> Switch to Advanced Search

New & Current Releases
Archives: A-Z Index
Advanced Search

Upcoming Release Calendar
All-Time High (And Low) Scores
Best Of 2007
Best Of 2006
Best Of 2005
Best Of 2004
Best Of 2003
Best Of 2002
Best Of 2001
Best Of 2000
How Metascores Are Calculated
Discuss Music In Our Forums

sort by name

sort by score

55 3 Doors Down
69 9th Wonder & Buckshot
77 The Accidental
68 Adele
70 Adem
71 Alkaline Trio
76 Alphabeat
78 Animal Collective
54 Ashanti
66 Atmosphere
53 David Banner
79 The Baseball Project
77 Beck
67 The Black Angels
59 Black Ghosts
78 Black Kids
82 Bonnie "Prince" Billy
71 Booka Shade
75 Boris
71 Billy Bragg
83 Bun B
64 T Bone Burnett
68 The Charlatans
72 Coldplay
78 The Constantines
82 The Cool Kids
78 Elvis Costello & The Impostors
62 CSS
68 Miley Cyrus
53 Craig David
73 Death Cab For Cutie
47 Def Leppard
61 Gavin DeGraw
64 Delays
66 dEUS
79 Neil Diamond
57 Dirty Pretty Things
57 Disturbed
76 Dr. Dog
73 Dresden Dolls
69 Dub Pistols
71 Duffy
79 Jakob Dylan
78 Earlimart
70 Ecstatic Sunshine
65 El Perro del Mar
82 Elbow
83 Alejandro Escovedo
73 Estelle
72 The Explorers Club
81 The Fall
56 Feeder
72 Firewater
77 Tim Fite
88 Fleet Foxes
79 Flight Of The Conchords
79 Robert Forster
62 iForward, Russia!
75 Four Tet
47 Foxy Brown
63 The Fratellis
61 Free Kitten
71 French Kicks
79 Frightened Rabbit
73 The Futureheads
81 Al Green
47 G-Unit
63 Albert Hammond, Jr.
67 Ed Harcourt
78 Emmylou Harris
89 Harvey Milk
82 HEALTH
57 Heloise And The Savoir Faire
86 Hercules And Love Affair
77 John Hiatt
87 The Hold Steady
64 Vanessa Hudgens
77 James Hunter
70 Islands
69 Jewel
79 Joan As Police Woman
71 Joan Of Arc
58 Scarlett Johansson
69 John & Jehn
59 Judas Priest
57 Kerli
73 Kidz In The Hall
71 Fern Knight
73 Ladytron
65 Langhorne Slim
77 The Last Shadow Puppets
67 Cyndi Lauper
67 Leila
66 Les Savy Fav
72 Jamie Lidell
71 Lil Mama
81 Lil Wayne
80 Little Jackie
72 Local H
73 The Long Blondes
46 Los Lonely Boys
74 Love As Laughter
66 Lyrics Born
65 Madonna
78 Aimee Mann
80 Marc Ribot's Ceramic Dog
67 Mates Of State
78 Matmos
75 John Mellencamp
73 The Melvins
71 Midnight Juggernauts
63 Alanis Morissette
57 Motley Crue
65 Jason Mraz
74 The M's
79 Mudcrutch
77 Mudhoney
54 The Music
71 My Brightest Diamond
70 My Morning Jacket
63 N.E.R.D. [The Neptunes]
72 Nas
80 Willie Nelson & Wynton Marsalis
76 The Night Marchers
77 Nine Inch Nails
78 No Age
75 The Notwist
54 The Offspring
72 Old 97's
82 Opeth
62 The Orb
62 James Pants
43 Katy Perry
84 Sam Phillips
56 The Pigeon Detectives
67 Plantlife
72 Plies
71 Robert Pollard
83 Ponytail
85 Portishead
75 Prodigy [of Mobb Deep]
69 Pyramids
48 The Rascals
69 Ratatat
86 Robyn
78 The Roots
48 Gavin Rossdale
73 Russian Circles
67 RZA
76 Santogold
74 Ron Sexsmith
85 Shearwater
81 Sigur Rós
78 Silver Jews
60 Carly Simon
62 Ashlee Simpson
74 Sloan
79 Patti Smith and Kevin Shields
74 Son, Ambulance
71 Sam Sparro
76 Spiritualized
90 Steinski
76 Subtle
67 Donna Summer
66 Supergrass
57 Three 6 Mafia
76 Tilly And The Wall
64 The Ting Tings
51 Tokio Hotel
67 Tokyo Police Club
75 Randy Travis
65 Usher
76 Vetiver
69 The Virgins
77 Martha Wainwright
68 The Watson Twins
64 We Are Scientists
65 The Wedding Present
64 Weezer
77 Paul Weller
76 White Denim
81 Cassandra Wilson
88 Dennis Wilson
61 Steve Winwood
79 Wire
79 Wolf Parade
63 The Zutons

Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed albums.

Frances The Mute
by The Mars Volta


8.3

based on 31 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

based on 289 votes
Read user comments
Rate this album

MUSIC:

At The Drive-In: Relationship Of Command

Official Artist Site

The psychedelic prog-rock outfit led by Cedric Bixler Zavala and Omar Rodriguez return with a second ambitious album, which follows the death of band member Jeremy Ward.

LABEL:	Universal
RELEASE DATE:	01 March 2005
DISCS:	1 disc
GENRE(S):	Alternative, Rock

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

100

Alternative Press

It's already the most riveting album of 2005--provided you're ready to carve a wide enough hole in your consciousness to accept it. [Mar 2005, p.130]

100

Drowned In Sound

It's practically a compulsory purchase.

E! Online

If you've got the time to dig in, Frances the Mute proves a cohesive, intricate and expertly layered experience.

Stylus Magazine

Whereas the somewhat timid and searching De-Loused in the Comatorium was all about surprising audience, critic, and probably the band itself, Frances the Mute is a self-assured organic animal that should come as no surprise to anyone.

Spin

Frances explores an explosive groove Comatorium only implied. [Mar 2005, p.83]

Playlouder

Miraculously the lyrics never sound like the pompous shite they undoubtedly are. They fit the music and make the whole picture even more laughably and absurdly brilliant.

Delusions of Adequacy

It’s not prog rock. It’s not punk rock. It’s not emo. It’s not indie. It’s just music, and it will incinerate your mind if you let it.

All Music Guide

Perhaps the only match for the cerebral weirdness and eventual beauty of Mars Volta's lyrics is their music itself.

Mojo

Listen to Frances The Mute without any prog-induced prejudice... and it emerges as the triumphant sound of a band bound only by their imagination. [Apr 2005, p.86]

Paste Magazine

Frances bursts at the jewel-case hinges with Comatorium’s trademarks: musical inventiveness and wildly emotive vocals.

Q Magazine

Insane, extraordinary. [Mar 2005, p.95]

Blender

This is a visceral, powerful muso's record, a nerve-jangling explosion in a drum clinic. [Apr 2005, p.111]

The Wire

[An] overstuffed sound hurricane. [#255, p.58]

Rolling Stone

The Mars Volta's second album is an exhilarating transgression: concussive, nonlinear rhythms; mad-dog guitar algebra; bloody-nightmare suites sung in bilingual free verse. In short, the beastly spawn of Radiohead's OK Computer and Rush's 2112.

ShakingThrough.net

Proponents of Mars Volta’s Frances the Mute will claim that anyone who doesn’t like the album simply can’t handle the lyrical depth and amazingly multi-layered musical complexity; critics who pan the release will claim it’s overlong, indulgent, and -- did we mention indulgent? The truth, as usual, falls somewhere in between.

The Onion (A.V. Club)

On the whole, the record sounds more like the blueprint for a stunning live show than like a viable document of a top-flight hard rock band.

Uncut

Frances The Mute smells like another concept album, is far too long and so pretentious as to be farcial. Amazingly, it's also mighty entertaining. [Mar 2005, p.91]

Magnet

During its most commercial moments, Frances ventures dangerously close to System Of A Down, without the nu-metal grandstanding or fake volatility. [#67, p.106]

Billboard

The 77-minute-long "Frances" unfolds upon multiple listens, sometimes threatening to collapse under its own pretensions (meandering musical passages, sound effects), but ultimately, it is an ambitious and rewarding album.

New Musical Express

Within this impressive, ambitious, often stupid whole, are moments of melthing human beauty. [29 Feb 2005, p.65]

Filter

Frances the Mute documents the Mars Volta as a passionate and explosive band that has grown capable of taking the music in a hundred different directions. [#14, p.96]

Entertainment Weekly

The CD has moments of undeniable beauty and power; it may prove to be one of those "difficult" records that repays with repeat listens. [4 Mar 2005, p.72]

PopMatters

Discipline is a crucial factor in good progressive rock, and despite Theodore's brilliant drumming, Rodriguez's flashy guitar, and Bixler's lyrical skill, there's very little of that discipline here. [Avg of two scores: 80/40]

The Guardian

You have to give them credit for ambition, though, because you're not going to find this particular witches' brew anywhere else.

The New York Times

The music combines the kitchen-sink inclusiveness of psychedelia with the swerves and jolts of the hip-hop era, to approach the ravenous eclecticism of Latin alternative rock. [27 Feb 2005]

Dot Music

An incredibly accomplished record, a true testament to the band’s imagination, intellectual curiosity and outrageous musical talent.... Unfortunately, “Frances The Mute” is also awful.

Under The Radar

Omar Rodriguez-Lopez and Cedric Bixler-Zavala are fantastically talented musicians and arrangers. But until they rein in their astronomical pretension, they'll always look more important than they truly are. [#9]

Splendid

With Frances the Mute, the Mars Volta have unfurled a big and bold artistic statement... Unfortunately, that bold artistic statement is rife with pomposity and glimpses of prog-rock at its most horrifically self-indulgent.

Drawer B

Everything that was great about De-Loused in the Comatorium is blatantly absent, while all of the negatives now protrude like barnacled tumors.

Pitchfork

A homogeneous shitheap of stream-of-consciousness turgidity.

cokemachineglow

There are hardly any virtues to this record at all.

The average user rating for this album is 8.3 (out of 10) based on 289 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Michael W. gave it an8:
Lacks the cohesion of De-Loused but still an excellent album. You can really follow the progression of their sound.

Mitch J. gave it a10:
A masterpiece a brilliant album that accomplishes more in ten seconds than any other band could in a career.

Justin H. gave it a0:
This album is absolute garbage. Picture the worst elements of both Rush and Santana and spread the heap out far enough to cover 77 minutes and you'll have a good idea of what you're getting into. Some of the tracks, like "L'Via L'Viaquez" are laugh out loud funny, while others (such as the allegedly homoerotic "The Widow) are just plain boring. If this sounds like innovative new music to you, then welcome to the 70's.

karius k gave it a10:
This is one of the most amazing albums ever released. Anyone who says different should go get an Ouijia board and try and get Goliath to eat their flesh

Michael T. gave it a10:
Although not my fave Mars Volta LP it does contain my fave song in Cassandra Gemmeni (sic) It still gets a score of 10 out of 10 as it's The Mars Volta. Looking threw various reviews it seems that a lot of people who give the Volta bad ones seem to whinge that it's not as good as At The Drive In. Well boo hoo. The fact of the matter is I quite like at the drive in but I think The Mars Volta are a gagillion times better. I just made up the word gagillion. Its a bit like the word bizillion or other words of there ilk its basically a word to mean a high number.

Luis L gave it a10:
... iconoclastic, or even more; a blasphemist an heretic. anyone who dislikes the mars volta but have actually an overall good music taste hates comparisions betwen mars volta and great past bands (pink floyd, king crimson, yes, mahavishnu orchestra even radiohead). this pathologic response to any coment relative to this band may be caused by some quasi-religious attachment to past glory. the truth is the creative work, the artistic execution and the production of this band's records (particulary in this disk which is my favorite) are both challeging practically flawless. ranging from psychedelic prog to salsa, from alt rock to hi-fi epilectic sounds. omar rodriguez-lopez is gestating as one of the most impressive music composers and revolutionaries of this time, lacking only of academic formation, he'll find his place aside greats as peter gabriel and roger waters; as miles davis and john zorn.

Trish L. gave it an8:
I could do without some of the drawn out noise fillers but other than that, very solid album.

Frances The Mute by The Mars Volta

Frances The Mute
by The Mars Volta