1	Roulette Dares (The Haunt Of)
2	Son Et Lumiere
3	Inertiatic ESP
4	Drunkship of Lanterns
5	Eriatarka
6	This Apparatus Must Be Unearthed
7	Televators
8	Take the Veil Cerpin Taxt

The Mars Volta

Landscape Tantrums

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Genre: Psychedelic Rock.
Released: 23/04/2021
Via Clouds Hill

Album Review: The Mars Volta – Landscape Tantrums

The Mars Volta were a force to be reckoned with within the psychedelic rock scene so the announcement of the La Realidad De Los Suenos Box-Set had fans chomping at the bit with the promise of raw, unfinished recordings from one of the groups most successful albums ‘De-Loused In The Comatorium’. It’s rare for a band to ever release these kinds of tracks so with the Boxset right around the corner, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to review them. So without further adieu, Here’s my review of ‘Landscape Tantrums’ By The Mars Volta. 

The first track on the record is ‘Roulette Dares (The Haunt Of)’ and the pre-production sound allows you to hear just how good the band actually were. A distinct lack of effects and mastering gives fans a closer look at the imperfections and technical aspect of the song. The level of skill on display throughout this unfinished track is nothing short of amazing. Following that is ‘Son Et Lumiere’. Hearing the difference from this recording compared to what was released back in 2003 gives u a scene of how much work goes into the final edit. Parts of this song sound unrecognisable from the original release and left me wondering how many of my favourite songs have versions that sound so different from the final product that I know and love!

‘Inertiatic ESP’ comes charging in and I have to say, the raw guitar tone is to die for. Nothing beats an authentic guitar tone without any manipulation and I think I prefer how it sounds on this unfinished recording to how it does on the 2003 release! That’s something I didn’t think I’d say. Y’know what they say, less is more. On the contrary, ‘Drunkship Of Lanterns’ Definitely got a massive improvement in post. This recording is the first one that really sounds “unfinished” and the instrumental parts kind of just merge into a mess of noise at parts throughout this one. It’s crazy how the finished project managed to rectify this!

The recording of ‘Eriatarka’ is something that I think any aspiring musician should check out. You can hear each melodic change and every slight detail that makes up this complex track. The melodies sound heavenly while the bassline will have you grooving your way to the end of the 6 and a half minute track. For my drummers out there, ‘This Apparatus Must Be Unearthed’ is a must listen to in its original form however this unmastered recording allows you to hear each accented note and the dynamic range that’s on display throughout this track. A masterclass that drummers will remember for years to come!

The penultimate track on this unique look at one of the bands most iconic albums is ‘Televators’. Hearing the acoustic guitar in its unedited state goes to show just how much is done to make these tracks sound the way they do on a finished record. You can hear every slide and every buzzing note that would otherwise be toned down to make for an easier listen. On the other hand ‘Take The Veil Cerpin Taxt’ is a perfect example of a great song needing minimal work for the final release as of this unfinished recording sounds just as good as the finished product for me. An excellent example of the band’s talent and technical ability. 

The release of these unfinished recordings left me a bit dumbfounded at first. I was half expecting a mess of unleveled and untuned tracks that I wouldn’t want to hear more than once however I was pleasantly surprised by tracks that are full of character and personality that is sometimes lost in mastering. I highly recommend these to any musician or aspiring producers as you can hear the before and after of a critically acclaimed album that broke into the UK Top 50 back in 2003!