Muse The following is a sample of Muse lyrics (from “Apocalypse Please,” off Absolution, their last album): Proclaim eternal victory Hmm. Where exactly does one go from there? How exactly do you follow up something so massive and epic that only the band’s exceptional talent saved it from imploding in a cloud of pretension? Absolution ranks in my mind as one of the most brilliant albums of this decade, but creating a worthy successor is a daunting task. Muse had several choices; personally, I was hoping that they would go the Radiohead route and try something completely new and foreign. As much as I love their sound, the songs started to blend stylistically after a while. Why not deconstruct their style, create an even darker mood maybe? Their new album, Black Holes and Revelations, is an answer to my prayers…sort of. They’ve certainly changed their sound – techno-flavored grooves, flamenco guitar, even an occasional trumpet! – but in terms of songwriting, the changes aren’t always positive or what most people were expecting. Lead single “Supermassive Black Hole” took the Muse community by surprise, and with good reason. The song – especially Matt Bellamy’s vocals – sounds like Muse fused with ‘70’s disco. Personally, I adore the song; this unholy marriage of genres somehow works, with some classic Muse chord progressions over a deep, funky groove. It also happens to be catchy as hell, which might make some of the band’s snobbier fans a bit wary; however, let’s remember that infectiousness is one of Muse’s strongest assets even throughout their most experimental material. The highlights are extremely high, and the CD boasts a lot of the band’s best work yet. Perhaps the most noticeable positive change is the way that Dominic Howard’s drumming is featured more than ever before. Always a masterful, steady presence on record, he only truly let it all loose in concert. Now, however, he is featured prominently with fills and blast-beats throughout (especially on “Assassin”). It gives their sound a brand-new power. The Spanish guitar on “City of Delusion” and “Hoodoo” is a natural addition to the style, and the club techno of “Map of the Problematique” is – surprisingly – really beautiful. The best of them all might be the album’s epic closer, “Knights of Cydonia.” True to its title, the song begins with an eerie soundscape of whinnying horses before starting a groove that can only be described as medieval. It is a thrilling, inventive song with just the right mix of pompousness, flair, and face-melting rock. In other words, it’s just what we love about Muse. There are, however, some moments on the album that…confuse me. Bellamy’s vocals have always been consciously overblown, but it was just an element of their grand sound. On certain numbers, the grandness of the music is noticeably absent…but the overblown style remains firmly in place. “Starlight,” the band’s next single, boasts a shimmering piano line over a solid groove and is probably the band’s most musically simple song in ages. The song is a gorgeous piece of work (don’t take simplicity as a flaw), but it can be a bit discomfiting to hear what sounds like a U2 instrumentation with Matt Bellamy singing over it. “Invincible” takes it a step further: the last verse sounds like Bellamy parodying himself, and it’s pretty painful. The most glaring flaw might be the band’s choice to open the album with “Take a Bow,” which is about as generic a Muse song as one could ask for: it’s an exciting number, for sure, but it sounds like an oversimplified version of an Absolution track. Why should that be the first impression of an album that is so inventive? My biggest personal beef with the album is the lack of a truly epic piano solo (a la “Butterflies and Hurricanes”), and the general absence of the grand piano throughout; their synth-ier sound has not allowed room for Bellamy’s incredible keyboard talent. The harshest critique that I can offer is “not an unqualified rave.” Sure, there’s the occasional overdone or oversimplified moment, but the vast majority of the tracks reveal their continuing brilliance. For the first time, it sounds like they have moved out of their comfort zone and tried new styles, most of which feel like a perfect fit. Remember, all you Pitchfork readers: don’t take this too seriously. You just know the band doesn’t. -- Matt Aucoin Key tracks: “Supermassive Black Hole,” “Assassin,” “Knights of Cydonia” |
