical director Omar Rodríguez-López, the album was preceded by the singles "Blacklight Shine", "Graveyard Love" and "Vigil".
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