Two issues here. First, I feel like there just isn't enough Muse talk out there. U2 is coming to Charlottesville this week, and it seems like many don't even know that Muse is opening for them, let alone that they're a huge band in their own right. A lot of people just don't know who they are. Well, here's a short, possibly inaccurate bio:
Rock band from England. Home of Bangers and Mash, Wayne Rooney, interesting if not excellent humor, and Doctor Who.
Three guys, with Matthew Bellamy, the frontman. Mr. Bellamy is known to hit a high note every once in a while, and spits mean vibrato.
Many of their songs have what I would describe as an epic, spacey feel to them. It's not that they've got a symphony orchestra (ha, I'll get back to this) in the background of every song, its just sounds like you're on an adventure when you listen to them.
They were the first performance in the new Wembley Stadium in London [citation needed] and they sold that whole big-ass place out [citation needed].
They rock pretty hard.
They may not be your style, but I like 'em. But they're massive across the pond, and they're comin' here. They also have a new album and that's really why I'm writing this.
So Muse comes out with "The Resistance"...last Tuesday I guess it was. I'm excited. I'm cheering. I'm in a Panera. (I was away from home for work, and had to hit up that free wi-fi to download the thing off iTunes. ) This was the first mistake. Always buy the CD if you're gonna get the whole thing. If anything its nice to know you'll have something when your computer blows up. Yes, even your Mac will blow up on you.
Without sampling any of the songs, I buy this thing because it has an average rating of 5 out of 5 stars on iTunes and all the reviews are good. I've heard a couple of the songs on the radio, Uprising and United States of Eurasia, and they sound alright. And I like Muse. And its NEW muse. That should be reason enough. It's like an early Christmas present for me. Or late birthday. Graduation? Whatever, pick your fancy.
I have a lot of time on my hands (I drove in circles for about 1000 miles two weeks ago) so I listen to the whole thing at once. I'm puzzled. I listen to a few songs over again. Yep, that's what I heard the first time. It's at this point it really hits me that I'm really underwhelmed. It's not that the album fell short of expectation, it just went in a completely different direction than I thought it would. I haven't heard all of their albums, but they are one of my "favourite" bands and I think I have a good idea what their sound is. I really wasn't ready for this. It's like all the songs are someone else's with a little Muse added in. I hear Goldfrapp, Depeche Mode, Queen, Doctor Who Theme Song, even a little essence of an 80's-90's movie love song... yeah.. joint could be in Top Gun or something. The last three songs could be in a movie score. It's not that its bad, and I've got a few favorites after trying to force myself to like it ("Undisclosed Desires" could be one, but I don't think there are even any real drums in it), but I just.. I just don't know.
That being said, I want to go to the concert. Please donate a ticket. Seriously.
(Here's Uprising off the new album)
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Did they play at the MTV awards recently? I must admit they, at least this particular song, is not bad. I might download it and add it to the collection. Maybe I'll grooveshark them.
ReplyDeleteWith that said, I must completely agree with you on the whole 80's / movie score sound. I think if they took the electronica out of it, it'd be a better sound. Maybe that's the sound they are going for though. I think it sounds a little cheesy if that's the right word.