March 14, 2005 - The good news is that Frances The Mute contains several moments of legitimately compelling sonic bliss. The bad news is that these moments are padded with countless minutes of faceless plodding.

The Mars Volta are nothing if not a band with technical wherewithal. The instrumentation is seasoned and nuanced and the combination of Latin flavor and prog-rock sensibilities results in a decidedly unique beast. But make no mistake - Frances is an album meant to be absorbed not in bits and pieces, but rather the presence of the whole. Translation: For the next 80 minutes, make yourself very, very comfortable. Rarely does a song drop beneath the 10-minute mark, and a 30-some minute epic concludes the disc. You can't jump around with this one.

You might want to, however. With the rainbow comes the rain, and with the record's catharses come gaping holes of idling, nondirectional sound. The result is an album of flat ocean punctuated with islands of redemption. And, at nearly an hour and a half, that's a lot of open water.

Frances the Mute is a full-bodied, multi-layered album that demands your commitment, yet simultaneously requires a tolerance to its gaping spans of uneventful nothingness. It's a tall order to fill, but there are those among you prepared to fill it; you know who you are. Unapologetically pretentious it may be - The Mars Volta's latest is at least a wake-up call to those who still hold Dark Side Of The Moon up as the alpha and the omega.

Definitely Download:
1. "Miranda That Ghost Just Isn't Holy Anymore"

2. "Cassandra Geminni"

Overall Score 7.0