The Bedlam In Goliath
by The Mars Volta
Metascore
66

Generally favorable reviews - based on 31 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 15 out of 31
  2. Mixed: 12 out of 31
  3. Negative: 4 out of 31
  1. Austin Chronicle
    50
    It's a black hole of esoteric expressionism, as baffling as it is brilliant.
  2. NOW Magazine
    40
    Three albums and 700 guitar solos later, they sound like a band becoming a bit too comfortable in their niche.
  3. Observer Music Monthly
    60
    The converted will no doubt welcome their current interest in Middle Eastern superstition, plus intricate tunes such as 'The Second Coming'. Outsiders, however, may remain sceptical.
  5. Paste Magazine
    50
    But even the highest highs soon crash and dissipate, wallowing once more in a proggy bog.
  6. Pitchfork
    43
    I'm sure defenders of the band will champion Mars Volta as a keeper of the prog-rock flame, but The Bedlam in Goliath renders the term meaningless--the result couldn't be more averse to actual progress in rock music.
  7. PopMatters
    60
    On The Bedlam in Goliath, they don’t even let their affinity for wacky sprawling passages run away with them too much, though they are plagued by unwise decisions how to put their good ideas to execution.
  8. Prefix Magazine
    50
    This is rut music and The Mars Volta are still stuck in it; even if they’ve managed to avoiding digging themselves any deeper with Goliath’s frenetic lateral slides into pseudo bedlam, momentum is only momentum if you’re going somewhere.
  9. Q Magazine
    60
    There's greater scope here [more] than ever before, with the gentle llyena providing space before Cavaletta's riot of detuned radios, car alarms and struggling internet connections. [Feb 2008, p.99]
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  10. Spin
    40
    For the Volta, more is always more, but rarely has a band with this much potential been so willing to squander its strengths.
  11. The A.V. Club
    42
    The band's frenzied rate of output seems to have trampled any inner editor, and the result is a splat of concepts and virtuosity that never coheres.
  12. Tiny Mix Tapes
    40
    The Bedlam in Goliath is an exhausting and overwhelming effort that fails to leave any tangible impression.
  13. Under The Radar
    50
    The Bedlam In Goliath ultimately sounds like The Mars Volta, nothing more and nothing less. [Winter 2008, p.83]
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Awards & Rankings

31
#31 Most Discussed Album of 2008

User Reviews

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User Score
8.4

Universal acclaim- based on 153 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 133 out of 153
  2. Mixed: 12 out of 153
  3. Negative: 8 out of 153
  1. Sense!
    Mar 24, 2008
    8
    Any mars volta album is an album to buy. Recently the only good stuff coming out is f*cking folk music and its soooo booooring! This cd tears Any mars volta album is an album to buy. Recently the only good stuff coming out is f*cking folk music and its soooo booooring! This cd tears apart everything you know about music and mashes it up - you need to repeat it several times -- only old people won't like this music - IT IS FANTASTIC!… Full Review »
  2. Bob
    Feb 18, 2008
    10
    Amazing album. It started making sense after second listen. Don't judge it after only one listen. Every second is great and that
  3. AJW.
    Feb 15, 2008
    9
    This is the first Mars Volta album I've heard, and I genuinely thought it was excellent. It's absolutely insane and frenzied, and This is the first Mars Volta album I've heard, and I genuinely thought it was excellent. It's absolutely insane and frenzied, and for that I love it.… Full Review »
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