Omar Rodriguez-Lopez is best known as the guitarist and main songwriter of the progressive rock band The Mars Volta. However, he is also a prolific solo artist where he experiments with a wide range of sounds. “Despair”, is one of two albums that was released in late January.
The album starts off with a very noisy introduction almost devoid of melody, which ironically sets the tone for the album. This noise continues into the second track, which is almost indistinguishable from the first, comprising of only avant-garde noise. I’m not able to tell which instruments are used. There is certainly no rhythm and I highly doubt a guitar (or any traditional instrument) is being used. By the time the third track ended, almost all of my faith in the album was already lost. Once again, it sounds essentially the same as the first two, basically being comprised of odd noises.
At this point, analyzing the tracks further is pointless. The whole forty minute runtime of “Despair” consists of essentially noise that never sounds different than what you were hearing a minute before. I am a fan of both ambient and experimental music, but “Despair” offers no redeeming qualities. The Mars Volta is known for utilizing noisy sections in their songs to serve as interludes between different movements, and it’s possible to imagine this album as one of those interludes, except 40 minutes long and without variation.
I have to give credit to this guy, it take some guts to release an album practically completely devoid of rhythm and melody. That being said, there are literally no redeeming qualities to this album unless forty minutes of unchanging noise is your thing. Even if you’re a fan of Omar’s previous work (such as me), I strongly recommend avoiding this album, it’s 40 minutes of your life you won’t be able to take back.
Rating: 1/5
- In einem Jahr mit 13 Minden [2:19]
- Liebe ist kälter als der Tod [2:28]
- Satansbraten [3:20]
- Angst essen Seele auf [2:04]
- Martha [1:17]
- Rio das Mortes [6:14]
- Warnung vor einer heilgen Nutte [1:56]
- Chinesisches Roulette [14:38]
- Lola [1:33]
- Angst vor der Angst [3:07]
April 23, 2009 at 8:43 am |
your supposed to listen to it backwards.
also, it only works with the knowledge of where it comes from, and why etc, then it gains a kind of power.
like free jazz for example, its not nescarily something a person would chose to listen to to relax to or anything.
April 23, 2009 at 4:50 pm |
If you’re supposed to listen to it backwards, then why wasn’t it released like that? You’re right – if I knew more about the album maybe I would appreciate it more. But I judged the album based off what I know of it and how much I appreciated it. I have no problem with abstract forms of music, but if they fail to interest me or give any enjoyment at all, I’ll call it out for that.