The Mars Volta's career was certainly on a very good point in 2005. They had gone through a multitude of different things ever since they started playing live in 2001. Members leaving the band due to personal issues, leaving them on a rough spot when recording their debut album (where they were being limited by Rick Rubin's decisions as a producer), just to then have their beloved friend and band member die due to a heroin overdose, shaking the energy and attitude of most of the members. This lead to the band be somewhat unmotivated for some time, but with the tours in late 2003 and the specially great year that was 2004 for their live performances, they were back on track, and the statement that they were as strong as ever came in the form of their second album Frances The Mute, accompanied by big shows in promotion of the album. All of this left fans wondering what would come next in the band's career, but their music up to that point left a lot of things to be noticed in the form of b-sides and some unreleased tracks.
During some point in 2005, and on the band's fan forums, someone posted the link to a supposed EP released by the band and their label meant to be sent to different radio stations as promo material, containing a compilation of different tracks, outtakes, and B-sides. Truth is, this was nothing more than a fan project being shared under this false premise in order to gather some kind of attention. It was never released physically, and it was only spread via torrents, with someone eventually added a front cover that only kept the rumor about it being something official. However, under the name A Missing Chromosome, this release turned out to be a curiously great compilation that offered a good look at some overlooked tracks on the band's catalog, with it being a very nice way to present these in order to get fans to appreciate them. These were also extracted from a multitude of places across the group's career, with them being arranged on a chronological order, from 2002 until 2005, and it being a good look at how the band changed over the years, getting to the point where they were in 2005, making this a rather essential release for anyone that wanted to get into Volta's music.
Tracks 1-3 (Tremulant EP)
As it was mentioned by other fans, the fact that the entirety of the Tremulant EP is included here makes the original release obsolete. What can be seen here is the first official release coming from the band, with Eva Gardner on bass and Jeremy Ward on sound manipulation (only thing older than these would be the Roulette Dares and Cicatrix demos with Blake Fleming on drums). The three songs that are included show the bridge between the straight forward song structures that Omar and Cedric were used to in At-The Drive In and the loose but precise experimentation that The Mars Volta would embrace, adapting things from De Facto into the way they wrote and performed music. The production was in charge of Alex Newport (who had produced In/Casino/Out and Vaya before) and Omar, but they were limited in that regard, making some of the versions found here feel limited by the budget and the resources that the band could get their hands to at the time.
However, some classic tracks from the early period of the band are found here, but their final state is certainly something that could benefit from a different production and vocal performance. The band wanted to capture the live feeling from their energetic and frantic shows (they would eventually achieve that later down the line), but what could be found here were versions that wouldn't come close to these live performances, while still having a lot to offer due to them being the first official look at the potential of this new project. Cut That City presents the atmospheric buildups that lead into the main song, with some great instrumentals and a manipulated and somewhat flat vocal performance, with some sound manipulation added in. Concertina definitely feels like the song that had the most balance between all these elements. Despite the same unbalanced vocal performances, the instrumentals are clean, and Cedric starts showing more attention and dedication with his vocal range, making this for a great track that has a lot to offer within its relatively short length. Eunuch Provocateur then shows the direction that the band would eventually head into, with the long tracks that present a relatively uncommon song structure, with some great instrumental performances, showing the big potential from the band's compositions on every front (with Jon's bombastic drums, Eva's precise and subtle bass, Ikey's complementary keyboards, and Omar's dynamic guitar). The watery vocals feel a little off, but they still manage to work with the song, but also presenting an odd three minute atmospheric outro that started showing glimpses at the experimental segments on their future projects.
The band would definitely take a big leap in production, even getting to re-record Concertina and Eunuch during the De-Loused Summer Sessions, improving them on many ways despite them simply being rough demos, but until that point it showed the potential of the band in studio, complemented with the incredible live shows that demonstrated the use of all the elements on a great way, showing a promising future for the band (something that would change with Eva Gardner leaving the band not long after the start of the Tremulant tour).
Track 4 (De-Loused In The Comatorium Outtake)
After that point, the band went into recording sessions with Rick Rubin for their debut album. These sessions were known as the Summer Sessions (where Flea was used as a bassist due to the fact that the band was still searching for a replacement of Eva), and in late 2002, rough demos and mixes from the sessions would leak online. Among those many tracks was the rough mix of what would become the unreleased A Plague Among Your Hissing (from which the title of this release was extracted from). Even on its rough state, the track is a big improvement production wise to the songs on their first EP. The song itself feels like an improvement of the songs from the first half of Tremulant, being a relatively short composition that aims to be straight forward with what it wants to present. But the performances here are more varied, having different segments and shifts in tone, with a great production in the vocals, where the effects added make them much more varied and functional, and it carrying an energy reminiscent of their live shows, but being expanded with the different production choices across the track (having a distinct "raw polished" result). It is not quite certain why this, and other songs, were removed from the final album (perhaps being another Rubin choice), but it showed that the direction where the band was heading was an improvement on what they had. Intense, captivating, and very dynamic, certainly a great track that any fan should listen to.
Only one of the, rumored as, outtakes from the Summer Sessions would have an official release: Ambuletz, which was included with the special editions of De-Loused. This is a heavily atmospheric and dream like track, which had more in common with what would be seen on Omar's first solo album more than anything, but also showing things that would be expanded on Frances The Mute. It is a very haunting and layered track, with a lot of things going on, like the modulated drums (having an explosive and chaotic part that introduces one of Jon's most mesmerizing solos), the cryptic and watery vocals, the dreamy guitar layers, and the subtle bass. Mysterious in tone, with a lot of hidden messages and a very surreal and psychedelic performance from everyone. This track, or at least the vocal tones and even drum patterns, from it would be implemented on live jams, but as a whole this is an excellent oddity showing the band's more experimental side. It all makes up for one of the hidden gems in the Volta's catalog. A seven minute track that takes time to get into, but that offers a lot of things in return.
Track 6 (L'Via L'Viaquez Single B-Side)
But talking about experimental, one of the band's most odd and particular tracks is found in the form of The Bible And The Breathalyzer. A spoken word driven track, presenting one of Cedric's most intriguing and surreal written pieces every, having a lot to analyze and dissect on its very own. The music matches that tone, but the vocals are the main focus (these adapting to the musical tone with the manipulation and the watery tone), some free improvisation from every instrument, even some percussion, and atmospheric distortion to surround the entire experience. Without a doubt, this is one of the band's most odd and experimental tracks, becoming more of an acquired taste than anything, presenting a chaotic and slow build up accompanied by Cedric's calm voice, until getting to an abrupt end, but still not feeling like an essential track, more like a nice novelty that went along well with this specific single. Something that has its own charm, and that certainly stands out on the band's catalog.
Track 7 (The Widow Single B-Side / Frances The Mute Single)
The original title of the band's second album was supposed to be Sarcophagus, but since one of the songs (one that the band considered crucial in order to decipher the concept behind the story told on the record) was removed, they decided to tie it all together by naming the album with the title of the missing piece. However, this song was not discarded from their catalog at all. It was released twice officially in single form, it was still played on live shows (something that was not usual for their "B-Sides", so its attachment to the main release was certainly strong), and its lyrics being included on the official CD version. Both official releases of the song came out the same day as the vinyl release of the album, and they were both attached to a different version of The Widow (with it being released as the B-Side of The Widow's Single). But one of these was released as a main single attached to the triple vinyl edition of the album, being more proof that these two were certainly related without any doubt (sharing part of the artwork already seen on the CD booklet, and coming with a sound manipulated live version of The Widow).
Frances The Mute is, in many ways, a microcosm of what the entire album would be. A build up, very reminiscent for this compilation to the one of Cut That City as if it was going full circle, building up the tone before transitioning into the main part of the track. This time the long songs were separated in different segments, almost as if they were strict movements, each one of them having distinct feeling to them, but still holding on together on a great was as just one big song being dynamic with it's tone, and also presenting atmospheric soundscapes that took its time to build up tension or set up a certain mood before transitioning to the next song. The lyrics (now telling a much more condensed and straight forward story) were tied together with the vocal performance as another instrument that was used to have coordination with the music, and the final product can definitely be considered one of their most polished songs to date due to the production handled by Omar himself, finally managing to capture the perfect balance between the live energy from the band and the very specific and clear studio effects. It was a statement of all that the band represented at the time, all their journey to get until that point, with the result being an album that presented their creative, conceptual, and instrumental peak; and all of that can be found on this essential track that any fan should check out.
++
A Missing Chromosome may just be a fan compilation elaborated with a false backstory behind it, but what it presents serves as a collection of tracks that show the journey that the band had gone through to get until that point. Be it some of their more well known tracks at the time, impressive B-Sides, or simply some of their best and overlooked songs, all the tracks here have something to offer and are enjoyable at the very least, but overall it is definitely a fantastic release. Something essential for any fan of the band, with a lot of things to offer in return. Very enjoyable and worthwhile.
Overall Rating: 9/10
Favorite Track: Ambuletz / Frances The Mute / Concertina
No comments:
Post a Comment