Frances the Mute is the second studio album by American progressive rock band The Mars Volta released in February 2005 on Gold Standard Laboratories and Universal. Produced by guitarist and songwriter Omar Rodriguez-Lopez, the album incorporates dub, ambient, Latin and jazz influences, and is the first to feature bassist Juan Alderete and percussionist Marcel Rodriguez-Lopez. The album also includes contributions from future saxophonist Adrián Terrazas-González, who joined the band during its subsequent tour. Frances the Mute album made multiple "Best of" lists at the end of 2005. In the Q & Mojo magazine Classic Special Edition Pink Floyd & The Story of Prog Rock, the album came #18 in its list of "40 Cosmic Rock Albums" and was also named as one of Classic Rock magazine's 10 essential progressive rock albums of the decade. Background Jeremy Ward, audio artist for The Mars Volta until his death, had previously worked as a repo man. One day, Ward discovered a diary in the backseat of a car he was repossessing, and began to note the similarities between his life and that of the author—most notably, that they had both been adopted. The diary told of the author's search for his biological parents, with the way being pointed by a collection of people, their names being the basis for each named track of Frances the Mute. Writing and recording process Omar Rodríguez-López started writing material for the band's second album even before De-Loused in the Comatorium was released, and during the subsequent tour, several new musical ideas would be tried out in concert. Two parts of "Cygnus....Vismund Cygnus" ("Facilis Descenus Averni" and "Con Safo") first appeared as middle sections in "Drunkship of Lanterns" (as heard on Live EP) and "Take the Veil Cerpin Taxt" respectively, while several parts of "Cassandra Gemini" previously appeared in "Cicatriz ESP" lengthy improvisational workouts (as would be heard on Scabdates). The album was initially to be titled Sarcophagus. Rodríguez-López arranged and produced the recording sessions himself. Rather than bring his ideas to the band as a whole and working them out at group rehearsals, he met individually with each player to practice each part one-on-one. "We'll sit there and play it forever and slow—real slow—to understand what's happening. It's easy to play something fast and loud, but to play it soft and slow takes a certain amount of discipline. Then once we understand the part, everyone's free to