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Progressive Returns: The Mars Volta

A most unlikely CD has been close to the top of the Billboard charts recently. The Mars Volta, from Texas, somehow missed the news that progressive rock was nearly extinct.

Their new CD, Frances the Mute, is a saga based on the diary of a child in search of a birth mother. The songs are often organized into suites, reminiscent of bands like King Crimson and Gentle Giant.

Reviewer Tom Moon says The Mars Volta may succeed in prompting a full revival of progressive rock — on a major label, no less.

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