Frances The Mute
by The Mars Volta
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The Mars Volta bestography
Frances The Mute is ranked 2nd best out of 12 albums by The Mars Volta on BestEverAlbums.com.
The best album by The Mars Volta is De-Loused In The Comatorium which is ranked number 498 in the list of all-time albums with a total rank score of 3,430.
(N.B. Bestographies include all albums by an artist (and their variations), but do not include albums ranked outside the top 100,000).
Listen to Frances The Mute on YouTube
Frances The Mute track list
The tracks on this album have an average rating of 84 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).
Top-rated track as rated by BestEverAlbums.com members.
Frances The Mute rankings
Calculated from aggregate positions across 60,000 charts (2 million album rankings). Click to see how the rankings are calculated (Last updated: 3 hours ago)
| Year | Source | Chart | Rank | Rank Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | emptysquares | Top 100 Greatest Music Albums | 93/100 | 8 |
| 2026 | sunnydhamm | Top 47 Music Albums of 2005 | 37/47 | 1 |
| 2026 | matterhornrider | Top 36 Music Albums of 2005 | 30/36 | 1 |
| 2026 |  Romanelli | Top 72 Music Albums of 2005 | 63/72 | 1 |
| 2026 | pinkfreud1981 | Top 100 Music Albums of the 2000s | 6/100 | 19 |
| 2026 |  jeremy9 | Top 88 Music Albums of 2005 | 77/88 | 1 |
| 2026 | leniad | Top 12 Music Albums of 2005 | 5/12 | 3 |
| 2026 |  btener11 | Top 100 Music Albums of the 2000s | 76/100 | 5 |
| 2026 | fabm0 | Top 100 Music Albums of the 2000s | 84/100 | 3 |
| 2026 | bonnequestion | Top 37 Music Albums of 2005 | 26/37 | 2 |
| Total Charts: The total number of charts that this album has appeared in. | 323 | |||
| Total Rank Score: The total rank score. | 2,136 | |||
Frances The Mute collection
Showing latest 20 members who have this album in their collection | Show all 211 members
Frances The Mute ratings
Average Rating = (n ÷ (n + m)) × av + (m ÷ (n + m)) × AVwhere:
av = trimmed mean average rating an item has currently received.
n = number of ratings an item has currently received.
m = minimum number of ratings required for an item to appear in a 'top-rated' chart (currently 10).
AV = the site mean average rating.
Showing latest 3 ratings for this album. | Show all 464 ratings for this album.
| Rating | Date updated | Member | Album ratings | Avg. album rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ! | 09/14/2026 18:25 |  AAL2014 | 4,310 | 75/100 |
| ! | 08/14/2026 08:33 | TitoVampir | 197 | 76/100 |
| ! | 07/16/2026 12:01 | glebrus | 469 | 81/100 |
Rating metrics:
Outliers can be removed when calculating a mean average to dampen the effects of ratings outside the normal distribution. This figure is provided as the trimmed mean. A high standard deviation can be legitimate, but can sometimes indicate 'gaming' is occurring. Consider a simplified example* of an item receiving ratings of 100, 50, & 0. The mean average rating would be 50. However, ratings of 55, 50 & 45 could also result in the same average. The second average might be more trusted because there is more consensus around a particular rating (a lower deviation).
(*In practice, some albums can have several thousand ratings)
This album is rated in the top 2% of all albums on BestEverAlbums.com. This album has a Bayesian average rating of 78.1/100, a mean average of 76.3/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 78.2/100. The standard deviation for this album is 18.6.
Frances The Mute favourites
Showing latest 10 members who have added this album as a favourite | Show all 73 members
Frances The Mute forum mentions
BestEverAlbums 07/20/2026 08:00 in Chart of the day (#5379): By pinkfreud1981 Romanelli 02/24/2026 22:13 in What album are you listening to? (cont.) BestEverAlbums 11/01/2025 16:03 in Monthly overall chart movementsFrances The Mute comments
Top Comments First | Newest First | Positive Sentiment First | Longest Comments First
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With the exception of some very unique very strange very alienated sounding guitar solo's from Omar Rodriquez, this is progressive rock at it's finest. I have no idea what Rodriguez is trying to communicate with his guitar fills on Cygnus...Vismund Cygnus, they get quite a bit better on the Widow, and thankfully Frusciante and a Salsa pianist lay down something catchy on L'Via, where Salsa meets the nightmare music and lyrics of the Mars Volta. As a composer, arranger, and a producer Rodriguez is a brilliant young man and he turns the band's 2nd album into something that you want to visit again and again to discover it's many layers. Cedric Bixler-Zavala's voice has never sounded more emotional and less annoying and his lyrics are simply chilling and mystifying. Frances the Mute excels in many areas, making it an all-around best ever album.
This album is fucking incredible. So full of ideas and almost every idea is fucking great and executed perfectly. Cassandra Gemini is a top 10 all time favorite for me. Cygnus Vismund Cygnus is a masterpiece aswell.
The widow and Lvia are both incredibly cheesy but in the most enjoyable way. Not in the cringeworthy way but in the awesome way. Miranda drags a bit so I cant give this album a 100 but its damn close. (Edited)
Long. Blend of Jazz rock, Prog rock, even Space rock, plus jamming. The multiple segments and passages throughout the tracks can make it a bit fragmented. Some parts brilliant, some just musical noise effects. One you gotta be in the mood for. (Edited)
souplipton 07/17/2016 04:17 | #171424 | TOP COMMENT
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Frances the Mute is a step back from their previous album, but is still one The Mars Volta's best albums. The albums meanders at times, but there is a lot of good content in these tracks. (Edited)
pawelzietek 12/27/2008 06:48 | #2293 | TOP COMMENT
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I fully agree with Elston...
This album needs much more time to grow than previous release but when you finally get into it's way better...
VERY satisfying CD...
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