The Mars Volta: Octahedron

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The Mars Volta is back with the eight-track Octahedron. They're calling it their &-;acoustic" album, which is only appropriate for them. It's a solid effort that's spilt down the middle with hits and misses. Though &-;Teflon" features some of the strongest vocals heard throughout he album, the musical arrangements sound like something lifted straight out of a space war video game. One of the weaker tracks, &-;With Twilight as My Guide" drags on for an unnecessary eight minutes and is followed by the only slightly better &-;Cotopaxi." The song is cluttered with shrill vocals and bad guitar riffs, and because everything else is so bad, lyrics such as &-;We'll be lucky if we eat tonight" are the song's highlight, but they suck too. &-;Desperate Graves" gets the album back in good standing with effortless guitars and flowing lyrics. But the true star of the album is the closing song, &-;Luciforms." It's pretty jazzy, but also pleasantly distorted, and closes the album with a fantastic guitar solo. (Warner Bros. Records)-

(3 out of 5 stars)