Now, Muse. These three lads are currently celebrating the 10th anniversary of their debut album "Showbiz". But also this year, they released their new album "The Resistance".
Don't get me wrong, I had my doubts as soon as I heard the title. The Resistance. Sounds like they've been watching too much Terminator and decided that it would be a brilliant idea to base their song titles and album name on some of the themes in that film. Although, this is a rather petty review so far.
The opening track "Uprising" is a catchy little mistress. It really will grind into your head, with it's striking resemblance to the Dr Who theme tune. Non the less, it is a great song and as the first single to be released from the album, you cannot fault it. Unless you're me, then you can fault it. But of course, there is a really nice solo in here, and if you've heard the live version, your heart will melt at the energy it causes.
The title track, "Resistance" for those who haven't caught on with the album I'm reviewing, is a strong song--Hold on a second, I just made a rhyme. It has the band singing "It could be wrong, could be wrong" which i thought was quite nice first time around, but after a while it gets quite annoying. And for some reason, whenever I listen to this song, the opening makes me daydream about the video to their song "Bliss". If you haven't seen it, go watch it to get my drift.
It seems that Muse took a lot of influence from bands like Queen and Depeche Mode, which is even more apparent on tracks like "United States of Eurasia" and "Undisclosed Desires". United States of Eurasia is Queen. Seriously, if you've never heard Queen before (god forbid) and you put this song on, you'd be like wow, that's really neat and stuff. Then you'd put Bohemian Rhapsody on and be like, "hang on a minute, I just listened to this song ... what is this bull?". And for those of you who didn't know, the piano outro, "Collateral Damage", is a piece composed by Chopin. Nocturne Op. 9 No.2. I think.
My favorite track on the album has to be "Unnatural Selection", it reminds me so much of "New Born". How I miss them days ... sorry, nostalgia caught up with me there. It has the thumping guitar riff that everyone expects from Mr. Bellamy and oh hang on, I have gotten to a part of the song and yep, I'm bored of it. Seriously, It's my favorite song on the album and I get bored half way through it. Also, I have just noticed I lied. "Undisclosed Desires" is actually my favorite song on the album but ... shut up.
MK Ultra, was a government experiment if I remember rightly. Bellamy based a lot of the songs on the album on conspiracies and of course, resisting. I actually really like this song, it has a guitar intro which sounds like a keyboard and has some crunchy riff-age later on in the song, with some nice falsetto vocals which are in my opinion Bellamy's signature aspect to his musical style. But once again, I found the song rather tedious after the 10th listen. Don't get me wrong, it's good, but most the songs do become tiresome, unlike say golden oldies like "Plug In Baby".
In all fairness, Muse were open to try something new and extraordinary, but hidden beneath all the synthesizers and the echo-y drums, you get a repeat of some of the songs off of Absolution. For example, "Guiding Light", if you got rid of the incredible guitar solo half way through the song, I would of thought I was listening to "Thoughts Of A Dying Atheist". At this point you may be thinking, "Chris, you sure do know a lot about Muse's back catalog" and that is because I am a Muse fan. And yes, I will hide from all the profanity that ensues in my direction for my sheer outing of being a fan of the band I am reviewing.
I fail to see why they put "I Belong To You" on the album. It's such a slow and cheesy song. When I first heard this song I thought to myself, "Why can I see this being used in a film?". Few weeks later, turns out it's being used in the new Twilight film. Hoorah. However, the French singing was really interesting, It gave the song it's credibility; its muse to put a pun in this review. I though the use of different instruments were nice, however, I do feel there are too many songs using piano on the album, which is a shame, as Bellamy is quite the guitarist and should be utilizing that instrument as much/more than the piano.
The finale of the album, the "Exogenesis Symphony". This was an extremely brave attempt. I mean that, Brave with a capital B. B for by god! Is this really a 15 minute orchestra related piece on a rock album? Yes, yes it is a 15 minute orchestra related piece on a rock album. At this point, I tend to just turn it to another song. It is a very soothing piece, but if you're like me and tend to be quite angsty and have to have something that will not put you to sleep whilst you're making a cheese and pickle sandwich, then this is not for you.
Call it what you want, but Muse are a great band, and this is no "Origin Of Symmetry", but I have to admit it, this is a brilliant album. Despite all my negativity, I do like this album. It's trying to show that as a 3 piece band, they can still create something as genius and magnificent as "The Resistance". Sure they may of nicked a lot of things from other bands, but it works so well, gels so smoothly without all the sticky excess you get when you try and use Brylcreem and it just does not come off of your hands. Besides, 2009 hasn't been a brilliant year for music fans anyway. Think about it next time you're at the "top ten" CD aisle in a store. "Do I want Muse's new album ... or do I want Jay-Z's new album?" Also, if you don't pick up "The Resistance" and bask in it's greatness, then you can go eat a dick roll. With extra mayonnaise.
Don't get me wrong, I had my doubts as soon as I heard the title. The Resistance. Sounds like they've been watching too much Terminator and decided that it would be a brilliant idea to base their song titles and album name on some of the themes in that film. Although, this is a rather petty review so far.
The opening track "Uprising" is a catchy little mistress. It really will grind into your head, with it's striking resemblance to the Dr Who theme tune. Non the less, it is a great song and as the first single to be released from the album, you cannot fault it. Unless you're me, then you can fault it. But of course, there is a really nice solo in here, and if you've heard the live version, your heart will melt at the energy it causes.
The title track, "Resistance" for those who haven't caught on with the album I'm reviewing, is a strong song--Hold on a second, I just made a rhyme. It has the band singing "It could be wrong, could be wrong" which i thought was quite nice first time around, but after a while it gets quite annoying. And for some reason, whenever I listen to this song, the opening makes me daydream about the video to their song "Bliss". If you haven't seen it, go watch it to get my drift.
It seems that Muse took a lot of influence from bands like Queen and Depeche Mode, which is even more apparent on tracks like "United States of Eurasia" and "Undisclosed Desires". United States of Eurasia is Queen. Seriously, if you've never heard Queen before (god forbid) and you put this song on, you'd be like wow, that's really neat and stuff. Then you'd put Bohemian Rhapsody on and be like, "hang on a minute, I just listened to this song ... what is this bull?". And for those of you who didn't know, the piano outro, "Collateral Damage", is a piece composed by Chopin. Nocturne Op. 9 No.2. I think.
My favorite track on the album has to be "Unnatural Selection", it reminds me so much of "New Born". How I miss them days ... sorry, nostalgia caught up with me there. It has the thumping guitar riff that everyone expects from Mr. Bellamy and oh hang on, I have gotten to a part of the song and yep, I'm bored of it. Seriously, It's my favorite song on the album and I get bored half way through it. Also, I have just noticed I lied. "Undisclosed Desires" is actually my favorite song on the album but ... shut up.
MK Ultra, was a government experiment if I remember rightly. Bellamy based a lot of the songs on the album on conspiracies and of course, resisting. I actually really like this song, it has a guitar intro which sounds like a keyboard and has some crunchy riff-age later on in the song, with some nice falsetto vocals which are in my opinion Bellamy's signature aspect to his musical style. But once again, I found the song rather tedious after the 10th listen. Don't get me wrong, it's good, but most the songs do become tiresome, unlike say golden oldies like "Plug In Baby".
In all fairness, Muse were open to try something new and extraordinary, but hidden beneath all the synthesizers and the echo-y drums, you get a repeat of some of the songs off of Absolution. For example, "Guiding Light", if you got rid of the incredible guitar solo half way through the song, I would of thought I was listening to "Thoughts Of A Dying Atheist". At this point you may be thinking, "Chris, you sure do know a lot about Muse's back catalog" and that is because I am a Muse fan. And yes, I will hide from all the profanity that ensues in my direction for my sheer outing of being a fan of the band I am reviewing.
I fail to see why they put "I Belong To You" on the album. It's such a slow and cheesy song. When I first heard this song I thought to myself, "Why can I see this being used in a film?". Few weeks later, turns out it's being used in the new Twilight film. Hoorah. However, the French singing was really interesting, It gave the song it's credibility; its muse to put a pun in this review. I though the use of different instruments were nice, however, I do feel there are too many songs using piano on the album, which is a shame, as Bellamy is quite the guitarist and should be utilizing that instrument as much/more than the piano.
The finale of the album, the "Exogenesis Symphony". This was an extremely brave attempt. I mean that, Brave with a capital B. B for by god! Is this really a 15 minute orchestra related piece on a rock album? Yes, yes it is a 15 minute orchestra related piece on a rock album. At this point, I tend to just turn it to another song. It is a very soothing piece, but if you're like me and tend to be quite angsty and have to have something that will not put you to sleep whilst you're making a cheese and pickle sandwich, then this is not for you.
Call it what you want, but Muse are a great band, and this is no "Origin Of Symmetry", but I have to admit it, this is a brilliant album. Despite all my negativity, I do like this album. It's trying to show that as a 3 piece band, they can still create something as genius and magnificent as "The Resistance". Sure they may of nicked a lot of things from other bands, but it works so well, gels so smoothly without all the sticky excess you get when you try and use Brylcreem and it just does not come off of your hands. Besides, 2009 hasn't been a brilliant year for music fans anyway. Think about it next time you're at the "top ten" CD aisle in a store. "Do I want Muse's new album ... or do I want Jay-Z's new album?" Also, if you don't pick up "The Resistance" and bask in it's greatness, then you can go eat a dick roll. With extra mayonnaise.
