Muse Take II

I guess I can respect a band for taking their success (can you say "phenomenal"?) seriously. Many groups just write unintentional crap while very rarely promoting an agenda, when in reality the history of music is bathed in political opinions and counter-culture. So from that point of view, I can commend Muse for at least trying.

But when you're a Brit-rock sensation, you could be a little more...substantial, don't you think? Muse is in a position to overwhelm the majority of musicdom with real, personal opinions on how government should be run. But instead, we get cliche notions like "love is our resistance". I feel like they missed the hippie beat by way too long, because these ideas are no longer new! I'll admit, the concept isn't impractical and is in general a positive direction, but it's like some teenager wrote the lyrics during puberty. Angry at his parents and in love with his own emotions.

To be fair, there are some cool lyrics. I still like the chorus of "Unnatural Selection" where Matt sings "we're not droplets in the ocean". And the french in "I Belong to You", while not being entirely original, is a beautiful and poetic addition to the album. Otherwise, songs like "United States of Eurasia" sound awesome, but when you listen to the lyrics you realize there's little reason to care. Even though it even ends with a cool little Chopin piano bit at the end.

So we come to the music. It's Muse, ladies and gentlemen. You won't be surprised by many of the piano interludes, nor the chord patterns. But it's all orchestrated to provoke an epic feeling, because the songs are long and winded. It's intelligent, very intentional music, but at the core most of it is still what Muse has been doing for the past 3 albums. With the exception of Exogenesis, which has such beautiful symphonic elements that only disappoint when you realize they're turning the orchestral music into another Muse song.

What I find most compelling in The Resistance is Matt Bellamy's voice. I love it in songs like "Resistance" and especially "Unnatural Selection". He has a range that is being pushed to its limits, he's hitting lower notes and having much more fun. As much of a Queen rip-off as "United States of Eurasia" is, it's obviously a very fun song.

"Undisclosed Desires" and "Guiding Light" are boring, and "I Belong to You" is really only interesting to me because of the French part. Love songs are cool, but Muse used to write songs like "Unintended" (Go look it up, it's off of Showbiz, and is one of my favorite Muse tracks of all time).

I feel like I'm just whining by this point. Muse are excellent musicians, but their older stuff just sounds more...solid. Listen to Showbiz or Absolution, and I think you'll hear what I'm saying. I could have lived without The Resistance, especially after all the times I've listened to it. I won't be going back often.