De​-​Loused in the Comatorium cover

De​-​Loused in the Comatorium

Released

The debut full-length by the Mars Volta was produced by Rick Rubin and featured Flea of the Red Hot Chili Peppers on bass, the group’s own bassist having quit prior to the sessions, and it’s an ultra-high-energy fusion of post-Santana Latin rock, explosive hardcore and postpunk, and a surprisingly deep vein of dub. The first full track, “Intertiatic ESP,” is a headlong blast that’s like singer Cedric Bixler-Zavala and guitarist Omar Rodriguez Lopez’s previous band, At The Drive-In, covering Led Zeppelin’s “Achilles Last Stand.” From there, they journey into a dark tunnel of psychedelia, jazz-rock, throbbing bass and disorienting electronic noise, while Cedric shrieks and jabbers impressionistic nonsense. But what makes this such a ferocious debut, and a high-water mark they’d never reach again, is that the songs throw in one memorable singalong hook after another.

Phil Freeman

Suggestions
Painter’s Spring cover

Painter’s Spring

William Parker
Quartet (Santa Cruz) 1993 cover

Quartet (Santa Cruz) 1993

Anthony Braxton
Ours cover

Ours

Thumbscrew
Kabalaba cover

Kabalaba

Art Ensemble of Chicago
Town Hall 1972 cover

Town Hall 1972

Anthony Braxton
The Complete Wooden Nickel Albums cover

The Complete Wooden Nickel Albums

Styx
Phase One cover

Phase One

Art Ensemble of Chicago
Wildflowers: The New York Loft Jazz Sessions cover

Wildflowers: The New York Loft Jazz Sessions

Various Artists
East Broadway Run Down cover

East Broadway Run Down

Sonny Rollins
Ascension cover

Ascension

John Coltrane
Intellectuals Are the Shoeshine Boys of the Ruling Elite cover

Intellectuals Are the Shoeshine Boys of the Ruling Elite

Killdozer
The Anthony Braxton Project cover

The Anthony Braxton Project

Thumbscrew