Muse - Black Holes and Revelations

Well, I apologise for the huge delay since the last set of reviews. I had an extremely busy two days at the beginning of the week with school, the details of which I'm sure would be of no interest but suffice it to say it was a busy two day. Then I worked Wednesday night, and unfortunately became very sick from food poisoning that night/the following morning, and only just started to really recover yesterday. Glory be, however, I have an extremely unusual four day weekend, and as a result I have an extra two days to try to catch up.

With that in mind, here is the first of these reviews.



Muse - Black Holes and Revelations

My experience with Muse has been, and please, pardon the cliche, that one either loves or hates the band. Neutrality is rare with regards to their sound, but for quite a long time I'll admit I fell squarely into that camp. I honestly can't recall where I first heard Time is Running Out, but it inspired me to pick up Muse's third album, Absolution. I liked the album well enough that it dodged my CD purge of several years ago, but the album never really grabbed me as a whole. There were five or so tracks which I thought were great, but the rest of the album I was a bit blase towards. I eventually shelved it in the hopes that I would come back at some point in the future and maybe have a better opinion then, and promptly forgot about Muse.
That was 2004. 2006 rolls around, and Muse are releasing a new album. I only hear about this a little while after the release, for obvious reasons, and don't have much reaction. At least, I don't until I hear the first (North American) single, Supermassive Black Hole. It was so different from the Radiohead-esque sound of earlier albums, with a completely new (and incredibly catchy) sound that as soon as I could get to my computer I downloaded the album. And I must say, while it doesn't as a whole live up to the promise of that first single, the album is a massive (forgive the pun) step forward from their earlier work. The most noticeable change was the adoption of somewhat simpler, hard rock riffs and the loss of a lot of the spacy, electronic experimentation. While that sounds at first glance like it might ruin the sound of the band, in truth the new style actually helps to make them more unique and impressive than before, finally letting them step out from behind the shadow of Radiohead. (Not least of all by lead singer/guitarist Matthew Bellamy's different vocal delivery this time around)
Bellamy does stick to the same sort of lyrical themes as previous albums, such as conspiracy theories, aliens, theology, etc. but he infuses a lot more overtly political sentiments as well. This is brutally obvious on opener Take a Bow, which skewers modern political leaders. While I am sometimes put off by such unsublte displays, somehow it works with Muse.
As for the playing itself, the band are definitely developing their skills as musicians since their earlier days, and as a result they sound relaxed and capable with the intruments, helping along the sound dramatically.
I guess I can only close by bringing special attention to closer Knights of Cydonia, which is definitely an epic track. Clocking in at around 7 minutes, it is noticebaly longer than most Muse songs, but the track never really drags. It builds slowly over the first few minutes before exploding with a long payoff of progressive rock styling, surf rock undertones, and pop sensibilities. Frankly, the album is worth it to me for just Supermassive... and Knights..., but luckily almost every song on here is of similar quality. It's a great intro to the band, and is hands down their best work to date.
8/10