Jon Theodore

zj2302 said:
i also think he blows those guys like virgil donati or dennis chambers out of the water, just for the fact that he can make insane grooves that actually fit a band. it seems to me that a lot of the extremely chops oriented drummers play like they are doing an exercise, while jon plays with such fire and musicality yet still manages to be so fast, intricate, and complex, while supporting a 8 piece band. from what i've heard of the above "chops" drummers, they are kinda of lacking when it comes to supporting or complementing other musicians with a great groove. not to make a blanket statement at all though, just to make a point for discussion that i think these guys are better playing by themselves than with others, which goes against what for me is the litmus test of great musicians.

i'm a jon theodore fan myself, he's even in my avatar, but i don't think anyone on earth will agree with you there.
 
I saw Mars Volta in 2001, i think, when they supported RHCP on their By The Way tour. I think he is a fantastic showman, and his interview in the recent rhythm mag make's him out to a great chap too. Sure his skill is outstanding, but there's no point in comparing him to players like Chambers, it's like the other end of the spectrum.
 
Our band's been talking about covering "Cicatriz Esp" (our guitar player's fav. band is TMV, and it was his turn to pick one). I guess I'll just get to growing me a few limbs then.
 
intooder said:
Our band's been talking about covering "Cicatriz Esp" (our guitar player's fav. band is TMV, and it was his turn to pick one). I guess I'll just get to growing me a few limbs then.

Covering Mars Volta songs is a serious challenge. I've been working on Son et Lumiere and Inertiatic ESP with a couple of friends - to be honest, drummers (and bassists too) have one of the easier parts to learn because it's more or less a "normal" part - unlike the guitar. I feel for any guitar player who attempts to take on Omar's cracked-out stuff - it's intensely bizarre. That and the fact that it's very difficult to capture the same vibe live that they had in the studio recording - both their albums are very much studio productions.

Good luck on Cicatriz - it's one of my favorite grooves on both cds.
 
an amazing amazing drummer.
great grooves and chops from outer space(as modern drummer put it).
great band. insane guitar solos.
love the whole old school sound.
one of my fav Jon Theodore grooves would be the one on their track "eat the sun"
*np: mars volta- Drunkship Of Lanterns.
would love to see these guys live sometime,
do they have a dvd out?
 
DruManiac19 said:
an amazing amazing drummer.
great grooves and chops from outer space(as modern drummer put it).
great band. insane guitar solos.
love the whole old school sound.
one of my fav Jon Theodore grooves would be the one on their track "eat the sun"
*np: mars volta- Drunkship Of Lanterns.
would love to see these guys live sometime,
do they have a dvd out?

they have a live album out (scabdates) but i was personally unimpressed by what i heard of it. probably better to see them in person.
 
OceanDirt said:
they have a live album out (scabdates) but i was personally unimpressed by what i heard of it. probably better to see them in person.



hope i can see them live someday!!!
 
Everytime I try to hear for myself how good Theodore is, I fall asleep during one of the many 15 minute sound-effects section of their tunes.

I don't get this band at all. If I wanted new age sound effects, I'd go to walmart and buy one of those cheezy "waterfall and wind" tapes!

Actually, when they do play, they are a great sounding band! I just wish they'd ditch the 15 minute long acid trips and write something a little more listener friendly.

That guy shreds on drums and his sound is really impressive too. But then we are back to 15 minutes of casio keyboard sound effects! Hey, listen to this, we're artisitic!

Ok, I'm sure you all like it alot, but I wish they'd just play more...
 
Stu_Strib said:
Everytime I try to hear for myself how good Theodore is, I fall asleep during one of the many 15 minute sound-effects section of their tunes.

That's my complaint too. Well. That and the fact that when they do play they sound worryingly close to Yes and Led Zeppelin. If they'd play more and develop a bit more of a signature sound beyond being Yes Zeppelin Plus More Bombast then I'd probably like them quite a lot - they can all play seriously well.
 
finnhiggins said:
That's my complaint too. Well. That and the fact that when they do play they sound worryingly close to Yes and Led Zeppelin. If they'd play more and develop a bit more of a signature sound beyond being Yes Zeppelin Plus More Bombast then I'd probably like them quite a lot - they can all play seriously well.


I agree with letting go of most of those long sound effect sections. It would be one thing if they all would actually be playing cool free-time things themselves, but its pretty much all keyboard and maybe guitar effects. And they go on for too long, I wanna hear the music.

OK enough rambling. They can play pretty darn well too. I wouldn't go as far as saying theyve mastered their instruments as much as Steve Howe or Squire, but I still enjoy the playing alot!
 
yeah, they've fallen in love with their avant garde astro-mingus acid jazz interlude sections recently. i've got to agree with one of the above posts, scabdates didn't do it for me, and i usually dig them in a serious way. the sound quality was just bad, which strange since both times i've seen them they've sounded great.

thankfully, when the play live they are all playing the free jazz stuff on their own instruments, which for me makes it so much better and gives their shows some real scope and an overarching connection between all their songs, just like the albums sans the samplers.
 
Wow I just got Scabdates!! I completely dig it, even more than their studio stuff. It's completely raw, intense and tripping. As for the unending interludes I already heard some other bands doin it much more longer and sound more pretentious.
Jon Theodor is a complete freaking animal on his set!!!
 
Anchein Vouivra said:
As for the unending interludes I already heard some other bands doin it much more longer and sound more pretentious.

Yeah, me too. But that doesn't exactly excuse it. Two wrongs don't make a right, and all that.
 
the lesser of two evils is still evil

not considering it evil, but, hey.
 
aahznightsky said:
the lesser of two evils is still evil

not considering it evil, but, hey.
i do. it definitely detracts from their songs.

nothing irks me as much as the three minutes of near-silence in the middle of cicatriz ESP - if it weren't for the search function, that song would be absolutely ruined.
 
OceanDirt said:
i do. it definitely detracts from their songs.

nothing irks me as much as the three minutes of near-silence in the middle of cicatriz ESP - if it weren't for the search function, that song would be absolutely ruined.


the exact song im thinking of. the first silent and then building part before the first chorus is kinda cool ... but even that i feel is a few seconds too long
 
aahznightsky said:
the exact song im thinking of. the first silent and then building part before the first chorus is kinda cool ... but even that i feel is a few seconds too long
yeah - i can deal with that though. at least there you get the sort of surprise attack of the first chorus, which i can at least see has a musical purpose.

but the three minutes of inexplicable warbling and ambient background noise is inexcusable to me. i have taken a couple of their songs into home studio and edited out the unnecessary parts... much better songs in my opinion.

but i love them like crazy anyway. still one of my favorite bands.
 
i gotta say, i don't understand how/why people compare this band to Zepellin. Not familar with Yes so much but Zep? i infact think they've grown ABOVE and beyond the like of those bands. Zep kicks ass but they infact DO have their own sound, different from Zep. It's a shame and makes the one who offered that comment seem shallow and quick to place judgment on a band that does not immediately satisfy one's traditional grounds for musicianship or feeling. Could you please elaborate on those comparisons?

At the risk of coming off as overly defending, their long periods of no playing and guitar effects are part of what make the band. It's a ride, not so much a smiling entertainment clown.
 
BackInBlack said:
i gotta say, i don't understand how/why people compare this band to Zepellin. Not familar with Yes so much but Zep? i infact think they've grown ABOVE and beyond the like of those bands. Zep kicks ass but they infact DO have their own sound, different from Zep. It's a shame and makes the one who offered that comment seem shallow and quick to place judgment on a band that does not immediately satisfy one's traditional grounds for musicianship or feeling. Could you please elaborate on those comparisons?

At the risk of coming off as overly defending, their long periods of no playing and guitar effects are part of what make the band. It's a ride, not so much a smiling entertainment clown.

Basically the comparisons to Led Zep are based on various things, but mostly the vocals. The comparisons to Yes are based on pretty much everything else. Grab yourself a copy of "Close to the edge" and tell me the Mars Volta haven't listened to that one obsessively for a few years.

Before I heard TMV a friend of mine mentioned them. I asked what they sounded like. He said "Yes, but with Robert Plant singing". Pretty much sums it up, IMHO. Except the rest of the band occasionally drops into sounding quite zep-ish too. Cicatriz ESP sounds a lot like Achilles Last Stand to me from a rhythm section POV, particularly on Scabdates when they play it faster than usual.

They do occasionally break out something that sounds non-specifically 70s but not directly identifiable as Zep or Yes. But I've yet to hear anything which makes me go "Hey, that sounds like the Mars Volta" when I hear another band doing it.

Also, please don't call me "shallow" because I disagree with you on the originality of the band. It must be noted that of the two major influences I named you appear to only be familiar with one, so I think it's a bit early for you to start throwing mud, no?
 
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