A bit late but thought I'd comment on a disappointment for me...Octahedron, the Mars Volta's new album. Their most mellowed out album yet possibly, which is not a bad thing, but came off to me as very bland and lacking a necessary soulfulness for the material, especially from the lead singer, whose vocals got progressively more annoying since their first EP. Despite mostly softer melodies, the drumming is still overblown like in Bedlam in Goliath and is even more misplaced in this album. The louder songs such as Cotopaxi are not too bad, which I guess goes to show that MV isn't very good at being tender (maybe if Omar was less concerned with putting out albums than creating music, which is evidenced by his four 2009 albums, they could have made something more worthwhile) If you didn't like these guys after De-Loused, however, you may find this album acceptable, as it is probably their most accessable yet.
