More press bits on Bedlam (a long one)

And, if you haven’t got The Bedlam In Goliath yet, click here for information on how to obtain it.

So…the initial dillema of where John exactly is on the album hasn’t been exactly solved, as it’s more complex than it looks like. Here’s what Omar Rodriguez-Lopez said to Harp magazine; which will hopefully clear everything up for people wondering where John is on The Bedlam In Goliath:

“John’s our secret weapon,” Rodriguez-Lopez says. “He’s always willing to allow me to utilize him in whatever way we want. On this record, he learned and memorized, down to the nuances and the odd way of picking, certain solos that I did, and turned them into parts. He would learn an entire solo in like 40 minutes and then double it, perfectly. That’s a sound you can’t get by just stereo-imaging a solo; it’s a different hand playing the guitar. So on the record, generally when you hear a guitar solo on the left, it’s me. On the right, the same exact solo is being played, but it’s John.”

I’m trying to find volunteers with good hearing sense and guitar knowledge to haunt down and list all of John’s contributions to the album, hope that happens soon. John’s playing was also. recognised by many people with good ears on the track that appears on the Japanese edition of TBiG – a cover of Nick Drake’s Things Behind The Sun.

And here’s a somewhat negative bit focusing on John from a review, written by David Hyland, for KCRA:

It’s no wonder then that the band’s maddening musical zigzags have attracted the Red Hot Chili Peppers eccentric guitarist John Frusciante. The screwball axe slinger sat in for most of the Mars Volta’s last record and now stands in as a semi-member of the group. One expecting to hear Frusciante’s soulful fretwork on “The Bedlam In Goliath” are in for disappointment. His playing is like all the sounds that main composer Rodriguez-Lopez pulls and distorts from the band’s toolbox, whose only purpose is to serve the greater whole.

A couple of more (positive) reviews on John’s playing on TBiG can be found below.

The Bedlam in Goliath is simply loud-loud-loud, virtually every song played at maximum volume and tempo. But, in fact, instead of being wearisome or exhausting, it’s an oddly refreshing album. The band gets closer to its roots in thrash and funk-metal than ever before, avoids using electronics except where they can make a big impact, and finally lets semi-permanent guest John Frusciante occupy a readily discernible role.
From allmusic.com, read the whole review here

The Mars Volta, led by a pair of feral space cats, takes its free-wheeling prog-rock fusion to trippy extremes on an album with a back story Stephen King would admire. Guitarist/composer Omar Rodriguez-Lopez found “The Soothsayer,” a Ouija-type board, at a curio shop in Jerusalem and gave it to singer/lyricist Cedric Bixler-Zavala. The sometimes-inscrutable duo created “Bedlam” based on the dark saga of infidelity and murder that emerged from the device, which also allegedly jinxed the project with a variety of bad tidings, from a studio flood to an engineer’s departure for mental distress. When the messages turned threatening, Rodriguez buried the board in a secret location. The outcome? This volatile collection rocks and roars with tense, dense freakouts. The Latin shades unfortunately have faded, and excess tends to swamp melody, yet “Bedlam” with its cranked-up funk and John Frusciante’s guitar blitzes, is one haunted madhouse worth committing to.
From Courier Post Online

With the nine-member Mars Volta at his disposal, Rodriguez-Lopez, also the band’s producer and composer, makes the most of the talent around him, from the soulful jive of keyboardist Isaiah Ikey Owens to the bombastic drums of newcomer Thomas Pridgen to the uncompromisingly intricate guitar work of John Frusciante. Rodriguez-Lopez’s production touch gives one the image of a mad scientist arbitrarily turning knobs and pushing buttons on the sound board, experimenting with the most outlandish sounds.
From Montana Kamin, read the whole review here

John Frusciante, the Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist credited here as a member of “The Mars Volta Group,” brings his usual excellence to the album. Talk about a career renaissance – this guy’s only gotten better with age.
From Collegio Online, read the whole review here.

Rodriguez-Lopez doesn’t play as much lead guitar as he used to. Rather, he played the role of conductor/producer to craft an album that was recorded in about a three-week span. Guitarist John Frusciante of Red Hot Chili Peppers fame takes a more prominent role, adding to the deliciously deep grooves. He adds to the tension the band hints at in their other albums, but really masters on “Bedlam.”
From Daily Orange, read the whole review here

You get quickness and dynamic from making adventurously set breaks, in which the band acts human at points – to make a long story short. anyway, this extravagates willingly and dedicatively to total ecstasy live. Again TMV gets support fom their fan John Frusciante, the Jimi Hendrix of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, who surrenders to psychedelic guitar licks up to the rings of Saturn.
(From Der Standard, read the whole article here)

The vocal accomplishments of Cedric are nearly as captivating as the musical masterwork from the rest of the Volta, including the oft-expected guitar contributions from Red Hot Chili Pepper, John Frusciante.
From Newsrecord, read the whole review here

And, just for the heck of it, this is what the Cedric Bixler-Zavala said about RHCP in one of the most recent issues of Kerrang. Sure he likes them much more than Robert Plant does:

They’re the older brothers we grew up watching on TV and listening to sometimes. Then we got to meet them and understood that they were like our older brothers, but the coolest kind of older brothers that were in on shit that you know you were in on as well. In 1989 there was no other band mentioning Funkadelic and The Germs in one breath. People have to remember those cats had their picture taken by Andy Warhol, it’s how deep in history they are. You can’t just write them off because they make pop music now!”

Many thanks to skonvolto, Jay and Melissa for much-needed clarifications, Deni for the back cover scan and Kerstin for help with translating the Der Standard review bit. You’re all great guys and girls. 🙂

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