The Bedlam in Goliath
Encyclopedia
The Bedlam in Goliath is the fourth full-length studio album
by American
progressive rock
band The Mars Volta
. It was released on January 29, 2008, and January 26, 2008 in Australia through Universal Motown Records
. The album debuted at #3 on the Billboard 200
, becoming the band's highest charting release after selling over 54,000 copies in its opening week.
Produced by guitarist
Omar Rodríguez-López
with engineer Robert Carranza, the album's creation process was subject to "bad luck controversy" after the band's bizarre experience with a ouija
that Rodriguez-Lopez bought as a gift for Cedric Bixler-Zavala
. "Wax Simulacra
" was released on November 19, 2007 as the album's first single, coupled with a cover version
of "Pulled to Bits", originally by Siouxsie and the Banshees. Vinyl editions of the album include a ouija inside the gatefold, claimed to be the band's own take on the board they previously owned. "Wax Simulacra" won at the 51st Grammy Awards
for Best Hard Rock Performance.
Having previously contributed the artwork to the 2006 release of Amputechture
, Jeff Jordan was again brought in to handle the illustrations for the album, creating 11 original paintings to coincide with the theme of The Bedlam in Goliath, as well as including a piece from his own gallery. The piece used for the cover is entitled "Agadez".
, as it quickly became the band's post-show ritual. Dubbed "The Soothsayer", the board revealed stories, gave names and made demands, as the band was contacted by three different people who appeared in the form of one, who was then referred to as "Goliath". The more the band interacted with "The Soothsayer", otherworldly coincidences began plaguing the band's experience writing and recording The Bedlam in Goliath: Blake Fleming
—their current drummer at the time — quit mid-tour and left the band with financial troubles; Bixler-Zavala wound up needing surgery performed on his foot due to the shoes he had been wearing, forcing him to relearn how to walk post-surgery; audio tracks sporadically and literally disappeared from the studio's harddrives; Rodriguez-Lopez's home studio flooded and was subject to multiple power outages; and the album's original engineer went through a nervous breakdown, leaving behind all previous work with no notes as to where anything was. The engineer who quit stated to Rodriguez-Lopez: "I'm not going to help you make this record. You're trying to do something very bad with this record, you're trying to make me crazy and you're trying to make people crazy."
Rodriguez-Lopez was on the brink of starting the recording from scratch, but eventually kept on after recruiting Robert Carranza as a replacement engineer, along with assistance from Lars Stalfors and Isaiah Abolin. Midway through the recording sessions, Rodriguez-Lopez broke "The Soothsayer" in half and buried it in an undisclosed location as an attempt to undo the curse and halt the unforeseen tragedies. Rodriguez-Lopez swore never to give away the location of the burial, and also asked the band not to speak of it again during the remainder of the album's production.
The song "Soothsayer" contains field recordings that Omar recorded in Jerusalem. The recordings are a mixture from the Jewish quarter, the Muslim Quarter
and the Christian Quarter
.
, New York
, song material for The Bedlam in Goliath dates back to April 2006 when demos were first written. Without a stable studio drummer after the three consecutive losses of Jon Theodore
, Blake Fleming
and Deantoni Parks
in a single year, the band was introduced to the 24-year-old Thomas Pridgen
, whose youthful presence—as described by Bixler-Zavala—had given The Mars Volta new life. Rodriguez-Lopez worked with Rich Costey
to finish the album in a three-week stretch, assisted by Shawn Michael Sullivan and Claudius Mittendorfer as editors.
In an interview, Carranza described the recording process for The Bedlam in Goliath stating that no more than three takes an hour were recorded, as a way to soak in what was recorded and to hear the differences, which in turn improved the general mood and atmosphere of the album's creation. Elaborating on the method, Carranza stated that "when van Gogh
was around he wasn't just painting, painting, painting. I'm sure he took a step back once in a while. You should do the same when you're recording."
The string quintet on "Soothsayer" was recorded on Wednesday, June 6, 2007 at Hyde Street Studios in San Francisco.
Eventually the band decided in favor of Wax Simulacra
as the first single:
into the lyrics as a "protective skin" to protect the band.
The album ultimately serves as an attempt to artistically reverse their perceived bad luck by "setting traps" for the listeners to use as a way to undo what "The Soothsayer" had brought upon the band. To aid the concept, vinyl editions of the album contain the band's own version of the ouija inside the gatefold.
s were posted on The Mars Volta's official website, depicting the band in various and sometimes humorous situations.
was available. Presently, solving the puzzle no longer gives a promotional code for the free download.
Goliath: The Soothsayer was released via Amazon
through January 2–29, and later made publicly available at Newgrounds
on January 29, 2008. Developed by Ben Leffler of Leffler Web Design, the game is described as a horror/supernatural "point 'n' click".
, promoted with flyers that featured exclusive The Bedlam in Goliath artwork illustrated by Jeff Jordan. The band would then announce a following January club tour in 2008 where they would then debut new material from the album for the first time prior to its release.
that resembled a piece of a ouija board. While primarily containing The Bedlam in Goliath in its entirety, the flash drive unlocked a variety of bonus material on the 29th of each month throughout 2008. The content included webisodes, concert footage, limited edition wallpaper, b-sides and unreleased tracks.
of The Mars Volta's cover of Pink Floyd
's "Candy and a Currant Bun
" was given away with purchase of the album. The VinylDisc is a new format that has a digital side and a vinyl side. One side plays in a CD player, while the other side plays on a turntable. The vinyl side contains the Pink Floyd cover "Candy and a Currant Bun", while the CD side contains the audio track for "Candy and a Currant Bun" as well as the "Wax Simulacra" video as enhanced content. It also comes with a removable foam spindle insert to switch between CD & vinyl.
' pet Chimpanzee
. The double LP is half red and half black.
and Cedric Bixler-Zavala
.
Studio album
A studio album is an album made up of tracks recorded in the controlled environment of a recording studio. A studio album contains newly written and recorded or previously unreleased or remixed material, distinguishing itself from a compilation or reissue album of previously recorded material, or...
by American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
progressive rock
Progressive rock
Progressive rock is a subgenre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s as part of a "mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility." John Covach, in Contemporary Music Review, says that many thought it would not just "succeed the pop of...
band The Mars Volta
The Mars Volta
The Mars Volta is a Grammy award winning American progressive rock band from El Paso, Texas. Founded in 2001 by guitarist Omar Rodríguez-López and vocalist Cedric Bixler-Zavala, the band incorporates various influences including progressive rock, krautrock, jazz fusion, Latin American music, and...
. It was released on January 29, 2008, and January 26, 2008 in Australia through Universal Motown Records
Universal Motown Records
Universal Motown Records was a record label that operated as a division of Universal Motown Republic Group. It was the contemporary incarnation of the legendary Motown Records label, and the "urban" half of UMRG, although there was some rock artists on the label as well.Changes were made at...
. The album debuted at #3 on the Billboard 200
Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
, becoming the band's highest charting release after selling over 54,000 copies in its opening week.
Produced by guitarist
Guitarist
A guitarist is a musician who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselves on the guitar while singing.- Versatility :The guitarist controls an extremely...
Omar Rodríguez-López
Omar Rodriguez-Lopez
Omar Alfredo Rodríguez-López is a multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, producer, writer, actor and film director who was born in Bayamón, Puerto Rico...
with engineer Robert Carranza, the album's creation process was subject to "bad luck controversy" after the band's bizarre experience with a ouija
Ouija
The Ouija board also known as a spirit/fire key board or talking board, is a flat board marked with the letters of the alphabet, the numbers 0-9, the words "yes", "no", "hello" and "goodbye", and other symbols and words are sometimes also added to help personalize the board...
that Rodriguez-Lopez bought as a gift for Cedric Bixler-Zavala
Cedric Bixler-Zavala
Cedric Bixler-Zavala is a Grammy Award-winning Mexican-American musician known for his work as frontman and lyricist of the progressive rock band The Mars Volta, and previously as frontman and occasional guitarist of the post-hardcore punk group At the Drive-In...
. "Wax Simulacra
Wax Simulacra
"Wax Simulacra" is a single from the album The Bedlam in Goliath by The Mars Volta. The single debuted November 18, 2007 on San Francisco's Live 105 FM...
" was released on November 19, 2007 as the album's first single, coupled with a cover version
Cover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
of "Pulled to Bits", originally by Siouxsie and the Banshees. Vinyl editions of the album include a ouija inside the gatefold, claimed to be the band's own take on the board they previously owned. "Wax Simulacra" won at the 51st Grammy Awards
51st Grammy Awards
The 51st Annual Grammy Awards took place at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, CA on February 8, 2009. Robert Plant and Alison Krauss were the biggest winners of the night, jointly winning five awards including Album of the Year and Record of the Year...
for Best Hard Rock Performance.
Having previously contributed the artwork to the 2006 release of Amputechture
Amputechture
-Notes:#"Vicarious Atonement" is the theory that the atonement of Jesus Christ was legal in God's eyes and that Jesus died in the place of the humans that sinned....
, Jeff Jordan was again brought in to handle the illustrations for the album, creating 11 original paintings to coincide with the theme of The Bedlam in Goliath, as well as including a piece from his own gallery. The piece used for the cover is entitled "Agadez".
Background
On a trip in Jerusalem, Rodriguez-Lopez purchased an archaic ouija-type talking board at a curio shop as a gift for Bixler-Zavala. They would return to their tour bus after shows to play with it during their 2006 tour with the Red Hot Chili PeppersRed Hot Chili Peppers
Red Hot Chili Peppers is an American rock band, formed in Los Angeles in 1983. The group's musical style primarily consists of rock with an emphasis on funk, as well as elements from other genres such as punk, hip hop and psychedelic rock...
, as it quickly became the band's post-show ritual. Dubbed "The Soothsayer", the board revealed stories, gave names and made demands, as the band was contacted by three different people who appeared in the form of one, who was then referred to as "Goliath". The more the band interacted with "The Soothsayer", otherworldly coincidences began plaguing the band's experience writing and recording The Bedlam in Goliath: Blake Fleming
Blake Fleming
Blake Fleming is a drummer known for his involvement with several influential experimental bands. Fleming started drumming at age 8, and spent several years in fife and drumming corps, bagpipe bands, jazz bands, orchestras, etc. His first band was Dazzling Killmen, which he joined at age 15. Later...
—their current drummer at the time — quit mid-tour and left the band with financial troubles; Bixler-Zavala wound up needing surgery performed on his foot due to the shoes he had been wearing, forcing him to relearn how to walk post-surgery; audio tracks sporadically and literally disappeared from the studio's harddrives; Rodriguez-Lopez's home studio flooded and was subject to multiple power outages; and the album's original engineer went through a nervous breakdown, leaving behind all previous work with no notes as to where anything was. The engineer who quit stated to Rodriguez-Lopez: "I'm not going to help you make this record. You're trying to do something very bad with this record, you're trying to make me crazy and you're trying to make people crazy."
Rodriguez-Lopez was on the brink of starting the recording from scratch, but eventually kept on after recruiting Robert Carranza as a replacement engineer, along with assistance from Lars Stalfors and Isaiah Abolin. Midway through the recording sessions, Rodriguez-Lopez broke "The Soothsayer" in half and buried it in an undisclosed location as an attempt to undo the curse and halt the unforeseen tragedies. Rodriguez-Lopez swore never to give away the location of the burial, and also asked the band not to speak of it again during the remainder of the album's production.
The song "Soothsayer" contains field recordings that Omar recorded in Jerusalem. The recordings are a mixture from the Jewish quarter, the Muslim Quarter
Muslim Quarter
The Muslim Quarter is one of the four quarters of the ancient, walled Old City of Jerusalem. It covers 31 hectares of the northeastern sector of the Old City. The quarter is the largest and most populous and extends from the Lions' Gate in the east, along the northern wall of the Temple Mount in...
and the Christian Quarter
Christian Quarter
The Christian Quarter is one of the four quarters of the ancient, walled Old City of Jerusalem, the other three being the Jewish Quarter, the Muslim Quarter and the Armenian Quarter...
.
Recording process
Recorded and mixed at Ocean Way Studios in Hollywood and Rodriguez-Lopez's home studio in BrooklynBrooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, song material for The Bedlam in Goliath dates back to April 2006 when demos were first written. Without a stable studio drummer after the three consecutive losses of Jon Theodore
Jon Theodore
Jon Philip Theodore is a drummer, formerly a member of The Mars Volta. He has become best known for his explosive, multi-textural and dynamic playing style.-History:...
, Blake Fleming
Blake Fleming
Blake Fleming is a drummer known for his involvement with several influential experimental bands. Fleming started drumming at age 8, and spent several years in fife and drumming corps, bagpipe bands, jazz bands, orchestras, etc. His first band was Dazzling Killmen, which he joined at age 15. Later...
and Deantoni Parks
Deantoni Parks
Deantoni Parks is a new wave/avant-garde/experimental drummer, songwriter, film director, actor and record producer born in Newnan, Georgia. He is the founder; producer and drummer of the New York band, KUDU, and one-half of the writing duo, Dark Angels with producer and keyboardist Nick Kasper,...
in a single year, the band was introduced to the 24-year-old Thomas Pridgen
Thomas Pridgen
Thomas Armon Pridgen is an American drummer, best known for his role as the drummer of The Mars Volta from October 31, 2006 until October 23, 2009, and currently the drummer for his own project The Memorials as well as hard rock supergroup Giraffe Tongue Orchestra.-Biography:Pridgen won the Guitar...
, whose youthful presence—as described by Bixler-Zavala—had given The Mars Volta new life. Rodriguez-Lopez worked with Rich Costey
Rich Costey
Rich Costey is an American record producer, engineer, and mixer who has worked with many bands including Muse, Cave In, Thursday, Franz Ferdinand, Glasvegas, The Mars Volta, Doves, Bloc Party, Ontronik , Jimmy Eat World, My Chemical Romance, Supergrass, Audioslave, Rage Against the Machine, Nine...
to finish the album in a three-week stretch, assisted by Shawn Michael Sullivan and Claudius Mittendorfer as editors.
In an interview, Carranza described the recording process for The Bedlam in Goliath stating that no more than three takes an hour were recorded, as a way to soak in what was recorded and to hear the differences, which in turn improved the general mood and atmosphere of the album's creation. Elaborating on the method, Carranza stated that "when van Gogh
Vincent van Gogh
Vincent Willem van Gogh , and used Brabant dialect in his writing; it is therefore likely that he himself pronounced his name with a Brabant accent: , with a voiced V and palatalized G and gh. In France, where much of his work was produced, it is...
was around he wasn't just painting, painting, painting. I'm sure he took a step back once in a while. You should do the same when you're recording."
The string quintet on "Soothsayer" was recorded on Wednesday, June 6, 2007 at Hyde Street Studios in San Francisco.
Eventually the band decided in favor of Wax Simulacra
Wax Simulacra
"Wax Simulacra" is a single from the album The Bedlam in Goliath by The Mars Volta. The single debuted November 18, 2007 on San Francisco's Live 105 FM...
as the first single:
Themes
Bixler-Zavala incorporated themes and names into the lyrics that were taken from messages given by "The Soothsayer". It also including excerpts from poems that were found attached to the ouija, describing a love triangle between a woman, her daughter and a man in a Muslim society, along with an honor killing involving these people. Each song reinterprets the relationship in some shape or form, and as a good luck charm to counteract the cryptic themes, Bixler-Zavala incorporated elements of the Afro-Caribbean religious tradition SanteríaSantería
Santería is a syncretic religion of West African and Caribbean origin influenced by Roman Catholic Christianity, also known as Regla de Ocha, La Regla Lucumi, or Lukumi. Its liturgical language, a dialect of Yoruba, is also known as Lucumi....
into the lyrics as a "protective skin" to protect the band.
The album ultimately serves as an attempt to artistically reverse their perceived bad luck by "setting traps" for the listeners to use as a way to undo what "The Soothsayer" had brought upon the band. To aid the concept, vinyl editions of the album contain the band's own version of the ouija inside the gatefold.
Webisodes
Four webisodeWebisode
A webisode is a short episode which airs initially as Internet television, either download or stream as opposed to first airing on broadcast or cable television. The format can be used as a preview, a promotion, as part of a collection of shorts, or a commercial.A webisode can be an episode...
s were posted on The Mars Volta's official website, depicting the band in various and sometimes humorous situations.
- "Wax Simulacra" contains live footage of the band performing on their Australian 2007 Tour.
- "Aberinkula" is based around the band playing cards and then performing surgery on a person, finding odd objects inside of the body.
- "Goliath" consists of the band performing on obscure instruments in the middle of a street, with a man dressed like the Elephant Man.
- "Askepios" is made up of footage of a celebration party that takes place in front of a green screen. Several props and objects appearing in the other videos (including a piñataPiñataA piñata is a papier-mâché or other type of container that is decorated, filled with toys and or candy and then broken as part of a ceremony or celebration. Piñatas are most commonly associated with Mexico, but its origins are considered to be in China...
bearing the effigy of George W. BushGeorge W. BushGeorge Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
) are passed around and examined during the celebration. - "Ilyena" was posted at DailymotionDailymotionDailymotion is a video sharing service website, headquartered in the 18th arrondissement, Paris, France. According to Comscore, Dailymotion is the second largest video site in the world after YouTube....
, showing footage of the band in a classroom with Rodriguez-Lopez introducing Adrián Terrazas-González, who appears as a police officer to lecture to the class. The last half of the video shows everyone on a rooftop watching as graffiti artists Grey and Thomas Pridgen spray paint their tags on a wall.
Cover artwork puzzle
A scrambled picture puzzle was put up on the official website featuring the front cover artwork for The Bedlam in Goliath. If solved, a free MP3 download of The Mars Volta performing a cover version of "Back Against the Wall" by the Circle JerksCircle Jerks
The Circle Jerks are an American hardcore punk band, formed in 1980 in Los Angeles, California. It was formed by Black Flag's original singer, Keith Morris, and future Bad Religion guitarist Greg Hetson. They were among the preeminent hardcore punk bands of the L.A. scene in the late 1970s.The band...
was available. Presently, solving the puzzle no longer gives a promotional code for the free download.
Goliath: The Soothsayer
Based on the events that took place during the creation of The Bedlam in Goliath, the online gameOnline game
An online game is a game played over some form of computer network. This almost always means the Internet or equivalent technology, but games have always used whatever technology was current: modems before the Internet, and hard wired terminals before modems...
Goliath: The Soothsayer was released via Amazon
Amazon.com
Amazon.com, Inc. is a multinational electronic commerce company headquartered in Seattle, Washington, United States. It is the world's largest online retailer. Amazon has separate websites for the following countries: United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Japan, and...
through January 2–29, and later made publicly available at Newgrounds
Newgrounds
Newgrounds is an American entertainment and social media website. Founded on July 6, 1995 by Tom Fulp, the site primarily hosts Adobe Flash animations and games, but also features a music-oriented page, along with an art portal...
on January 29, 2008. Developed by Ben Leffler of Leffler Web Design, the game is described as a horror/supernatural "point 'n' click".
2008 club tour
A ticket presale was announced on the band's website for a New Year's Eve show at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco, CaliforniaCalifornia
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, promoted with flyers that featured exclusive The Bedlam in Goliath artwork illustrated by Jeff Jordan. The band would then announce a following January club tour in 2008 where they would then debut new material from the album for the first time prior to its release.
USB flash drive
The album was also released on a limited USB flash driveUSB flash drive
A flash drive is a data storage device that consists of flash memory with an integrated Universal Serial Bus interface. flash drives are typically removable and rewritable, and physically much smaller than a floppy disk. Most weigh less than 30 g...
that resembled a piece of a ouija board. While primarily containing The Bedlam in Goliath in its entirety, the flash drive unlocked a variety of bonus material on the 29th of each month throughout 2008. The content included webisodes, concert footage, limited edition wallpaper, b-sides and unreleased tracks.
VinylDisc Single
In some U.S. record stores, a free 5" VinylDiscVinylDisc
The VinylDisc is a combination of a digital layer, either in CD or DVD format, and an analogue layer, which is a vinyl record, developed by German company Optimal Media Production....
of The Mars Volta's cover of Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd were an English rock band that achieved worldwide success with their progressive and psychedelic rock music. Their work is marked by the use of philosophical lyrics, sonic experimentation, innovative album art, and elaborate live shows. Pink Floyd are one of the most commercially...
's "Candy and a Currant Bun
Candy and a Currant Bun
"Candy and a Currant Bun" was the B-side to Pink Floyd's first single, Arnold Layne. When performed live in 1967, the song was known as "Let's Roll Another One" and contained the line "I'm high - Don't try to spoil my fun", but the record company forced Syd Barrett to rewrite it without the...
" was given away with purchase of the album. The VinylDisc is a new format that has a digital side and a vinyl side. One side plays in a CD player, while the other side plays on a turntable. The vinyl side contains the Pink Floyd cover "Candy and a Currant Bun", while the CD side contains the audio track for "Candy and a Currant Bun" as well as the "Wax Simulacra" video as enhanced content. It also comes with a removable foam spindle insert to switch between CD & vinyl.
Best Buy Exclusive
Best Buy shipped the album with a download code for exclusive tracks, "Pulled to Bits" and "Birthday", as well as a free bonus DVD with 20-minute concert footage of "Cygnus....Vismund Cygnus". However, many of the DVDs were unplayable, the codes expired after a certain amount of time, and the downloads (being in secure WMA format) were not Mac compatible.Vinyl release
The 2x12" vinyl version of the album was released on June 10, 2008. A 7" vinyl accompanies the double LP. It is in the shape of a planchette, and features a previously unreleased track called "Mr. Muggs", named after Jim JonesJim Jones
James Warren "Jim" Jones was the founder and leader of the Peoples Temple, which is best known for the November 18, 1978 mass suicide of 909 Temple members in Jonestown, Guyana along with the killings of five other people at a nearby airstrip.Jones was born in Indiana and started the Temple in...
' pet Chimpanzee
Chimpanzee
Chimpanzee, sometimes colloquially chimp, is the common name for the two extant species of ape in the genus Pan. The Congo River forms the boundary between the native habitat of the two species:...
. The double LP is half red and half black.
Track listing
All songs by Omar Rodríguez-LópezOmar Rodriguez-Lopez
Omar Alfredo Rodríguez-López is a multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, producer, writer, actor and film director who was born in Bayamón, Puerto Rico...
and Cedric Bixler-Zavala
Cedric Bixler-Zavala
Cedric Bixler-Zavala is a Grammy Award-winning Mexican-American musician known for his work as frontman and lyricist of the progressive rock band The Mars Volta, and previously as frontman and occasional guitarist of the post-hardcore punk group At the Drive-In...
.
Bonus tracks and b-sides
Demos
- "GetMadRef" ("Agadez" demo) – 5:54
- Available through USB stick on December 29, 2008.
- "Ratiplet for Label" ("Soothsayer" demo) – 4:52
- Available through USB stick on December 29, 2008.
Chart positions
| Chart (2008) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| US Billboard 200 | 3 |
| Australian ARIA Album Chart | 3 |
| Austrian Album Chart | 46 |
| Belgian Albums Chart | 35 |
| Canadian Albums Chart | 6 |
| Dutch Albums Chart | 42 |
| Finnish Albums Chart | 9 |
| French Albums Chart | 87 |
| German Albums Chart | 29 |
| Italian Albums Chart | 47 |
| Irish Albums Chart | 57 |
| Mexican Albums Chart | 47 |
| New Zealand RIANZ Albums Chart | 13 |
| Norwegian Albums Chart | 10 |
| Spanish Albums Chart | 58 |
| Swedish Albums Chart | 32 |
| Swiss Albums Chart | 57 |
| UK Albums Chart | 42 |
Personnel
- Omar Rodríguez-LópezOmar Rodriguez-LopezOmar Alfredo Rodríguez-López is a multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, producer, writer, actor and film director who was born in Bayamón, Puerto Rico...
– guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with... - Cedric Bixler-ZavalaCedric Bixler-ZavalaCedric Bixler-Zavala is a Grammy Award-winning Mexican-American musician known for his work as frontman and lyricist of the progressive rock band The Mars Volta, and previously as frontman and occasional guitarist of the post-hardcore punk group At the Drive-In...
– vocals - Isaiah Ikey OwensIsaiah Ikey OwensIsaiah Randolph "Ikey" Owens is an American keyboardist known for his work with The Mars Volta and an array of other bands from the Long Beach music scene.-Biography:...
– keyboardsKeyboard instrumentA keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments... - Juan AldereteJuan AldereteJuan Alderete is an American bassist known for his work with the band The Mars Volta. Prior to his work with that band, he was known for playing in Racer X, where he received credit as John Alderete.-Biography:...
– bassBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick.... - Thomas PridgenThomas PridgenThomas Armon Pridgen is an American drummer, best known for his role as the drummer of The Mars Volta from October 31, 2006 until October 23, 2009, and currently the drummer for his own project The Memorials as well as hard rock supergroup Giraffe Tongue Orchestra.-Biography:Pridgen won the Guitar...
– drums - Marcel Rodriguez-LopezMarcel Rodriguez-LopezMarcellus Rodriguez-Lopez is a multi-instrumentalist musician and younger brother of Omar Rodríguez-López.- Biography :He has been noted as to playing the bongos, congas, Drums, cymbals, Maracas, keyboards and Shekere....
– percussion - Paul HinojosPaul HinojosPablo J. Hinojos-Gonzalez is a Grammy award winning musician, and former member of The Mars Volta, Sparta and At The Drive In. Sometimes credited under the name Paul Hinojos, he was the bass guitarist of At the Drive-In...
– sound manipulation, guitar - Adrián Terrazas-González – fluteFluteThe flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...
, tenor saxophoneTenor saxophoneThe tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor, with the alto, are the two most common types of saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B, and written as a transposing instrument in the treble...
, soprano saxophoneSoprano saxophoneThe soprano saxophone is a variety of the saxophone, a woodwind instrument, invented in 1840. The soprano is the third smallest member of the saxophone family, which consists of the soprillo, sopranino, soprano, alto, tenor, baritone, bass, contrabass and tubax.A transposing instrument pitched in...
, bass clarinetBass clarinetThe bass clarinet is a musical instrument of the clarinet family. Like the more common soprano B clarinet, it is usually pitched in B , but it plays notes an octave below the soprano B clarinet... - John FruscianteJohn FruscianteJohn Anthony Frusciante is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, record and film producer. He is best known as the former lead guitarist of the rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers, with whom he had been for a number of years and recorded five studio albums...
– guitar - Henry Trejo – "Because"s on "Agadez"
- Nathaniel Tookey – string composition and arrangement on "Soothsayer"
- Sam Bass – celloCelloThe cello is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is a member of the violin family of musical instruments, which also includes the violin, viola, and double bass. Old forms of the instrument in the Baroque era are baryton and viol .A person who plays a cello is...
on "Soothsayer" - Edwin Huizinga – violinViolinThe violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
on "Soothsayer" - Charith Premawardhana – violaViolaThe viola is a bowed string instrument. It is the middle voice of the violin family, between the violin and the cello.- Form :The viola is similar in material and construction to the violin. A full-size viola's body is between and longer than the body of a full-size violin , with an average...
on "Soothsayer" - Anthony Blea – violinViolinThe violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
on "Soothsayer" - Owen Levine – double bassDouble bassThe double bass, also called the string bass, upright bass, standup bass or contrabass, is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra, with strings usually tuned to E1, A1, D2 and G2...
on "Soothsayer"