I didn't like The Mars Volta the first time I heard them, but they definitely grew on me. It's essentially a contemporary post-rock band in the vein of Led Zeppelin, except without the dated sound. It has a punkish tinge to it, but not overwhelmingly so. Every song here is just incredible (see "Drunkenship Of Lanterns", especially) - the musicianship is out of this world and sounds extremely difficult to perform let alone think up. The singer (whose name I can't remember at this time) has an incredibly unique and amazing voice that some people these days are even copying (see The Music for the worst offender)! He has great personality and charm. Lyrically the album is incredibly hard to make out, but I get the feeling that you're not really supposed to care about that part anyway. It's all about the sound and the musicianship, and they definitely succeed in that department. If you like technically engaging and satisfying music or post-rock then "De-Loused in the Comatorium" is just an AWESOME album to get (it also makes good background music for when you're hanging out with friends)! The only complaint I could possibly give about this album is that the cover art is so dumb-looking! Also, I don't think this is for everyone. Still, for genre fans, this is absolutely recommended!

Highlights include:
the entire album!

this album actually changed my life and the way i view music forever. the album should be listened to all the way through at first, just like a movie, and then you can skip to your favourite parts afterwards.

i have heard some people say this album has too many dead spots in between songs and doesnt flow, but the soft instrumentals and breaks all serve a purpose, as the mars volta write their music based on real life events.

the sheer brilliance of the musicianship blows me away, some of the time signitures are unrecognisable, but yet it fits and flows beautifully.

i have also heard people saying that flea plays bass on this album, this isnt true, flea actually plays the trumpet which is flea's original instrument.

the electricity of songs such as inertiatic esp and roulette dares (the haunt of) mix very well with the amazing ballad Televators.

cedric's voice on this album compared to ATDI is awesome. who knew he had such a huge range and could sound so clean compared to the rough edgy punk vocals in ATDI.

i would give this album a 6 out of 5 if i could...

I preordered this CD two years ago. I am always looking for new music, and I loved the powerful vocals of ATDI so I took a gamble and bought this CD on the basis that the best parts of that band were returning. When it came, I was suprized. This was not what I was expecting, but still remained some of the most unique and innovative music I'd ever heard. But it was so muich so that it saw limited playing time in my regular rotation. I lost my origional copy and essentially forgot about TMV. Then I got a new one for Christmas and my god has my oppinion changed. This is absolute brilliance that cannot be ful;y realized at first. It literally took two years for the greatness of this album to penetrate my psyche. Buy this, listen, freak out, dismiss it and return when your brain has settled to find true musical perfection.