The 125-Plus People, Places and Things Ruling the Rock & Roll Universe : Rolling Stone

BEST PROG-ROCK BAND

The Mars Volta

The Mars Volta specialize in explosive soundscapes and wild, anarchic live shows. Their songs can be two-minute punk bursts or twenty-minute excursions into Latin jazz, funk, metal and atonal noise — including shout-along choruses with lyrics like, "Exoskeletal junction at the railroad delayed!" "It's the pop narrative," says singer Cedric Bixler-Zavala. "It's just not pop the way some venues or avenues of art define what pop is." Guitarist Omar Rodriguez-Lopez clarifies: "It's perverted pop." The killer riffs and hooks explain how a band that cites German art rockers Can as a key influence ended up with three Top Ten albums. "Our bridges may be long, but there's rarely a time when we don't do the chorus," Rodriguez-Lopez says.

Over the course of their first three studio discs, the Mars Volta became ever more experimental — their third, 2006's Amputechture, pushed fans to the limit with long stretches of atonality and only one song under six minutes. But they pulled back from the brink with this year's The Bedlam in Goliath, focusing on punk riffage and wowing fans with their ability to make complex music accessible. "We love pop's architecture," Rodriguez-Lopez says. "Here's this structure that's been used all throughout history. How far can we take it? What can it be?" EVAN SERPICK

The Mars Volta Key Tracks

"Roulette Dares (This is the Haunt)" LISTEN
Metal riffs, psychadelic explorations and a killer hook made this track — from 2003's De-Loused at the Comatorium — an excellent introduction to the Mars Volta.

"Cicatriz ESP" LISTEN
No studio cut compares to their dizzying gigs, but this ecstatic forty-three-minute jam from the 2005 live album Scabdates comes closest.

"Wax Simulacra" LISTEN
In under three minutes, this punk blast from Bedlam sums up everything awesome about the band.