Music
All-Time High (And Low) Scores
Best Of 2009
Best Of 2008
Best Of 2007
Best Of 2006
Best Of 2005
Best Of 2004
Best Of 2003
Best Of 2002
Best Of 2001
Best Of 2000
Upcoming &
Recent Releases
70
AFI
65
Air
71
Alice In Chains
77
Amerie
85
The Antlers
75
Arctic Monkeys
68
As Tall As Lions
82
Atlas Sound
75
The Avett Brothers
67
Backstreet Boys
56
Bad Lieutenant
68
Devendra Banhart
72
Lou Barlow
88
Baroness
69
Basement Jaxx
81
David Bazan
72
Brendan Benson
72
The Big Pink
96
Big Star
46
Billy Talent
75
The Black Crowes
51
Black Mold
68
Blitzen Trapper
75
BLK JKS
77
A.A. Bondy
73
The Bottle Rockets
63
Box Elders
65
Boys Like Girls
76
Brand New
73
Tyondai Braxton
87
Brother Ali
70
Ian Brown
75
Michael Buble
78
Built To Spill
61
Colbie Caillat
79
Califone
68
Mariah Carey
84
Brandi Carlile
73
Julian Casablancas
83
Rosanne Cash
69
Castanets
65
The Cave Singers
84
Nick Cave & Warren Ellis
79
Vic Chesnutt
75
Choir Of Young Believers
81
Circulatory System
68
The Clean
84
The Clientele
71
Cobra Starship
85
Converge
71
Eric Copeland
80
Cymbals Eat Guitars
71
Datarock
59
Dead By Sunrise
76
Dead Man's Bones
88
Destroyer
63
The Dodos
77
Drive-By Truckers
66
Bob Dylan
44
The Entrance Band
67
Esser
69
Fanfarlo
63
Felix Da Housecat
68
Fink
78
The Flaming Lips
66
Flight Of The Conchords
79
Florence And The Machine
67
John Fogerty
83
Fuck Buttons
71
Nelly Furtado
47
Gary Go
68
Ghostface Killah
79
Girls
69
Gossip
62
David Gray
66
David Guetta
79
Richard Hawley
74
Mayer Hawthorne
66
Headlights
79
HEALTH
77
Joe Henry
66
Hockey
69
Whitney Houston
68
Imogen Heap
59
Jack Ingram
79
Islands
73
Jessie James
74
Jamie T
65
Jay-Z
51
Jet
69
Daniel Johnston
76
Karen O And The Kids
72
Toby Keith
69
Kid Cudi
65
Kings Of Convenience
62
Sean Kingston
64
KISS
76
Kris Kristofferson
68
KRS-One & Buckshot
76
La Roux
84
Miranda Lambert
72
Ledisi
75
Sondre Lerche
56
Juliette Lewis
82
Lightning Bolt
73
Little Dragon
44
Pixie Lott
73
Lyle Lovett
66
Lovvers
75
Baaba Maal
77
Madness
84
Madonna
85
Manic Street Preachers
62
Maps
55
Massive Attack
57
Matisyahu
67
Reba McEntire
66
Tim McGraw
65
Brian McKnight
79
Mew
77
Malcolm Middleton
77
Mika
68
Amy Millan
76
Mission Of Burma
76
Molina And Johnson
80
Monsters Of Folk
62
Morrissey
85
Mount Eerie
78
The Mountain Goats
62
Múm
72
Muse
66
Willie Nelson
78
Nirvana
97
Nirvana
72
Nisennenmondai
80
No Age
71
Noah And The Whale
75
Noisettes
79
Nudge
47
Dolores O'Riordan
74
Os Mutantes
73
Osso
81
Owen
76
Paramore
76
Pastels And Tenniscoats
51
Sean Paul
80
Pearl Jam
66
Jemina Pearl
72
Jack Penate
65
Phish
82
Pissed Jeans
61
Pitbull
79
A Place To Bury Strangers
66
Robert Pollard
79
Polvo
72
Porcupine Tree
80
Q-Tip
80
R.E.M.
89
Raekwon
69
Rain Machine
70
Ramona Falls
75
Dizzee Rascal
75
The Raveonettes
76
Jay Reatard
82
Reigning Sound
81
Rodrigo Y Gabriela
79
Russian Circles
69
Buffy Sainte-Marie
73
Hope Sandoval & The Warm Inventions
61
Sally Shapiro
78
Shudder To Think
70
Simian Mobile Disco
58
Simple Minds
72
Six Organs Of Admittance
69
Slaughterhouse
80
Slayer
61
The Slits
62
Mindy Smith
78
Soulsavers
77
Speech Debelle
58
Spiral Stairs
58
Squarepusher
55
Steel Panther
73
Sufjan Stevens
52
Rod Stewart
65
Joss Stone
75
George Strait
83
Barbra Streisand
76
A Sunny Day In Glasgow
74
Susanna And The Magical Orchestra
78
The Swell Season
76
David Sylvian
83
Taken By Trees
78
Tegan And Sara
68
The Temper Trap
72
Themselves
82
They Might Be Giants
67
Third Eye Blind
66
J Tillman
69
Times New Viking
57
Tokio Hotel
67
Trey Songz
71
The Twilight Sad
58
Carrie Underwood
56
The Used
68
Various Artists
70
Various Artists
74
Various Artists
77
The Very Best
71
Kurt Vile
67
Vivian Girls
71
Volcano Choir
76
Rufus Wainwright
59
Weezer
80
White Denim
76
Why?
83
Wild Beasts
80
Wildbirds & Peacedrums
59
Andrew W.K.
71
Patrick Wolf
67
Wolfmother
84
The xx
79
Yo La Tengo
83
Yoko Ono Plastic Ono Band
51
Pete Yorn & Scarlett Johansson
59
Zero 7
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed albums.
Frances The Mute
Generally favorable reviews
Based on 31 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 294 votes
Read user comments
Rate this album >
Album Info
Label: Universal
Release Date: 01 March 2005
Discs: 1 disc
Genre(s): Alternative, Rock
Summary
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.
Also By This Artist: Amputechture De-Loused In The Comatorium Octahedron Scab Dates The Bedlam In Goliath
Also On Metacritic
MUSIC: At The Drive-In: Relationship Of Command
Also On The Web: Official Artist Site
What The Critics Said
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...
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]
E! Online
If you've got the time to dig in, Frances the Mute proves a cohesive, intricate and expertly layered experience.
Read Full Review >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.
Read Full Review >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.
Read Full Review >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.
Read Full Review >All Music Guide
Perhaps the only match for the cerebral weirdness and eventual beauty of Mars Volta's lyrics is their music itself.
Read Full Review >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.
Read Full Review >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.
Read Full Review >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.
Read Full Review >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.
Read Full Review >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.
Read Full Review >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]
Read Full Review >The Guardian
You have to give them credit for ambition, though, because you're not going to find this particular witches' brew anywhere else.
Read Full Review >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]
Read Full Review >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.
Read Full Review >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.
Read Full Review >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.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this album is 8.3 (out of 10) based on 294 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Max M gave it a10:
Stupid-ass critics. Cokemachineglow?! Who the fuck?..... And pitchfork?! Please. This album is a work. I would have been satisfied with just the 29/16 time signature part in Cygnus... Vismund Cygnus. It is amazing how the Mars Volta can turn a supposedly complicated time signature into a smooth, catchy, and amazingly simple part of the song. Also, the 32 minute long Cassandra Gemini was a work of genius. The lead guitar, drums, bass, and keyboard blended perfectly together. Those dumbass critics need to pull their heads out of their asses and listen to more progressive rock. Rock doesn't have to be easy to listen to.
Joseph H. gave it a9:
It is a great leap forward from Deloused. The vocals are worlds better -- Bixler-Zavala actually sounds like he means what he's singing. The drumming also shows great improvement. The only bad thing about the album is the overlong instrumental sections, which were trimmed to the exact length they needed to be on Deloused, but now sprawl over upwards of 7 minutes.
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.
