''The Bedlam in Goliath'' is the fourth studio album by American
progressive rock
Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. Init ...
band
the Mars Volta
The Mars Volta is an American progressive rock band from El Paso, Texas, formed in 2001. The band's only constant members are Omar Rodríguez-López (guitar, producer, direction) and Cedric Bixler-Zavala (vocals, lyrics), whose partnership forms ...
, released on January 29, 2008, on
Gold Standard Laboratories
Gold Standard Laboratories or GSL was an independent record label which was founded in 1993 in Boulder, Colorado by Sonny Kay. In 2000, it was relocated to San Diego, California, United States, and two years later, to Los Angeles. It was headqu ...
and
Universal Motown Records
Universal Motown Records was an American record label that operated as a division of Universal Motown Republic Group. It was the contemporary incarnation of the legendary Motown Records label, and the "urban" half of UMG, although there were some ...
. Produced by guitarist and songwriter
Omar Rodríguez-López
Omar Alfredo Rodríguez-López (born September 1, 1975) is an American guitarist and songwriter. He has formed or played in several bands, including the Mars Volta, At the Drive-In, Antemasque, and Bosnian Rainbows. He was the bassist for the ...
, the album's creation was fraught with strange occurrences after an experience with a
ouija
The ouija ( , ), also known as a spirit board or talking board, is a flat board marked with the letters of the Latin alphabet, the numbers 0–9, the words "yes", "no", occasionally "hello" and "goodbye", along with various symbols and grap ...
that Rodriguez-Lopez bought as a gift for vocalist
Cedric Bixler-Zavala
Cedric Bixler-Zavala (born November 4, 1974) is an American singer and songwriter. He is the lead singer and lyricist of the progressive rock band The Mars Volta and the only constant member of the post-hardcore group At the Drive-In, for which ...
. The album is their first to feature drummer
Thomas Pridgen
Thomas Armon Pridgen (born November 23, 1983) is an American drummer, best known for his role as the drummer of The Mars Volta from October 2006 until October 2009. He is touring with rapper Residente and is the drummer for hardcore punk band T ...
, and the last to include guitarist and sound manipulator
Paul Hinojos
Pablo J. Hinojos-Gonzalez (born July 17, 1975), also known as Paul Hinojos, is an American musician best known as the bass guitarist for At the Drive-In, and former touring member of The Mars Volta. He is also a former guitarist of Sparta.
Biogr ...
, wind multi-instrumentalist
Adrián Terrazas-González
Adrián Terrazas-González is a Mexican multi-instrumentalist who plays flute, tenor saxophone, bass clarinet, and percussion. He was a member of the progressive rock band The Mars Volta from 2005 to 2008.
Discography As leader
*''Cu Taan'' ...
, and keyboardist
Isaiah "Ikey" Owens
Randolph Isaiah "Ikey" Owens (December 1, 1974 – October 14, 2014) was an American keyboardist known for his work with The Mars Volta, Jack White and an array of bands from the Long Beach music scene.
Biography
He notably performed as a m ...
.
The album debuted at on the
''Billboard'' 200, becoming the band's highest-charting release after selling over 54,000 copies in its opening week. As of June 2009 it has sold 153,000 copies in United States. "
Wax Simulacra
"Wax Simulacra" is a single from the album '' The Bedlam in Goliath'' by The Mars Volta. The single debuted on November 18, 2007, on San Francisco's Live 105 FM. It was previously played live by the band under the name "Idle Tooth". The B-side "Pu ...
" was released on November 19, 2007, as the album's first single, coupled with a
cover version
In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...
of "
Pulled to Bits", originally by
Siouxsie and the Banshees
Siouxsie and the Banshees were a British rock band formed in London in 1976 by vocalist Siouxsie Sioux and bass guitarist Steven Severin. They have been widely influential, both over their contemporaries and with later acts. ''Q'' magazine in ...
. Vinyl editions of the album include a ouija inside the gatefold, claimed to be the band's own take on the board they previously owned. "Wax Simulacra" won at the
51st Grammy Awards
The 51st Annual Grammy Awards took place at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, on February 8, 2009, honoring the best in music for the recording year beginning October 1, 2007, through September 30, 2008. Robert Plant and Alison Krauss were the b ...
for Best Hard Rock Performance.
Having previously contributed the artwork to the 2006 release of ''
Amputechture
''Amputechture'' is the third studio album by American progressive rock band the Mars Volta, released on September 12, 2006, on Gold Standard Laboratories and Universal Records. Produced by guitarist and songwriter Omar Rodriguez-Lopez, the album ...
'',
Jeff Jordan was again brought in to handle the illustrations for the album, creating 11 original paintings to coincide with the theme of ''The Bedlam in Goliath'', as well as including a piece from his own gallery. The piece used for the cover is entitled "Agadez".
Production
Background
On a trip in
Jerusalem
Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
, Rodriguez-Lopez purchased an archaic ouija-type talking board at a curio shop as a gift for Bixler-Zavala. They would return to their tour bus after shows to play with it during their 2006 tour with the
Red Hot Chili Peppers
Red Hot Chili Peppers are an American rock music, rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1983, comprising vocalist Anthony Kiedis, bassist Flea (musician), Flea, drummer Chad Smith, and guitarist John Frusciante. Their music incorporates element ...
, as it quickly became the band's post-show ritual.
Dubbed "The Soothsayer", the board revealed stories, gave names and made demands, as the band was contacted by three different people who appeared in the form of one, who was then referred to as "Goliath". The more the band interacted with "The Soothsayer", otherworldly coincidences began plaguing the band's experience writing and recording ''The Bedlam in Goliath'':
Blake Fleming
Blake Fleming is an American drummer known for his involvement with several influential experimental bands.
Early life
Born in Alton, Illinois, in 1972, Fleming started drumming at age 8, spending several years in fife and drumming corps, ba ...
, their drummer at the time, quit mid-tour and left the band with financial troubles; Bixler-Zavala wound up needing surgery performed on his foot due to the shoes he had been wearing, forcing him to relearn how to walk post-surgery;
audio tracks sporadically disappeared from the studio's harddrives; Rodriguez-Lopez's home studio flooded and was subject to multiple power outages; and the album's original engineer went through a nervous breakdown, leaving behind all previous work with no notes as to where anything was.
The engineer who quit stated to Rodriguez-Lopez: "I'm not going to help you make this record. You're trying to do something very bad with this record, you're trying to make me crazy and you're trying to make people crazy."
Rodriguez-Lopez was on the brink of starting the recording from scratch, but eventually kept on after recruiting Robert Carranza as a replacement engineer, along with assistance from Lars Stalfors and Isaiah Abolin. Midway through the recording sessions, Rodriguez-Lopez broke "The Soothsayer" in half and buried it in an undisclosed location as an attempt to undo the curse and halt the unforeseen tragedies. Rodriguez-Lopez swore never to give away the location of the burial, and also asked the band not to speak of it again during the remainder of the album's production.
The song "Soothsayer" contains
field recordings
Field recording is the term used for an audio recording produced outside a recording studio, and the term applies to recordings of both natural and human-produced sounds. It also applies to sound recordings like electromagnetic fields or vibrat ...
that Omar recorded in Jerusalem. The recordings are a mixture from the
Jewish quarter, the
Muslim Quarter and the
Christian Quarter
The Christian Quarter ( ar, حارة النصارى, ''Ḥārat al-Naṣārā''; he, הרובע הנוצרי, ''Ha-Rova ha-Notsri'') is one of the four quarters of the walled Old City of Jerusalem, the other three being the Jewish Quarter, ...
.
Recording process
Recorded and mixed at
Ocean Way Studios
Ocean Way Recording was a series of recording studios established by recording engineer and producer Allen Sides with locations in Los Angeles, California, Nashville, Tennessee, and Saint Barthélemy. Ocean Way Recording no longer operates record ...
in
Hollywood
Hollywood usually refers to:
* Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California
* Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States
Hollywood may also refer to:
Places United States
* Hollywood District (disambiguation)
* Hollywood, ...
and Rodriguez-Lopez's home studio in
Brooklyn
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
,
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
, song material for ''The Bedlam in Goliath'' dates back to April 2006 when demos were first written. Without a stable studio drummer after the three consecutive losses of
Jon Theodore
Jon Philip Theodore (born December 30, 1973) is an American drummer. He is best known as a former member of the Mars Volta and as the current drummer for Queens of the Stone Age. After contributing to Bright Eyes' 2020 album, ''Down in the We ...
,
Blake Fleming
Blake Fleming is an American drummer known for his involvement with several influential experimental bands.
Early life
Born in Alton, Illinois, in 1972, Fleming started drumming at age 8, spending several years in fife and drumming corps, ba ...
and
Deantoni Parks
Deantoni Parks (born November 2, 1977) is an American new wave/avant-garde/experimental musician. He is the co-founder, co-producer and drummer of the New York band KUDU along with artist Sylvia Black, and one half of the writing duo We Are Dar ...
in a single year, the band was introduced to then 24-year-old
Thomas Pridgen
Thomas Armon Pridgen (born November 23, 1983) is an American drummer, best known for his role as the drummer of The Mars Volta from October 2006 until October 2009. He is touring with rapper Residente and is the drummer for hardcore punk band T ...
, whose youthful presence—as described by Bixler-Zavala—had given The Mars Volta new life. Rodriguez-Lopez worked with
Rich Costey
Rich may refer to:
Common uses
* Rich, an entity possessing wealth
* Rich, an intense flavor, color, sound, texture, or feeling
** Rich (wine), a descriptor in wine tasting
Places United States
* Rich, Mississippi, an unincorporated commun ...
to finish the album in a three-week stretch, assisted by Shawn Michael Sullivan and Claudius Mittendorfer as editors.
In an interview, Carranza described the recording process for ''The Bedlam in Goliath'' stating that no more than three takes an hour were recorded, as a way to soak in what was recorded and to hear the differences, which in turn improved the general mood and atmosphere of the album's creation. Elaborating on the method, Carranza stated that "when
van Gogh
Vincent Willem van Gogh (; 30 March 185329 July 1890) was a Dutch Post-Impressionist painter who posthumously became one of the most famous and influential figures in Western art history. In a decade, he created about 2,100 artworks, inclu ...
was around he wasn't just painting, painting, painting. I'm sure he took a step back once in a while. You should do the same when you're recording."
The string quintet on "Soothsayer" was recorded on Wednesday, June 6, 2007, at Hyde Street Studios in San Francisco.
Eventually the band decided in favor of "
Wax Simulacra
"Wax Simulacra" is a single from the album '' The Bedlam in Goliath'' by The Mars Volta. The single debuted on November 18, 2007, on San Francisco's Live 105 FM. It was previously played live by the band under the name "Idle Tooth". The B-side "Pu ...
" as the first single:
Themes
Bixler-Zavala incorporated themes and names into the lyrics that were taken from messages given by "The Soothsayer". It also includes excerpts from poems that were found attached to the ouija, describing a love triangle between a woman, her daughter and a man in a Muslim society, along with an honor killing involving these people. Each song reinterprets the relationship in some shape or form, and as a good luck charm to counteract the cryptic themes, Bixler-Zavala incorporated elements of the
Afro-Caribbean religious tradition Santería
Santería (), also known as Regla de Ocha, Regla Lucumí, or Lucumí, is an African diaspora religions, African diasporic religion that developed in Cuba during the late 19th century. It arose through a process of syncretism between the tradit ...
into the lyrics as a "protective skin" to protect the band.
The album ultimately serves as an attempt to artistically reverse their perceived bad luck by "setting traps" for the listeners to use as a way to undo what "The Soothsayer" had brought upon the band. To aid the concept, vinyl editions of the album contain the band's own version of the ouija inside the gatefold.
Promotion
Webisodes
Four
webisode
A webisode (portmanteau of "web" and "episode") is an episode of a series that is distributed as part of a web series or on streaming television. It is available as either for download or in streaming, as opposed to first airing on broadcast or c ...
s were posted on The Mars Volta's official website, depicting the band in various and sometimes humorous situations.
* "Wax Simulacra" contains live footage of the band performing on their Australian 2007 Tour.
* "Aberinkula" is based around the band
playing cards
A playing card is a piece of specially prepared card stock, heavy paper, thin cardboard, plastic-coated paper, cotton-paper blend, or thin plastic that is marked with distinguishing motifs. Often the front (face) and back of each card has a fi ...
and then performing surgery on a person, finding odd objects inside of the body.
* "Goliath" consists of the band performing on obscure instruments in the middle of a street, with Cedric dressed like the Elephant Man.
* "Askepios" is made up of footage of a celebration party that takes place in front of a green screen. Several props and objects appearing in the other videos (including a
piñata
A piñata (, ) is a container, often made of papier-mâché, pottery, or cloth, that is decorated, filled with candy, and then broken as part of a celebration. Piñatas are commonly associated with Mexico. The idea of breaking a container filled ...
bearing the effigy of
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...
) are passed around and examined during the celebration.
* "Ilyena" was posted at
Dailymotion
Dailymotion is a French video-sharing technology platform owned by Vivendi. North American launch partners included Vice Media, Bloomberg and Hearst Digital Media. It is among the earliest known platforms to support HD (720p) resolution video. ...
, showing footage of the band in a classroom with Rodriguez-Lopez introducing
Adrián Terrazas-González
Adrián Terrazas-González is a Mexican multi-instrumentalist who plays flute, tenor saxophone, bass clarinet, and percussion. He was a member of the progressive rock band The Mars Volta from 2005 to 2008.
Discography As leader
*''Cu Taan'' ...
, who appears as a police officer to lecture to the class. The last half of the video shows everyone on a rooftop watching as graffiti artists Grey and Thomas Pridgen spray paint their
tags on a wall.
2008 club tour
A ticket presale was announced on the band's website for a New Year's Eve show at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in
San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...
,
California
California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
, promoted with flyers that featured exclusive ''The Bedlam in Goliath'' artwork illustrated by Jeff Jordan. The band would then announce a following
January club tour in 2008 where they would then debut new material from the album for the first time prior to its release.
Reception
The album has a score of 66 out of 100 from
Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...
, indicating "generally favorable reviews".
[ Jason Pettigrew of '']Alternative Press
Alternative press may refer to:
Individual publications
* ''Alternative Press'' (magazine), an American music magazine
Alternative journalism
* Alternative media
** Alternative media (U.S. political left)
** Alternative media (U.S. political ri ...
'' gave the album all five stars and called it "the first great record of 2008". John Hanson of Sputnikmusic
Sputnikmusic is an American music community website offering music criticism and music news alongside features commonly associated with wiki-style websites. The format of the website is unusual in that it includes both professional and amateur c ...
gave the album a score of 4.5 out of five and called it "simply an immense album". ''Uncut
Uncut may refer to:
* ''Uncut'' (film), a 1997 Canadian docudrama film by John Greyson about censorship
* ''Uncut'' (magazine), a monthly British magazine with a focus on music, which began publishing in May 1997
* '' BET: Uncut'', a Black Enter ...
'' gave it a score of four stars out of five and called it the band's "most digestible record yet."[ '']Blender
A blender (sometimes called a mixer or liquidiser in British English) is a kitchen appliance, kitchen and laboratory appliance used to mix, crush, purée or emulsion, emulsify food and other substances. A stationary blender consists of a blender ...
'' also gave it a score of four stars out of five and said, "Never before have these kings of experimental metal sustained such pulse-quickening energy, honing their tricks—cryptic lyrics, cliffhanging cries, spine-twisting rhythms—into a screaming arrow of sound."[ Gary Graff of '']Billboard
A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...
'' gave it a favorable review and said, "Most of the time, however, the band makes a righteous racket that straddles the worlds of prog rock, funk, fusion jazz and world music, with Eastern motifs spicing 'Aberinkula' and a bit of cosmic blues making its way into 'Conjugal Burns'." ''Vibe
''Vibe'' is an American music and entertainment magazine founded by producers David Salzman and Quincy Jones. The publication predominantly features R&B and hip hop music artists, actors and other entertainers. After shutting down productio ...
'' likewise gave it four stars out of five and said, "Rarely does rock music feel so simultaneously orchestrated and raw."[ Shilpa Ganatra of '']Hot Press
''Hot Press'' is a fortnightly music and politics magazine based in Dublin, Ireland, founded in June 1977. The magazine has been edited since its inception by Niall Stokes.
History
''Hot Press'' was founded in June 1977 by Niall Stokes, who co ...
'' gave it a positive review and said, "The manner in which the group weave complex musical tapestries is certainly impressive from a purely technical perspective, but you suspect that they were a lot more fun to assemble than they are to listen to."
Other reviews are average, mixed or negative: '' Q'' gave it a score of three stars out of five and said "There's greater scope here ore
Ore is natural rock or sediment that contains one or more valuable minerals, typically containing metals, that can be mined, treated and sold at a profit.Encyclopædia Britannica. "Ore". Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Retrieved 7 April 2 ...
than ever before, with the gentle Ilyena providing space before Cavaletta's riot of detuned radios, car alarms and struggling internet connections."[ '']The Observer
''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the w ...
'' also gave it a score of three stars out of five and said, "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." '' Under the Radar'' gave it a score of five stars out of ten and said it "ultimately sounds like The Mars Volta, nothing more and nothing less."[ Andy Beta of '' Paste'' gave the album two-and-a-half stars out of five and said that "even the highest highs soon crash and dissipate, wallowing once more in a proggy bog." Austin Powell of '']The Austin Chronicle
''The Austin Chronicle'' is an alternative weekly newspaper published every Thursday in Austin, Texas, United States. The paper is distributed through free news-stands, often at local eateries or coffee houses frequented by its targeted demogr ...
'' also gave the album two-and-a-half stars out of five and called it "a black hole of esoteric expressionism, as baffling as it is brilliant". Travis Woods of ''Prefix Magazine'' also gave it a mixed review and called it "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." Hipster of Tiny Mix Tapes
''Tiny Mix Tapes'' (also ''TMT'' or ''tinymixtapes'') is an online music and film webzine that focuses primarily on new music and related news. In addition to its reviews, it is noted for its subversive, political, and sometimes surreal news, a ...
gave it a score of two stars out of five and called it "an exhausting and overwhelming effort that fails to leave any tangible impression". Jason Keller of ''Now
Now most commonly refers
to the present time.
Now, NOW, or The Now may also refer to:
Organizations
* Natal Organisation of Women, a South African women's organization
* National Organization for Women, an American feminist organization
* Now ...
'' also gave it two stars out of five and said the Mars Volta "sound like a band becoming a bit too comfortable in their niche".
Dave Simpson of ''The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' gave the album only one star out of five and said, "The 'songs' (a relative concept on planet Mars Volta) sound as though they are competing to unleash as many prog-rock cliches as possible: portentous guitar riffs and twiddly bits are interspersed with all manner of atonal wind instruments and sonic pomposities." Dave Hughes of ''Slant Magazine
''Slant Magazine'' is an American online publication that features reviews of movies, music, TV, DVDs, theater, and video games, as well as interviews with actors, directors, and musicians. The site covers various film festivals like the New York ...
'' also gave the album a score of one star out of five and said that it sadly "takes sound and fury, signifying nothing, to new depths".
Track listing
All lyrics written by Cedric Bixler-Zavala, all music composed by Omar Rodríguez-López.
Notes
* An aberinkula is a special kind of drum used in Nigeria
Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...
. Also, "aberinkula" can be translated as "non-believer".
* Metatron
Metatron ( ''Meṭāṭrōn'', ''Məṭaṭrōn'', ''Mēṭaṭrōn'', ''Mīṭaṭrōn'', ''Meṭaṭrōn'', ''Mīṭṭaṭrōn'') or Mattatron ( ''Maṭṭaṭrōn'') is an angel in Judaism mentioned three times in the Talmud in a few br ...
is the name of an angel in Judaism and some branches of Christianity. It is also considered to harbor the voice of God.
* Ilyena is a reference to Ilyena Vasilievna Mironov, which is the birth name of actress Dame Helen Mirren
Dame Helen Mirren (born Helen Lydia Mironoff; born 26 July 1945) is an English actor. The recipient of numerous accolades, she is the only performer to have achieved the Triple Crown of Acting in both the United States and the United Kingdom. ...
. "I've named a song 'Ilyena' after the real name of the actress Helen Mirren because she is my favorite actress and the song is a little lighthearted and different from the subject matter."
* The word "simulacrum
A simulacrum (plural: simulacra or simulacrums, from Latin '' simulacrum'', which means "likeness, semblance") is a representation or imitation of a person or thing. The word was first recorded in the English language in the late 16th century, u ...
" is used to describe a representation
Representation may refer to:
Law and politics
*Representation (politics), political activities undertaken by elected representatives, as well as other theories
** Representative democracy, type of democracy in which elected officials represent a ...
of another thing, such as a statue or a painting; especially of a god. It also describes an image without the substance or qualities of the original. Simulacra is simply the plural form of the word.
* Goliath
Goliath ( ) ''Goləyāṯ''; ar, جُليات ''Ǧulyāt'' (Christian term) or (Quranic term). is a character in the Book of Samuel, described as a Philistine giant
In folklore, giants (from Ancient Greek: ''gigas'', cognate giga-) a ...
is a Philistine warrior mentioned in the Hebrew Bible. He is famous for his battle in the 11th century BC that he lost against David, the young Israelite boy who had already been chosen by God and anointed by Samuel to become the King of Israel.
* Goliath contains lyrics from a gospel hymn called "I Never Heard a Man Speak Like This Man Before". This hymn was also regularly sung at Jonestown
The Peoples Temple Agricultural Project, better known by its informal name "Jonestown", was a remote settlement in Guyana established by the Peoples Temple, a U.S.–based cult under the leadership of Jim Jones. Jonestown became internationall ...
about the cult leader Jim Jones
James Warren Jones (May 13, 1931 – November 18, 1978) was an American preacher, political activist and mass murderer. He led the Peoples Temple, a new religious movement, between 1955 and 1978. In what he called "revolutionary suicide", ...
.">» "Never Heard A Man Speak Like This Before": Reverend Jim Jones And Peoples Temple
/ref>
* "Una cavaletta" is said to be a woman who constantly tries to change her lover into some fantasy she has conjured.
* Agadez
Agadez ( Air Tamajeq: ⴰⴶⴰⴷⴰⵣ, ''Agadaz''), formerly spelled Agadès, is the fifth largest city in Niger, with a population of 110,497 based on the 2012 census. The capital of Agadez Region, it lies in the Sahara desert, and is also ...
is the largest city in northern Niger
)
, official_languages =
, languages_type = National languages[Asclepius
Asclepius (; grc-gre, Ἀσκληπιός ''Asklēpiós'' ; la, Aesculapius) is a hero and god of medicine in ancient Religion in ancient Greece, Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology. He is the son of Apollo and Coronis (lover of ...](_blank)
.
* The Ouroboros
The ouroboros or uroboros () is an ancient symbol depicting a serpent or dragon eating its own tail. The ouroboros entered Western tradition via ancient Egyptian iconography and the Greek magical tradition. It was adopted as a symbol in Gnost ...
is an ancient symbol depicting a serpent or dragon swallowing its own tail and forming a circle. This symbol represents the cyclic nature of life and the infinity. It is spelled as "Ouroborous" on the album's track listing, but this is likely to be a printing error as the Mars Volta's official website and the ASCAP
The American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) () is an American not-for-profit performance-rights organization (PRO) that collectively licenses the public performance rights of its members' musical works to venues, broadca ...
website both list the track as "Ouroboros".
* A soothsayer is one who predicts future events based on personal beliefs instead of common reasoning.
* The word "Conjugal" means anything that relates to marriage or the relationship between a married couple.
* The inner booklet features a series of images commonly known as the "Seven Powers of Africa".
Personnel
* Omar Rodríguez-López
Omar Alfredo Rodríguez-López (born September 1, 1975) is an American guitarist and songwriter. He has formed or played in several bands, including the Mars Volta, At the Drive-In, Antemasque, and Bosnian Rainbows. He was the bassist for the ...
– guitar
The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...
, synthesizer
A synthesizer (also spelled synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis and ...
s
* Cedric Bixler-Zavala
Cedric Bixler-Zavala (born November 4, 1974) is an American singer and songwriter. He is the lead singer and lyricist of the progressive rock band The Mars Volta and the only constant member of the post-hardcore group At the Drive-In, for which ...
– vocals
Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...
* Isaiah Ikey Owens
Isaiah ( or ; he, , ''Yəšaʿyāhū'', "God is Salvation"), also known as Isaias, was the 8th-century BC Israelite prophet after whom the Book of Isaiah is named.
Within the text of the Book of Isaiah, Isaiah himself is referred to as "th ...
– keyboards
Keyboard may refer to:
Text input
* Keyboard, part of a typewriter
* Computer keyboard
** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping
** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware
Music
* Musi ...
* Juan Alderete
Juan Alderete de la Peña (born September 5, 1963) is an American musician, best known as the longtime bassist of Racer X, the Mars Volta and Marilyn Manson.
Biography
Alderete was born in Los Angeles, California the fourth of five children. ...
– bass
Bass or Basses may refer to:
Fish
* Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species
Music
* Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range:
** Bass (instrument), including:
** Acoustic bass gui ...
* Thomas Pridgen
Thomas Armon Pridgen (born November 23, 1983) is an American drummer, best known for his role as the drummer of The Mars Volta from October 2006 until October 2009. He is touring with rapper Residente and is the drummer for hardcore punk band T ...
– drums
A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...
* John Frusciante
John Anthony Frusciante (; born March 5, 1970) is an American musician, best known as the guitarist for the Red Hot Chili Peppers across three stints since 1988. He has released 11 solo albums and 7 EPs, ranging in style from acoustic guitar to e ...
– guitar
* Marcel Rodriguez-Lopez
Marcel may refer to:
People
* Marcel (given name), people with the given name Marcel
* Marcel (footballer, born August 1981), Marcel Silva Andrade, Brazilian midfielder
* Marcel (footballer, born November 1981), Marcel Augusto Ortolan, Brazilian ...
– percussion
A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...
, keyboards
Keyboard may refer to:
Text input
* Keyboard, part of a typewriter
* Computer keyboard
** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping
** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware
Music
* Musi ...
* Adrián Terrazas-González
Adrián Terrazas-González is a Mexican multi-instrumentalist who plays flute, tenor saxophone, bass clarinet, and percussion. He was a member of the progressive rock band The Mars Volta from 2005 to 2008.
Discography As leader
*''Cu Taan'' ...
– flute
The flute is a family of classical music instrument in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, meaning they make sound by vibrating a column of air. However, unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is a reedless ...
, tenor saxophone
The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor and the alto are the two most commonly used saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B (while th ...
, soprano saxophone
The soprano saxophone is a higher-register variety of the saxophone, a woodwind instrument invented in the 1840s. The soprano is the third-smallest member of the saxophone family, which consists (from smallest to largest) of the soprillo, sop ...
, bass clarinet
The bass clarinet is a musical instrument of the clarinet family. Like the more common soprano B clarinet, it is usually pitched in B (meaning it is a transposing instrument on which a written C sounds as B), but it plays notes an octave bel ...
, percussion
A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...
* Paul Hinojos
Pablo J. Hinojos-Gonzalez (born July 17, 1975), also known as Paul Hinojos, is an American musician best known as the bass guitarist for At the Drive-In, and former touring member of The Mars Volta. He is also a former guitarist of Sparta.
Biogr ...
– sound manipulation
Additional musicians
* Henry Trejo – "Because"s on "Agadez"
* Nathaniel Tookey – string composition and arrangement on "Soothsayer"
* Edwin Outwater
Edwin Maurice Outwater (born 12 April 1971) is an American conductor from Santa Monica, California.
About
From September 2007 until 2017, he served as the music director of the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony in Ontario, Canada.
From 2001 to 200 ...
– strings conductor on "Soothsayer"
* Sam Bass – cello
The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a Bow (music), bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), t ...
on "Soothsayer"
* Edwin Huizinga – violin
The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...
on "Soothsayer"
* Charith Premawardhana – viola
The viola ( , also , ) is a string instrument that is bow (music), bowed, plucked, or played with varying techniques. Slightly larger than a violin, it has a lower and deeper sound. Since the 18th century, it has been the middle or alto voice of ...
on "Soothsayer"
* Anthony Blea – violin
The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...
on "Soothsayer"
* Owen Levine – double bass
The double bass (), also known simply as the bass () (or #Terminology, by other names), is the largest and lowest-pitched Bow (music), bowed (or plucked) string instrument in the modern orchestra, symphony orchestra (excluding unorthodox addit ...
on "Soothsayer"
* Kim Humphreys – violin on "Mr. Muggs" (uncredited)
Charts
References
External links
Omar Rodriguez Official Website
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bedlam In Goliath, The
The Mars Volta albums
2008 albums
Gold Standard Laboratories albums
Universal Records albums
Concept albums
Math rock albums by American artists
Albums produced by Omar Rodríguez-López