Search - Omar Rodriguez-Lopez :: Calibration (is Pushing Luck and Key Too Far)

Omar...pushing luck and key too far...

Keegan R. Lerch | Bethlehem, PA | 04/01/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I cannot get enough of Omar Rodriguez Lopez's music (or the Mars Volta). Everything he comes out with is fresh, and he aims for a new musical idea with every new album he records. Calibration is no different...It begins with a electronic, spacey experimental jam call "mexico," and continues in the same direction for the rest of the album. The album features the "Mars Volta Family" as the sticker on the album says, which includes Thoms Pridgen (Mars Volta) on drums, Money Mark (Beastie Boys) on synth, John Frusciante (Red Hot Chili Peppers) on vocals, Adrian Terrazas Gonzalez (Mars Volta/Omar Quintet) on woodwinds, and Cedric on vocals.

Each track is a spacey adventure into a world of electronic sound collages that Omar has arranged and directed into awesome contemporary pieces of art. His guitar moves in and out of the mix of sounds created by the great artists that surround him on this album. At times, it sounds like something really crazy off of "Bedlam in Goliath," although this album is in a completely experimental direction. This is recommended for fans of the Mars Volta and Omar's other solo projects. This is some of the spaciest music I have heard from him so far, I can't wait to see what he puts out next!"

Everything Omar Touches Turns to Gold

Jonathan D. Kotrla | Austin, TX | 07/24/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Seriously, I don't know why everything Omar makes does this to me, and I often wonder if it's just me, but here we go:



I bought Calibration, and gave it a listen. I went through the entire album and it was spacey and weird (like I expected). It was okay, but I didn't think I would listen to it too much. 5 days later, I put together a playlist real fast to work to and realize that every single track from this album had grown on me so much in 5 days that they are all on this list. TMV and Omar's side project concept albums are more than just music for me. They are basically all I listen to, they never get old, and since they cover 4 different genres at some point in their albums so far I have songs that sound great no matter what mood I am in.



Calibration is no different. I could seriously put this album on repeat for a few days straight and the thought of it getting old would never enter my head."

Copy Protection = Rejection

neoREgen | Austin, TX | 11/28/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I rated the album as the mean of the current reviews when I posted this.

I'm not sure those reviews are real or not, because all 4 exact duplicates are posted on a different CD site. What kind of reviewer looks for every site to post their review on? Perhaps one that's being paid. Not sure though, and I'm not about to follow up on it.

I was seconds away from purchasing this album when I reread the title, which happens to end with "Content/Copy Protected CD".

Sorry, no. As one of the few people my age (22) who still does legitimately buy CDs, I cannot support this. If I have to install stuff to put it on my computer (and therefore iPod), I'm not going to deal with it- especially because the programs included on the disc are likely to run only on Windows, thereby not allowing me to listen to the album on my computer (and I have no stereo, nor need one).

Now, obviously I could get around this. I have the means. But I buy CDs because of the fidelity, and I'm not about to lose that to circumvent a problem that shouldn't even exist.

Release it protection-free and I'm there- not to pirate it to my friends or upload it to youtube or anything, just because I'm sick of dealing with BS."