BBC Review
They know exactly how guilty a pleasure they can be.
Chris Jones 2009-09-11
Less earnest and self-regarding than Radiohead and less free trade-hippie than Coldplay, Muse know exactly how guilty a pleasure they can be. Stuffing their albums with sing-along pomp and circumstance, their days as sub-prog pariahs have long since passed.
Comparing The Resistance with its 2006 predecessor, Black Holes and Revelations, is never going to be easy. The latter was an audacious leap into the hallowed area where cosmic meets commercial in a way not seen since Dark Side of the Moon. There is a distinct development here, but a self-produced heaping on of classical motifs and Queen-style histrionics isn’t necessarily the one we were hoping for. It’s not that they’re taking themselves too seriously, more that you’re never sure if the listener is supposed to.
It all starts splendidly with Uprising. While owing the late Delia Derbyshire some royalties with its Dr Who theme glitter stomp, it shows that Muse know how to whip up proper chart action. Pop sensibilities create a certain tension throughout, although by the closing three-part ‘symphony’, Exogenesis, they’ve jettisoned such relative restraint for string-drenched overkill, albeit laced with incomprehensible semi-sci-fi shenanigans. Still, this final folly/masterstroke works well because, despite its grand designs, it has a touch of ELO magic about it.
And speaking of grand designs, The Resistance retains Bellamy’s preposterous adherence to conspiracy theories – it’s maybe this that stops it being a solid gold classic. The mismatch between a rapidly maturing musical vision and chunks of John Perkins’s Confessions of an Economic Hitman puts Muse firmly back in the X File marked ‘life’s not fair and someone’s to blame’.
Having said that, quoting Chopin or Saint-Saëns verbatim isn’t necessarily maturation either, but time and again Muse remind you of how good they are at making your pulse race. MK Ultra is a coruscating live favourite-in-waiting, while I Belong to You has enough 70s piano-driven bounce to make you forget all the grim paranoia lying beneath the surface.
At times Bellamy can sound like a rock equivalent of Mulder as he wails “I want the truth!” on the rabble-rousing Unnatural Selection. Someone should tell him that the truth lies in his band’s very capable hands. Muse remain a national treasure, but not one that Nicolas Cage is likely to find.
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I have been eagerly awaiting the new album, and it was with great excitement that I set off for my walk, earphones in and ready work through it. I love Muse, but I always need a good few listens to completely 'get it'. Some songs are obvious winners from the off, I love uprising, the resistance and guiding light, great songs. Most of the others I am now on board with, although Exogenesis is taking me a while! You can't deny though that the boys have again produced an album of quality, and quite clearly produce what they want to produce, without fear of what others may think, which is really refreshing. Best band out there by a country mile!!
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I have been looking forward to this album since they announced they were in the studio again and now having heard it once and currently listening to it I have to say that it was worth the wait. It's off today, but there are elements that take me right back to the '80s as there are influences by Queen and even Ultravox as Guiding Light owes a massive debt to Vienna both in its drum beat and how its sung. As with Black holes I suspect that they are going to put on an awseome live show to go with this album.
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What an album! It was always going to be hard to follow Black Holes and this is an equal, due to a more classical approach. The production is so clean, you could hear a pin drop - reminds me of the production on Depeche Modes Violator album. Early Muse fans will likely be disappointed, as Muse have turned down the wailing guitars, in favour of a more electronic/classical feel. MATT Bellamy is a very talented man and can even bring Frédéric Chopin back from the dead!!
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this has got to be the best album of the past two years at least!!! I was never really a muse fan but this blows everything away it has everything in it and yes it so reminds me of classic queen!
I have read several reviews of this and they dont seem so good but by do it is and the general public will show this! the age of the internet puts dust to the normal reviewers who are so up there own! i wont comment on that the public know a good album when they hear it and i am not on about he normal rubbish you get in the charts!!!
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I love this album!!! There are so many different musical nods and references from 70s rock, 80s electronic, Classical and even Abba but yet maintains a freshness and originality which I like. I personally listen to a huge variety of genres from Baroque to Rock depending on my mood but it may take a while before I change what's playing on my ipod!
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I love Muse, but this latest album is, in my opinion, a huge disappointment. The first 3 tracks are OK, but after a dreadful "Queen" moment in the 4th song, the whole album becomes so overblown and poncy as to be unlistenable to.
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I think it’s unfair that music reviewers tend to critically analyse the intellectual and emotional inspiration for music more that the music itself. It is passé that this trend has gone on for so long. This is what you appear to have done here Chris and overlooked the music to some extent.
So what if Bellamy has a kookier outlook on the world than most and emphasises this with the fusion of Chopin and conspiracy theory. I agree with you that Bellamy’s outlook on life is avant-garde. However, regardless of my disbelief of his theories and opinions it is this ability to free think that makes him so creative. If it produces good music, who really cares what a songwriter’s drive and inspiration is as long as the message is not hateful?
Should we question or analyse Grace Slick's inspiration for White Rabbit? We could spend hundreds of words and several hours on the folly of consuming psychedelic drugs or the pretensions of drawing on Lewis Carroll for musical inspiration. In the meantime we forget what a cracking good tune it is. My advice is to listen, enjoy [or not] and then creatively comment on the quality of the musicianship and song writing. Sure, the context and inspiration is good stocking filler but the big present Santa has left at the end of the bed is the music. It’s what we all are truly interested in.
In the case of The Resistance the album is astonishingly good. It’s elegantly produced and very well performed. Is it in the same league as Dark Side of The Moon, Nevermind or Led Zeppelin IV? Probably not. But it is nevertheless an exceptionally diverse and well constructed piece of work.
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