Muse-ic (blame airlight).
I present my random ramblings on Muse's new album - Black Holes & Revelations.
Really, I'll sum the entire thing up as "gloriously over the top", "epic" and "ridiculously intergalactic space rock"
Take a Bow - Good idea to start the album with this track; nice blend of the techno and rock slant the entire album carries. I love the sense of build-up in this song. It really has you howling along to the chorus (of sorts) later in the song. "Our freedom's consuming itself" - love the lyrics. Very political, but ambiguous enough to not be too narrow and confined to our times. Mm, love the break down into guitaring and drums about half-way through. I think as a song this is the perfect scene-setter; it really says "This is album is a collection of pompous epic space-techno rock, and we love it". The fuzzy climax could be lifted straight from Origin of Symmetry, with the distorted feedback, reminds me of the start of Plug in Baby or Hyper Music or Space Dementia etc. Really very powerful and brilliant.
Starlight - Ahh. It follows on superbly from the end of TaB. Again, really like the lyrics - the visions of ships and "I'll never let you go if you promise not to fade away". It's one of the more pop-like songs on the album. I think it's like the Bliss of BH&R; that is to say, a real festival song. Matt's vocals really soar and because it's easy to sing along to, it would be really atmospheric, I imagine.
Supermassive Black Hole - Well done to whoever decided to make this a first single. It's different enough from their previous stuff to let people know that this isn't a rehashed album of the same tracks essentially remixed. It introduces the techno-aspect, but is rocky enough to remain Musey. I also like the Hysteria-type fuzzy bass line running throughout it, great contrast to Matt's falsetto. In terms of placement within the album it's a good one to follow up Starlight with, a nice change of tone that keeps both songs fresh.
Map of the Problematique - Ah my. If Matt's vocals in Starlight soars then this entire song launches off earth into deep space. Probably the best combination of the dance/electro-lines and rock in the entire album. There's a little group of synthed beats before each section of the song that remind me strongly of a dance track I listened to once called Magnetic Groove. And jeez, I love how Chris comes in to join Matt singing on "[When will this] loneliness be over?" Certainly one of my favourite songs on the album. I adore Matt's singing, great emotion behind the wail of "I can't get it right" followed by a soft "since I met/lost you". Also, the title sounds like a Radiohead title, hee.
Soldier's Poem - In some ways I question putting this right after the rushing swirls of MotP, as it's tempting to skip past a slower song to carry on the momentum. However, perhaps that's just me. Some people like having a respite from the operatic visions of the universe, so to speak. Anyway, the song itself is quite lovely, when you consider it on its own. Short and sweet, I get a real Queen vibe coming from Chris, and perhaps even Dom's backing vocals.
Invincible - Another very sensitive slower song. Who other than Muse could pull off a military drum beat combined with an organ at the same time? I'm not usually a huge fan of organs - I still struggle with Megalomania. I do like the chorus of this song though, found myself singing it a few times throughout the day. I think I may have put it somewhere other than right after SP, but that's a personal preference to do with speed and timings. I bet this would be a nice one to groove to at a gig, a real lighters-out song, hehe. Or perhaps one to listen to late at night. Also kudos for the bass line that comes in about three quarters of the way through the song, prevents it from getting dull. Also, hurray for ambiguous lyrics.
Assassin - OZMG TEH STROKES. Seriously though, I get strong vibes that say "The Strokes" to me from the opening of this one. I adore the speed. Love this song. Technically it must be very satisfying to pull off, I wonder how difficult Matt finds it to sing the verses at a different speed to the guitar and bass. Assassin has strong flavours of Stockholm Syndrome and Yes Please for me, and perhaps even a little plug in baby. It's certainly the real head-thrashing track on the album. And once again we have glorious operatic vocals soaring over the frantic drumming and guitaring.
Exo-Politics - Excellent one to follow Assassin with. Another of my favourites. It's another easy one to sing along to. I'm struggling to draw comparisons to previous Muse songs as I've not been listening to their older stuff recently. ;) It's a pretty simple song instrumentally, but very satisfying. A bit of a military feel to the drumming which lends the entire thing something of a heart-beat or pulse-like characteristic. Good variation between the "When the Zetas fill the skies" type chorus and the more wailing "And I'm waiting patiently" section. And again, it's nice to really hear Chris's backing vocals quite prominently!
City of Delusion - Good one to follow E-P with, particularly the acoustic-y guitar at the start. A mandolin or something, apparently? Perhaps that was another a track. I read it somewhere or other. Muse have a habit of having great little instrumental bits before the chorus - there's a nice little guitar thrash before the chorus in this one, a bit like the heavy part before the chorus in Micro Cuts on OoS. The techno-space sounds about half-way through the song work really well with highlighting the build up of guitar. And hurray for strings. I like the variety of instruments on this track, so diverse and unafraid to experiment. And TRUMPET. Seriously, I'm developing something of a trumpet obsession, as there is a little trumpet section at the start of Bang Bang You're Dead by Dirty Pretty Things, another superb band. My mother's John Coltrane habits have finally worn off, it seems.
Hoodoo - Probably my least favourite on the album. It's sung very nicely, but is perhaps let down slightly by the promise of a faster pace by the latino-guitaring at the start. Although, there is piano! I do like a little Muse-piano. the pianos and strings work well, but they aren't in the same league as Butterflies and Hurricanes.
[Edit at a later date: Scratch that, I adore Hoodoo now.]
Knights of Cyndonia - Ah, what a way to finish. Galloping horses? Laser guns? Are they bringing back Firefly!? Lovely juddering bass line set against the steady, pacey drumming. The song doesn't really hit stride until the chorus when you can't help but sit back and marvel, and check that it suddenly didn't change tracks or settings or something. A soft deceptive verse hints ever-so-gently at some kind of explosion which kicks in abou mid-way through the song. If everyone isn't screaming "No-one's going to take me alive" at the festivals this year then I'll eat my hat. And then, after the anguished chorus a massive-like-whoa breakdown that creeps up on you and suddenly assaults your ears, cutting in deep, miles below the higher pitches of the vocals. And then when the two combine it's just supremely fantastic, brilliant in everyway. The guitaring is a little like Assassin, and brings the album to a climatic, intergalactic finish.
Really, I'll sum the entire thing up as "gloriously over the top", "epic" and "ridiculously intergalactic space rock"
Take a Bow - Good idea to start the album with this track; nice blend of the techno and rock slant the entire album carries. I love the sense of build-up in this song. It really has you howling along to the chorus (of sorts) later in the song. "Our freedom's consuming itself" - love the lyrics. Very political, but ambiguous enough to not be too narrow and confined to our times. Mm, love the break down into guitaring and drums about half-way through. I think as a song this is the perfect scene-setter; it really says "This is album is a collection of pompous epic space-techno rock, and we love it". The fuzzy climax could be lifted straight from Origin of Symmetry, with the distorted feedback, reminds me of the start of Plug in Baby or Hyper Music or Space Dementia etc. Really very powerful and brilliant.
Starlight - Ahh. It follows on superbly from the end of TaB. Again, really like the lyrics - the visions of ships and "I'll never let you go if you promise not to fade away". It's one of the more pop-like songs on the album. I think it's like the Bliss of BH&R; that is to say, a real festival song. Matt's vocals really soar and because it's easy to sing along to, it would be really atmospheric, I imagine.
Supermassive Black Hole - Well done to whoever decided to make this a first single. It's different enough from their previous stuff to let people know that this isn't a rehashed album of the same tracks essentially remixed. It introduces the techno-aspect, but is rocky enough to remain Musey. I also like the Hysteria-type fuzzy bass line running throughout it, great contrast to Matt's falsetto. In terms of placement within the album it's a good one to follow up Starlight with, a nice change of tone that keeps both songs fresh.
Map of the Problematique - Ah my. If Matt's vocals in Starlight soars then this entire song launches off earth into deep space. Probably the best combination of the dance/electro-lines and rock in the entire album. There's a little group of synthed beats before each section of the song that remind me strongly of a dance track I listened to once called Magnetic Groove. And jeez, I love how Chris comes in to join Matt singing on "[When will this] loneliness be over?" Certainly one of my favourite songs on the album. I adore Matt's singing, great emotion behind the wail of "I can't get it right" followed by a soft "since I met/lost you". Also, the title sounds like a Radiohead title, hee.
Soldier's Poem - In some ways I question putting this right after the rushing swirls of MotP, as it's tempting to skip past a slower song to carry on the momentum. However, perhaps that's just me. Some people like having a respite from the operatic visions of the universe, so to speak. Anyway, the song itself is quite lovely, when you consider it on its own. Short and sweet, I get a real Queen vibe coming from Chris, and perhaps even Dom's backing vocals.
Invincible - Another very sensitive slower song. Who other than Muse could pull off a military drum beat combined with an organ at the same time? I'm not usually a huge fan of organs - I still struggle with Megalomania. I do like the chorus of this song though, found myself singing it a few times throughout the day. I think I may have put it somewhere other than right after SP, but that's a personal preference to do with speed and timings. I bet this would be a nice one to groove to at a gig, a real lighters-out song, hehe. Or perhaps one to listen to late at night. Also kudos for the bass line that comes in about three quarters of the way through the song, prevents it from getting dull. Also, hurray for ambiguous lyrics.
Assassin - OZMG TEH STROKES. Seriously though, I get strong vibes that say "The Strokes" to me from the opening of this one. I adore the speed. Love this song. Technically it must be very satisfying to pull off, I wonder how difficult Matt finds it to sing the verses at a different speed to the guitar and bass. Assassin has strong flavours of Stockholm Syndrome and Yes Please for me, and perhaps even a little plug in baby. It's certainly the real head-thrashing track on the album. And once again we have glorious operatic vocals soaring over the frantic drumming and guitaring.
Exo-Politics - Excellent one to follow Assassin with. Another of my favourites. It's another easy one to sing along to. I'm struggling to draw comparisons to previous Muse songs as I've not been listening to their older stuff recently. ;) It's a pretty simple song instrumentally, but very satisfying. A bit of a military feel to the drumming which lends the entire thing something of a heart-beat or pulse-like characteristic. Good variation between the "When the Zetas fill the skies" type chorus and the more wailing "And I'm waiting patiently" section. And again, it's nice to really hear Chris's backing vocals quite prominently!
City of Delusion - Good one to follow E-P with, particularly the acoustic-y guitar at the start. A mandolin or something, apparently? Perhaps that was another a track. I read it somewhere or other. Muse have a habit of having great little instrumental bits before the chorus - there's a nice little guitar thrash before the chorus in this one, a bit like the heavy part before the chorus in Micro Cuts on OoS. The techno-space sounds about half-way through the song work really well with highlighting the build up of guitar. And hurray for strings. I like the variety of instruments on this track, so diverse and unafraid to experiment. And TRUMPET. Seriously, I'm developing something of a trumpet obsession, as there is a little trumpet section at the start of Bang Bang You're Dead by Dirty Pretty Things, another superb band. My mother's John Coltrane habits have finally worn off, it seems.
Hoodoo - Probably my least favourite on the album. It's sung very nicely, but is perhaps let down slightly by the promise of a faster pace by the latino-guitaring at the start. Although, there is piano! I do like a little Muse-piano. the pianos and strings work well, but they aren't in the same league as Butterflies and Hurricanes.
[Edit at a later date: Scratch that, I adore Hoodoo now.]
Knights of Cyndonia - Ah, what a way to finish. Galloping horses? Laser guns? Are they bringing back Firefly!? Lovely juddering bass line set against the steady, pacey drumming. The song doesn't really hit stride until the chorus when you can't help but sit back and marvel, and check that it suddenly didn't change tracks or settings or something. A soft deceptive verse hints ever-so-gently at some kind of explosion which kicks in abou mid-way through the song. If everyone isn't screaming "No-one's going to take me alive" at the festivals this year then I'll eat my hat. And then, after the anguished chorus a massive-like-whoa breakdown that creeps up on you and suddenly assaults your ears, cutting in deep, miles below the higher pitches of the vocals. And then when the two combine it's just supremely fantastic, brilliant in everyway. The guitaring is a little like Assassin, and brings the album to a climatic, intergalactic finish.