In 2003, the album Absolution shot Muse to mainstream success. Black Holes & Revelations is the 2006 follow-up, where the band took on a more extravagant style, and is regarded as where they "sold out" according to many fans of earlier albums.
I disagree. Sure, its overblown style is worlds apart from the simple elegance of the earlier albums, but I dig it. In my book, Muse's "selling out" occurred with the following album (The Resistance), due to it feeling dumbed-down and like a carelessly cobbled together collection of pop hooks (although I must admit that this opinion has been formed based on the singles only)
Enough ranting... Take a Bow kicks things off in ridiculously over-the-top fashion. Therefore it is the perfect opener for this album! With the right video clip, it could work as the perfect epic soundtrack, but as a standalone song it's a bit silly. Also, the distortion in the recording is a pet peeve of mine. Nonetheless, it works well as the opener here.
Following the successful formula of Time is Running Out from Muse's previous album is Starlight. The cheesy groove and lyrics work just as well here, creating a song that is both catchy and epic. My favourite moment is in the massive final chorus when the drums resolve in the rock beat.
Embarrassingly, until very recently I thought that the chorus lyric in Supermassive Black Hole isn't "Supermassive Vagabond". How on earth did I think that?? Despite the name of the song and all?! Anyway, the glam elements probably aren't popular with "traditional" Muse fans, but I really like it for the contrast it provides. Somehow, the song feels like a mashup of the bands Queen and Human League. And the backing vocals in the chorus are a particular highlight.
Map of the Problematique's electronica style makes it more cruisy than energetic, but I still find it an enjoyable song. Speaking of relaxed, Soldier's Poem is a welcome chance to catch your breath. It's not a song I'd listen to in isolation, but on the album it's a very welcome intermission.
Invincible is a brilliant 21st century rock equivalent of Ravel's Bolero. Minor quibbles are that the recording of the snare sounds awful, and that the final chorus (in attempting to be sounds of massive proportions) ends up being just noise. However, these are easily overlooked thanks to the fantastic build-up, climaxing in the perfectly over-the-top ridiculous guitar shredding before the final chorus. Wow.
Assassin is vintage Muse goodness: the combination of Matt Bellamy wailing incoherently about
God-knows-what(!), catchy rock riffs and a thousand other brilliantly layered sounds. It also features a great chorus. Similarly, Exo-politics hits the mark, thanks to a solid riff and the wonderfully catchy pre-chorus and chorus.
City of Delusion somehow doesn't appeal to me at all, especially the chorus. In isolation, Hoodoo is rubbish. However it performs its role on the album perfectly, by serving as an introduction for...
Knights of Cydonia, which is one of my all-time favourite songs. Where Take a Bow could be part of a masterpiece with the right visual accompaniment, Knights of Cydonia needs no such assistance! If I may nit-pick, the bass sound is a bit strange. There is a large amount of "thump" but the lack of a grunty bass guitar sound results in a hole above it. The energy and imagery of the song, however, is brilliant. This rock-opera truly brings the horsemen of the apocalypse to life, as galaxies explode and space-time itself tears apart. This is portrayed by the soaring guitar riff, then -just when you think it couldn't get any bigger- the hypnotic vocals appear on top of it all. Incredible.
Post-script: My initial version here gave this decent marks for recording quality and Knights of Cydonia is a favourite of mine for playing at excessing volume. Therefore I was expecting a quick re-listen would result in a "high-fi" rating... but it wasn't to be. There are two issues, one very simple (perhaps reflecting more on yours truly than the album...) and the other is quite philosophical. The simple reason is that it is devoid of low-end bass; perhaps this was done to give the album a crisp and fast-paced feeling, but other albums have managed to achieve this while still having good meat to the bass guitar and kick-drum. The philosophical reason is that it feels like each instrument is being pigeonholed to play a cameo role, so there is no chance for them to have character or subtlety. The counterpoint to this is that the layering of the thousand overdubs is bliss and the
highlights have a huge sense of scale.
Favourite songs
Starlight, Supermassive Black Hole, Map of the Problematique, Invincible, Assassin, Exo-politics, Knights of Cydonia
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