Scab Dates
by The Mars Volta
Metascore
58

Mixed or average reviews - based on 14 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 5 out of 14
  2. Mixed: 6 out of 14
  3. Negative: 3 out of 14
  1. AllMusic
    70
    Scab Dates is yet another intriguing window into the Mars Volta's world, instead of just a live album holdover.
  2. Entertainment Weekly
    75
    Exhausting, self-indulgent, and also kind of awesome. [18 Nov 2005, p.134]
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  3. Pitchfork
    35
    Given which songs are chosen and when this is being released, Scab Dates is a neither a concession nor a step forward, revealing inclinations that feel half as indulgent as they should when following a record like Frances the Mute, and about half as interesting to listen to.
  5. PopMatters
    60
    At its best, it's a fantastic album, with amazing musicianship that's emotionally striking. At it's worse, it's empty.
  6. Rolling Stone
    60
    Scabdates is as exhilarating as it is confounding.
  7. Austin Chronicle
    67
    Seventy-three crack-in-the-earth's-crust minutes liquefy into the same basic miasma as the sophomore LP that inspired them, yet more streamlined, less apt to wander into the ambient dead zones like "Caviglia," a problematic disconnection of the disc's overall forward thrust.
  8. New Musical Express (NME)
    70
    Marvellous. [5 Nov 2005, p.45]
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  9. Uncut
    60
    Your appreciation of Scab Dates will be predicated on a high tolerance to long bongo solos and songs called things like "Abrasions Mount The Timpani". [Jan 2006, p.113]
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  10. Blender
    40
    The songs get lost in waves of wah-wah long before a long, slow fade into random-noise oblivion. [Dec 2005, p.149]
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  11. Tiny Mix Tapes
    10
    The album is essentially a tried-and-true big-budget rock album gimmick writ large: smother the listeners in a minute or so of formless noise (using the artiest guitar and keyboard settings imaginable, of course), and then snap them out of the doldrums with the sweep of a heroic chord progression.
  12. Prefix Magazine
    60
    Scab Dates does an adequate job of capturing what is best experienced in the flesh.
  13. Under The Radar
    70
    One of those rare live offerings: a document that actually complements the band's catalog. [#12, p.95]
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  14. Delusions of Adequacy
    10
    Wading through the next 70-plus minutes of wandering noise and blank hissing for the gems was painful, to put it mildly, because when I got to them, they were played off-key and incredibly quickly, as if the band wanted to get it over with and get back to banging on the guitars and making nonsensical noise.
  15. Paste Magazine
    40
    At once punishingly long and oddly incomplete. [Feb/Mar 2006, p.110]
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User Reviews

All reviews »
User Score
7.2

Generally favorable reviews- based on 34 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 25 out of 34
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 34
  3. Negative: 6 out of 34
  1. j30
    Mar 22, 2012
    2
    Scab Dates really doesn't do Mars Volta any favors, it actually suggests they're better in the studio than they are live. Which is true to aScab Dates really doesn't do Mars Volta any favors, it actually suggests they're better in the studio than they are live. Which is true to a point. I've had friends tell me they loved and hated the same performance. When I saw them open for the Red Hot Chili Peppers I left with mixed feelings. They have great energy on stage, but the music in some areas felt chaotic and flat-out boring. Their high points were exhilarating, particularly Viscera Eyes and Roulette Dares (The Haunt of). The Mars Volta need some sort of quality control of their live performances, meaning there are songs that are going to sound awesome live and some that are going to sound like **** In conclusion, Scab Dates is terrible due to it's horrid sound quality and song selection… Full Review »
  2. kylel.
    Nov 16, 2007
    10
    if you don't like this album its because its over your head. the closest our generation will ever get to led zepplin
  3. Richard
    Oct 4, 2006
    6
    I intensly adore the mars volta. Frances the mute is amoung my all time favourite albums, deloused in the commatorium and the new I intensly adore the mars volta. Frances the mute is amoung my all time favourite albums, deloused in the commatorium and the new amputechture are not far behind. The problem i have with this alubm is that strangely, they sound better live. That may sound strange, seeing as this is a live alubm, but the mars volta live sound a thousand times better than this album. That is not so much a criticism of this album as it is a testement to their actual live performances.… Full Review »
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