Omar and Cedric’s top priorities are always The Mars Volta and their vision for the band—a vision that can be stubborn and contrarian. “When we started The Mars Volta, we were anticipating all the hate,” says Cedric. “People wanted more At the Drive-In. But we’ve always had very thick skin with that kind of stuff.

”True enough—artistic bravery (or simple restlessness) may be the defining characteristic of the Cedric & Omar team. They gleefully test their audiences. Cedric cites notorious audience baiters Andy Kaufman and Suicide as influences. “Those stories about Suicide opening for the Cars or Elvis Costello and causing riots because people hated them so much—that’s inspiring,” says Cedric. “I wish I were in that band.”

One of their recent shakeups included the replacement of popular drummer John Theodore. The Mars Volta don’t question Theodore’s talent, but they were losing him to a digital world. “Video games are cool and all,” says Cedric, “but there’s this whole other world out there.” The new drummer, Thomas Prigden, seems to fully embrace real life; he beams behind the kit like a kid with his favorite toy. At least part of the joy now evident in the Mars Volta originates in Prigden’s heart.

Lineup changes often draw objections from fans. The fact that The Mars Volta have never experimented themselves out of a job is more surprising. This is partly because they’re not always contrary; they’re not always experimental. The Mars Volta like to push at the sides of conventional music, but they like their regular old rock and roll, too. “It’d be boring if it was only experimental music,” says Omar. “You gotta have a good Slade, or Big Star, or Badfinger.” It may be that the war between those two impulses is what provides the backbone for the band’s powerful and precise sound.

Critics often compare the band to Pink Floyd, Yes, and Led Zeppelin; The Mars Volta acknowledge those influences. But the difference between that set of influences and The Mars Volta is like the difference between a doll and a child. You can see how one leads you to think of the other, but if you can’t tell them apart, you’re in trouble. “People are constantly trying to relate it to the colors that they know,” says Omar. “It’s like we know: blue, green, yellow—Zeppelin, Floyd, Yes. People stick to that, and they say, ‘Yeah, that’s what it is, that’s what it is,’ because they don’t want to invest the time.”

Yet the legendary leaders of Yes and Led Zeppelin have both tried to crack The Mars Volta’s code. “If you ask [Yes keyboardist] Rick Wakeman, he has no way of describing what we are,” says Cedric. “If the main member of Yes couldn’t even say what it is, and it sounded like chaos to him, we’re on the right track.” As for Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page, “He said, ‘It’s wonderful sound. I can’t put my finger on it. I don’t think you sound anything like us.”

The Bedlam in Goliath has already sparked confusion in some quarters. Spin Magazine offered a brief, uninterested review, the most telling statement of which was that “their context has always been obvious.” The reviewer explains that context as prog. This is a categorization that has plagued The Mars Volta since their inception. It isn’t necessarily wrong; the problem is that progressive rock is an all-encompassing term, ultimately meaning “not simple,” or “features long songs.” But that doesn’t get any closer to explaining The Mars Volta, and it’s usually applied in a dismissive way: it’s just prog, you see, and that’s already been done. Lack of originality is an odd complaint to lob at this band.

Live in Burlington, Vermont to kick off the Bedlam tour, The Mars Volta blast a heavily bearded crowd with a set equally drawn from their four studio albums. The material from The Bedlam in Goliath is staggered throughout, all of it working well. The show is seamless. Their nearly three-hour set passes in an instant. Really, they owe their survival to being a beastly live band.

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Posted to Music Features on Monday, April 21st, 2008 by Justin.