The Mars Volta - The Mars Volta (September 16, 2022) Album • Page 45

Yeah, he was.

 

I guess it was then the second reunion they kinda breezed past the first or just condensed it for time

 

Fantastic doc and really happy with it. Will definitely buy it physical

 

So I recognize this is gonna be a minority view in here but I have mixed feelings about the doc, especially the treatment of ATDI ending but really how that band is discussed throughout the film. This is not even just “the Omar and Cedric story” like someone else said but really kind of an Omar memoir in video form. And ATDI was a Cedric/Jim thing at the start, full stop. So I get why Omar specifically would outgrow that band musically or personally but it felt like there was a conflation of that desire for musical growth with some personal bitterness that I did not enjoy at all.

Now we do get more Cedric perspective towards the end of the film, especially about the godawful Scientology shit, but almost everything else is all told from Omars pov imo. And it felt really heavy handed at times too with how the director presented Jim stuff or the temporary split with Omar. Like yea Jim seems like a dick but the two guys losing their minds living in the studio where they’re recording Relationship and smoking coke all night probably weren’t super great to be around either. And I don’t think Omar was fun to work with in TMV either—and his voice over about “all these hired guns don’t understand what it takes to make something great” was fucking corny as hell and showed zero self awareness lol

Now don’t get me wrong, I like Omar’s point of view a whole lot of the time and most of the doc was pretty fucking cool. Given how oblique the lyrics of his and Cedric’s various projects can be it was cool to hear how much their politics informed the choices they made with their art. Obviously I knew that in some sense but it’s different hearing Omar talk directly about it. The early life stuff was really interesting, although heartbreaking (but not surprising) to learn how Omar’s family was persecuted and his whole getting hooked on smack in Baltimore at 17 story. And then the early TMV stuff thru Frances was so great, even the tough parts about Jeremy.

I would still love a more critically oriented doc about ATDI and TMV really from like 1993-2008 basically but this ain’t it. That being said, the amount of cool old footage here is astonishing. I suppose they weren’t going to let that out into the world without being able to control the narrative of the product. But some of this shit just made me roll my eyes so hard man.

 

Omar and Cedric have always tended to shit on whatever project they’re not currently working on so I wasn’t surprised to hear the ATDI stuff. Really curious what actually went on between Jim and Omar that splintered the ATDI reunion in 2016. Jim seems like a really passionate guy and has always come off as nice but the doc tries to make him seem like a total sack of shit.

 

I have so much respect for these guys. Omar for being proud of his heritage and wanting to incorporate that into his music and not just confirm to being an American rock band. Cedric for owning up to how horrible the Scientology stint was. How hard working and talented they are In general.

that being said, Omar does seem very hard to work with, but heyyyyyy artists.

I’d watch an 8 hour version of this

 

Yeah agreed with all those points but I’m sure Omar realized how lame that “hired guns” dialogue was and did show the stuff about him being a dick to Jon Theodore and Thomas. He clearly knew he was being a douche and put that in there that’s how I took it.

 

That said yeah I would ABSOLUTELY want a whole doc about ATDI and from all perspectives

 

I want to see that doc so bad. Will have to check if it's available in my country later and probably save it for tomorrow night then.

 

Also it was horrific but not surprising how heartless the cops were about Jeremy’s death.

 

Watched the doc a couple nights ago. Great stuff, and I have many of the same thoughts others have already posted

One thing it prompted me to do was check out the Bosnian Rainbows record. I wasn’t paying much attention to new Omar stuff at that point but man, it’s really up my alley. Reminds me of the music Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Warpaint put out around that time

 

Bosnian rainbows is great. Also the Clouds Hill tapes are amazing. So peaceful

 

Just finished the doc and it was such a fascinating insight into their career. I'll echo everything that's been said. Seeing Jim get painted this much in a bad light makes me wonder how differently he views his partnership with Omar, Cedric & co. I don't see that happening but I also would be interested in an ATDI doc with everyone's POV.

Loved getting an in depth look at Omar's upbringings, how he ended up meeting Cedric and also how both of them made it their mission with The Mars Volta to honor their roots, just to paraphrase what was said at some point.

I came into The Mars Volta late by the way so I wasn't familiar with the early lore and Jeremy's crucial part in their inception. His parts were the ones that got me the most. He seemed like such a good guy and his passing truly made me feel for them. It must've been so hard to keep going at that point, after everything they had already been through and having just started from scratch again etc.

The last part rushing through 2009-2022 took me by surprise though. It felt like it just jumped from one event to the next until the credits. I wonder how much more unseen footage they must have, as it's already wild they were able to compile as much as they've shown here.

I think I'm going to go through a huge discography run of everything they've done, down to the most obscure projects. They've had such a big influence on me over the years, and I'm still mad at myself for missing At The Drive-In back in 2016 and 2018, naively thinking they'd stay active and come back afterwards, so I truly hope the stars somehow align and I make it to a The Mars Volta show further down the line.

 

Oh and I need the full sets of the pro-shot The Mars Volta and At The Drive-In shows previewed. The snippets are such a tease.

 

That widow performance? HOT DAMN

 

Enjoying the doc, only got halfway through last night. Wish there were some video of them actually sitting down/talking vs just the voice over. But all in all it's a good watch.

 

Finally got around to watching this. It was OK, honestly left me a tad bored at points, but I was also watching it on a plane with my cell. The ATDI parts had me more excited than Volta. Totally forgot about Antemasque.

 

Watched it last night. Crazy how much Scientology fucks with people and seeing how Cedric was makes sense why the 2012 reunion felt so odd. Omar's mom just passing and Cedric being knee deep in Scientology makes it such an awkward reunion. Glad they got their second chance later on, even without Jim in the fold. Would like to see them reconcile with Jim at some point and do one more ATDI with him, but I don't see that happening.

 

I enjoyed the heck outta the ATDI NYC reunion show. But at the time I was crushed because they cancelled the show right before it started. Was in venue so excited and Omar walked out explaining Cedric wasnt feeling well and they had to postpone the show. That was a long 8 months before they made it up, but thankfully they did and I got to see them.

 

I traveled 400 miles for the DC show and this happened. Finally caught them a year or so later at Cleveland and it was a 10/10 show

 

The Mars Volta - Lucro sucio; Los ojos del vacio (2025) • forum.chorus.fm