The Sentence Correction Guide

The Mars Volta's 2003 debut was a dense, experimental run-on sentence of science fiction and musical exploration. But though it ultimately rewarded patience with stretches of unbuckled rock & roll genius, De-Loused in the Comatorium was also a maze-like and obtuse migraine dealer that made people frustrated and crazy. For 2005's Frances the Mute, Omar Rodriguez-Lopez and Cedric Bixler-Zavala worked principally with their touring band, but "joining the band for selected moments" are strings, horns, electronic programming, pals Flea and John Frusciante, and the coqui frogs of Puerto Rico. There are no song breaks, making the track listing more of an outline. But Mute's printed lyrics are a helpful guide, a map of Mars that's meant to both direct and fascinate…

Produced, arranged, and composed by Eric Serra, the soundtrack to director Luc Besson's smash movie La Femme Nikita was the third collaboration between the pair, following Subway and The Big Blue. Many of the soundtrack's nearly two dozen cuts are brief (less than a minute and a half) and, therefore, offer little outside of the context of the film (although the simple, piano-based "The Last Time I Kiss You" is an exception). Like the film, the music from it is highly stylized, but it lacks the film's heart and is, instead, a mostly cold, bloodless collection of synthesizer noodlings and generic guitar riffs (with the odd saxophone). Some of the better moments include the introductory "Rico's Gang Suicide," the hypnotic swagger of "NPOKMOP," the metallic surf guitar of "Let's Welcome Victor," and the genuinely moving "We Will Miss You".