19 Sank and 6 Drowned

In the wake of The Mars Volta's demise, it's seems necessary that I finally break the seal on my silence and post a new blog. "Nineteen Sank, While Six Would Swim" is the title of the second movement in the "Frances the Mute" suite after all, so to allow this to go un-noted would be nothing less than a coded, passive-aggressive death announcement for my blog, something I'm just not willing to do (at least not yet). But I'll be entirely honest with you, I'm not sure how to say what I want to say, so I'll instead say what I need to say...

The Mars Volta changed me. I've loved music my whole life, but even the best of us lose faith from time to time, and as sad as it makes me to say, for probably the last decade, I've lost a lot of faith. But no matter how cynical or jaded I've become (or at least felt), every time a new Mars Volta record was released, I was reminded that I can still be amazed, that I haven't heard it all, that there's still beauty and purity and insanity lurking out there, hiding in small crevices, back alleys, and the darkest recesses of the mind. I've been reminded that I can still be surprised and that music still means something to me. I was reminded that Rock music can still move mountains, and that there is still wonder in the world. And so, for as sad as it makes me to know The Mars Volta are no more, it makes me infinitely more happy to know that The Mars Volta were.

I will miss the anticipation of a new record, but I will relish the wealth of tunage these gentlemen offered up for the last 12 years. Now if only there was a way to convince ORL to reissue De-Loused on record so I could have the entire full-length, studio catalog on vinyl without having to drop $200, my life would essentially be complete.