De-Loused In The Comatorium cover

De-Loused In The Comatorium

Released

The debut full-length by the Mars Volta was produced by Rick Rubin and featured Flea of the Red Hot Chili Peppers on bass, the group’s own bassist having quit prior to the sessions, and it’s an ultra-high-energy fusion of post-Santana Latin rock, explosive hardcore and postpunk, and a surprisingly deep vein of dub. The first full track, “Intertiatic ESP,” is a headlong blast that’s like singer Cedric Bixler-Zavala and guitarist Omar Rodriguez Lopez’s previous band, At The Drive-In, covering Led Zeppelin’s “Achilles Last Stand.” From there, they journey into a dark tunnel of psychedelia, jazz-rock, throbbing bass and disorienting electronic noise, while Cedric shrieks and jabbers impressionistic nonsense. But what makes this such a ferocious debut, and a high-water mark they’d never reach again, is that the songs throw in one memorable singalong hook after another.

Phil Freeman

Suggestions
Fanfare for the Warriors cover

Fanfare for the Warriors

Art Ensemble of Chicago
Live in Berlin ‘71 cover

Live in Berlin ‘71

Fred Van Hove, Han Bennink, Albert Mangelsdorff, Peter Brötzmann
Song for Mother E cover

Song for Mother E

Amina Claudine Myers
Sun on Sand cover

Sun on Sand

Joshua Redman, Brooklyn Rider, Patrick Zimmerli
Halo cover

Halo

Bill Laswell, Andy Hawkins, Azonic
Junk Trap cover

Junk Trap

Charles Bobo Shaw, Human Arts Ensemble, Joseph Bowie
Go See The World cover

Go See The World

David S. Ware