The Mars Volta are one of the most thrilling, uncompromising and downright strange bands ever to be filed under progressive rock — the wild creative partnership of guitarist Omar Rodríguez-López and vocalist Cedric Bixler-Zavala. Formed in 2001 in El Paso from the ashes of post-hardcore heroes At the Drive-In, The Mars Volta fused punk fury, prog complexity, Latin rhythms, free jazz and psychedelia into a sound of overwhelming intensity, powered by Rodríguez-López’s torrential guitar and Bixler-Zavala’s soaring, cryptic vocals. Here is every Mars Volta studio album, ranked from worst to best.

The short version

At the top sit the twin peaks of their early years, the landmark De-Loused in the Comatorium (2003) and the sprawling Frances the Mute (2005), with the frenetic The Bedlam in Goliath close behind. At the other end, the radically reinvented self-titled comeback tends to divide even the faithful. The full ranking is below.

How we rank them

This is one fan’s honest take on The Mars Volta’s studio albums — we focus on their seven full-lengths from 2003 to 2022; their 2025 album Lucro Sucio; Los Ojos del Vacío is a little too new to place here. We also set aside the live records, EPs and acoustic re-recording. We weigh ambition, energy, songwriting and sheer nerve. The facts are accurate; the order is where the arguments begin.

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The lower reaches

7. The Mars Volta (2022)

The self-titled comeback after a decade away, and a radical reinvention, trading epic freak-outs for concise, restrained, soul- and bolero-tinged songs. Beautifully crafted, but a world away from their old fury, and their most divisive record. A bold, polarizing return.

6. Octahedron (2009)

Their self-described “acoustic” and “pop” album, a more restrained, spacious record that stripped back the chaos, from the aching “Since We’ve Been Wrong” to the swaggering “Cotopaxi”. Rewarding for the patient, if a step down in intensity. A quietly divisive entry.

The middle of the pack

5. Amputechture (2006)

The dense, sprawling third album, their most self-indulgent and demanding, with John Frusciante’s guitar woven throughout lengthy, labyrinthine epics like “Day of the Baphomets”. Divisive and unfocused, but with moments of real grandeur. A flawed, fascinating record.

4. Noctourniquet (2012)

The final album of their original run, a more focused, electronic-tinged record that Bixler-Zavala dubbed “future punk”. The tensions that ended the band lend it a dark, dynamic brilliance, and it hides real gems in “Molochwalker” and “The Whip Hand”. A strong, underrated close.

The upper tier

3. The Bedlam in Goliath (2008)

Their most relentless and frenetic album, a funk-fuelled, ouija-board horror story that explodes out of the speakers and never lets up, home to the Grammy-winning “Wax Simulacra” and the pummelling “Goliath”. Exhausting and exhilarating in equal measure. A polarizing high point.

The masterpieces

2. Frances the Mute (2005)

The sprawling, everything-cranked-to-eleven follow-up, a labyrinthine 77-minute epic of just five vast, shape-shifting tracks, from the ten-minute opener “Cygnus...Vismund Cygnus” to the salsa-fuelled “L’Via L’Viaquez” and the hit “The Widow”. Overwhelming and magnificent. A near-masterpiece.

1. De-Loused in the Comatorium (2003)

The masterpiece: the landmark debut that reinvented what progressive rock could be in the 21st century, a surreal concept album following a man through a week-long coma, produced by Rick Rubin and featuring Flea on bass. Ferocious, intricate and utterly sublime, from “Inertiatic ESP” to the aching “Televators”. The definitive Mars Volta album, and the place to begin.

Every Mars Volta album, ranked

The full ranking at a glance, best to worst.

Where to start

New to The Mars Volta? Begin with De-Loused in the Comatorium (2003), their landmark debut and one of the defining prog albums of the century, and its sprawling, ambitious follow-up Frances the Mute (2005). From there, the frenetic The Bedlam in Goliath awaits, though be warned: this is intense, demanding music. Few catalogues in modern prog are this fearless.

The verdict

Few bands have ever sounded quite like The Mars Volta — a group who took the energy of punk and the ambition of prog and pushed both to the edge of chaos, creating some of the most singular music of the century. Through countless lineup changes, and the loss of early member Jeremy Ward, who died in 2003, and longtime keyboardist Ikey Owens, who died in 2014, Rodríguez-López and Bixler-Zavala have never stopped following their own vision, from the fury of their early masterpieces to the restraint of their recent work. Whether you begin with the landmark De-Loused in the Comatorium or the sprawling Frances the Mute, there is a wealth of wild, brilliant, utterly uncompromising music to discover here.

Go deeper

Keep exploring: count down their finest tracks with the best The Mars Volta songs, browse our pick of their best The Mars Volta albums, or head back to the full directory of every prog band’s discography, ranked.

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