Advantages: Groundbreaking, graceful, magestic, intelligent, complex...everything
Disadvantages: None in my point of view, maybe a little too strange for some

...The Mars Volta are certainly an odd bunch. Formed after the break-up of post-modern rock outfit At The Drive-In, TMV create a strangely hypnotic, and oddly magical brand of music, often mixing graceful rhythms with outright noise. And yet, upon listening, you understand why this band is becoming more popular by the day. It is simply because they mix so many genres of modern music together, to create a blend that many will enjoy. This album, "De-Loused In The Comatorium", is actually an album written around a short story by the lead singer, Cedric Bixler Zavala. To give a rough outline, the story tells of a man named Cerpin Taxt, who tries to kill himself by overdosing on morphine. If you are interested to know more about this strange tale, Wikipedia provides excellent information for the new listener, as does the band's website... Read review

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Advantages: moments of truely classic music
Disadvantages: many may regard as a hard listen

...i am currently listening to frances the mute as i write this review. upon initially listening to frances the mute i was disapointed. the first thing i noticed is that there was 5 tracks, and secondly that some tracks were acompanied by several minutes of pure noise at either side. after i had listened to mars voltas previous releases almost their death it was somewhat of a disapointment. But from the outset this album is nothing short of outstanding. Cedric Bixler argueably has the best voice in rock music in the world today, omar rodriguez lopez plays some of the most experimental, soulful, atonal and melodic guitar iv'e heard for a good few years. The drummer john theodore is something else, in the live setting he shines as a powerhouse in a complete shower of genres from jazz through to salsa, punk, rock, dance and world... Read review

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Advantages: A near flawless and unbeliveabley original album
Disadvantages: May be too crazy and deep for some

...At The Drive In were an incredible band, not only did they make fantastic music, but they could also dance around like mad chickens while they played it and that takes talent. So when they broke up it wasn't surprising that people were upset, having just released their best album, RELATIONSHIP OF COMAND, a year earlier. One minute their future looked so bright and the next afro sporting front man Cedric Bixler Zavala was kicking the crap out of his fans for crowd surfing and puking up heroine on their heads. Luckily though, the death of At The Drive In did lead to the birth of two more equally great bands. One was the relatively sane Sparta, the other, the completely insane Mars Volta. No points for guessing which one the vocalist joined then….. Bixler Zavala obviously hasn't gotten any saner between leaving At The Drive... Read review

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Advantages: Experimental, yet accessible.
Disadvantages: Well I guess you might end up spending too much time listening to it...

...The Mars Volta's first full-length album, and definitely a triumph in it's own right. Though not as perfect as it's sequel, Frances The Mute, it is a far more accessible album- blending the post-hardcore style of at.the.drive-in with the new blood and influence of The Mars Volta we know today. Music-wise, this album is brilliant. This is perhaps a more effect-heavy album than it's successor, but who can tell with all the layers in Frances The Mute? Anyway, that's not all that's different. Omar Rodriguez (singer) blasts us with a very different voice than he did in at.the.drive-in, somewhere between the raw hardcore style of yore and the more classically-trained sound he has developed in recent albums. The album starts softly with 'Son et Lumiere', building in this intro to the sudden start of 'Inertiatic Esp' (something they like... Read review

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Advantages: Some really original work, emotional and thought-provoking.
Disadvantages: No real concept, wearing.

....e. one track at a time, rather than listening to the whole album, which I found wearing. While I would recommend those new to the Mars Volta to start with De-Loused, this is a welcome addition to any progressive rock collection.... Read review

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Advantages: Brilliant, cutting edge and original
Disadvantages: Hard to get into

...De-loused in the Comatorium was an album written about the death of a friend several years before, so was justifiably dark and somewhat eerie. Frances the Mute is also written about the death of a friend, but in this case it is a far more recent thing, and the music reflects this. It ably portrays bitterness and desperation, with moments of hope and longing (in the form of Flea from Red Hot Chili Peppers on the trumpet). The Mars Volta do not believe in silences between tracks, so they link them up almost seemlessly, to create one very long musical masterpiece. The album breaks down into 5 clear sections: Cygnus... Vismus Cygnus: This starts off in a Baroque type style, with a slow guitar, built up with sound effects. It suddenly changes time and key signature, to become much faster and the words less distinguishable. The first... Read review

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Advantages: Tasty Excellent Combinations Of Ingredients And Inexpensive
Disadvantages: Small

...before i believed that the mars company products were to sicilly and i could never finish a whole mars bar. Intill now i found a new product made by the mars company called the mars delight i hesitated whether i should by it or not but then i thought that i should give it a try. the mars delight costs around 30 pence to around 50 pence depending on your retailer. the chocolate bar is made into two sections the chocolate is shaped as a twirly shape and looks like a spring but is much thicker the outer shell of the chocolate is a shiny chocolate coated shell then as you work your way in it becomes like a chocolate rippley effect followed by a little bit of caramel this combination is brilliant the combinations just melt alltogether and enfuse together to make a unique taste the good things about this chocolate bar is that it is quite... Read review

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Advantages: Can be used as a weapon against attackers
Disadvantages: Doesn't do a very good job of that either

...Normally at this stage of the op I would have surfed around the net to find some interesting and historical facts about the Mars bar. But alas as there seems to be very little and even the web site for the company is sparse on anything that would be relevant to this op. In fact I would go further in saying even though it is a decent enough Flash site is really is quite pants and seemed to be more concerned with attracting employees rather than give us information on their products. Also unless you investigated further into the site at first glance you would not even associate it with the candy bar that this op is about and would be mistaken for thinking that some other company had hijacked the domain name in order to increase their hits ( www.mars.com for anyone who can be bothered to look though believe me it just ain’t worth... Read review

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Advantages: A taste of heaven!
Disadvantages: Calorie laden devil!

...“A Mars a day helps you work rest and play”, was the Mars catchphrase I remember when growing up. Now though you would be more likely to see the slogan “Pleasure you can’t measure”, as in 2002, Mars dropped the slogan they had been using for 40 years as a result of market research, and a decline in consumer sales. Either way, Mars bars have always been a favourite of mine, regardless of the "add 2 inches to the waistline every time I glance at a Mars Bar" amount of calories each bar contains! *What is a Mars Bar?* Well for the few of you who don’t know what a Mars Bar is, then this bits for you…A Mars Bar is a Milk Chocolate bar with a soft nougat and caramel centre. The bar contains 33% soft nougat and 27% caramel. Please note however that a Mars Bar does contain traces of peanuts, and is made with egg whites. *And... Read review

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Advantages: Satisfying and tasty
Disadvantages: not that exciting!

...I was in the local sweetshop today, busy Mum that I am I had skipped lunch and was feeling hungry. Watching my children make their selections from the small packets and mini-bars I decided that I deserved a treat too. What masterpiece of confection would satisfy my hunger, what product would silence the rumblings in my tummy. My eyes skimmed the shelves and my brain registered the chocolate bars the trendy young things, old favourites and healthier options screamed for my attention, but my eyes fell on the most rugged and understated of the lot. In its smart black paper and with its classic red and gold logo, I knew that only one thing would satisfy my stress induced hunger, I needed a Mars bar! There is something familiar and comforting about a Mars bar, the delicious combination of soft caramel, tender nougat and thick milk... Read review

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