At work the other day, I coworker and I were chatting about music. He is a self-described “Deadhead”: a hardcore fan of the Grateful Dead. After he shared some songs with me, I wanted to return the favor and recommend some tracks from one of my favorite bands: The Mars Volta. They are a prog-rock band from El Paso, Texas who came into the spotlight in the early 2000s. I offered up a variety of suggestions ranging from “mild” to “wild” and figured I might as well share my thoughts with a wider audience. Plus, this gives me a good reason to get back into blogging here in 2025!

My Recommendations Link to heading

Here’s a good intro to The Mars Volta. Wax Simulacra is their most popular song (it won a Grammy). I’d say this goes “medium” compared to their other stuff: some tracks are softer and others are harder. As far as “softer” goes, Televators was the first song that allowed me to appreciate the band. Prior to hearing it, I just thought that their music was chaotic noise. Once I gave them more time, I started to think of it more as organized noise! There is a lot going on in some of the harder tracks.

Speaking of which, I think Metatron is one of their most intense (Goliath is another good example). It goes hard from start to finish with lots of twists and turns. This track definitely warrants some nice headphones + high volume. All of their tracks warrant nice headphones, honesty. Lastly, if you want a longer “gotta focus and write some code” experience. I like this version of their album Amputechture which has been EQ’d with punchier drums.

Overall, I’d say that The Mars Volta is an acquired taste. I wasn’t initially a fan but now they are probably my #1 or #2 band. They broke up for a while but are back together and making new music. They even have a new album coming in April, I’ve heard!

Wrapping Up Link to heading

If you are on the hunt for new music and enjoy prog-rock, check out some of the tracks I linked. Then, if you don’t enjoy any of them, no worries! If you do like them, however, then we should get a beer (coffee works, too).