On the heels of Muse's The Resistance's two-month anniversary I felt it necessary to talk about my initial thoughts on the album and its place in Muse's discography. I purposely wait a while before I talk about an album because music is one of those things that has to grow on you.
Most Muse purists will hang me for this but I was not a fan of Black Holes and Revelations , at all. So I found it quite calming to think that it has really been 3 years since they released that album. The Resistance harks back on what makes Muse the band that I fell in love with all those years ago. I mean, it doesn't help that Twilight used one of the flagship songs of the prior album, Supermassive Black Hole, in their movie. Alone, the song is pretty good. It's very synthy, with a driving beat, all good things to have in a song, don't get me wrong. But personally, it had very pop-like features. The techno-voice breakdown after each verse and the distorted lines saying "super massive black hole" just rang too much like a demonic hybrid of Britney Spears and Marilyn Manson.
Now there's nothing wrong with either of those two acts. To be perfectly honest I have many Britney tracks in my iTunes library and a Marilyn Manson album or two. I appreciate them for what they are. But when I listen to a group as different as Muse and I am reminded of these two other groups, which have no place influencing Muse, I get a little antsy. There are a few caveats, however. Take a Bow is great classic Muse. But, before I turn this into a "I hate this album" post, I'll quickly segue into what makes The Resistance such a great, great album. One last disclaimer, however. I enjoyed Black Holes and Revelations. I seldom find music that I do not enjoy to some extent. It has redeeming qualities, decent singles, but it doesn't deliver true to Muse's overall detachment from the main stream.
The Resistance is one of the few albums that I can happily sit through completely without skipping a song. Matthew Bellamy has a way to really take you to another place. From the opening track Uprising and through to the end of the in-album rock symphony of the Exogenesis he maintains the same level of attraction. The title-track Resistance is a haunting reminder of Muse's ability to mix rolling mid and low toms with the simplest of piano riffs. Muse tends to also highlight every part of their songs. In most songs each instrument seems to blur together. Sometimes that works, sometimes it doesn't.
Muse reminds me to listen to each part of the band, for they each offer something equally impressive. Dominic Howard has risen to become one of my favorite drummers. Most might argue that his drum pieces aren't as difficult or technical as other, contemporary artists, but that's beside the point. Using that same logic one would argue that Chris Martin is a better pianist than Matthew Bellamy. To be frank, I don't care if one can play every staccato note of Mozart's Rondo Alla Turca or that the other can keep up with Chopin's dual time signatures on each hand. Point is, each artist is good in their own regard.
I think a mention of two amazing composers warrants some discussion on two of my favorite pieces in the album: United States of Eurasia/Collateral Damage and the three part symphony Exogenesis. Earlier I said that some groups have no place in influencing Muse. This is where I make a departure from that statement. United State of Eurasia... for some reason, I might just be crazy, consistently reminds me of Freddy Mercury and Queen. Matthew Bellamy's voice isn't as ranged as Freddy's but, the overall sensation and feel of the song is very Queen-y. That's one band import that I certainly do not mind in this album.
Now I'll admit I'm a big sucker for any use of orchestras or strings for that matter in a rock piece. I constantly re-watch Metallica's S&M Concert with San Francisco's Symphony. But when a studio album is produced with a handful of tracks with that concept in mind, it's quite refreshing. It's a clear reminder of why I love Muse. They not only bring together different music genres like classical, rock, and electronica--they do it well, and they do it responsibly. Far too often people try to do it with some mixed results. The first band that comes to mind is Panic!At the Disco. The last two tracks, and, in my opinion, the only worthwhile tracks on their album A Fever You Can't Sweat Out dabble in some eccentric carnival/strings instruments. It makes the songs memorable, and re-playable, but they don't quite capture the real beauty of proper progressive cross-genre music-making.
I guess to sum it up it comes down to how you really perceive music-making in today's industry. Muse, and Matthew Bellamy in particular, is one of the last few bands who continually make music as opposed to recycling it. Composing seems to be a dying breed in a world so saturated with, to borrow a friend's term, near-saccharin levels of music. Bands like Muse dare to venture out into areas that most might not have known were really there. Whoever thought about mixing the electric guitar with a 100-year-old cello? The idea isn't altogether novel, but it is always a breath of fresh air when someone decides to really make something worthwhile out of it.
Dead are the days when bands popped out an album every year, so I hope Muse takes another 3 or so years to bring something else to the table.
For some reason, I find it fitting that this blog's title is The Daily Muse, now.
No comments:
Post a Comment