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Posted by: paolo on:13 Dec 2010 General » Muse |
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Muse
After a wait of three long years, Muse have returned with their fifth studio
album "The Resistance". Topping the charts of a whopping 13 countries around
the globe, the album is already somewhat of a hit and I assume this will only
boost their concert sales, (not that they need it!)
Of course, in keeping with their previous symphonic, epic
rock, there are tracks that could probably cause global fallout, and no doubt
that is precisely what will happen on the Resistance world tour, but the album
can not be categorised into a genre, it simply can't. For a couple of weeks now
I have been thinking about into what genre this album falls, but still I have
no answer; it is an ever-changing piece of art. What really
got me though is the diversity of the album. Since Black Holes & Revelations
(2006), they clearly began blending outside influences and different styles
into their unique sound, (the Arabic scale in United States of Eurasia springs
to mind!) The album starts off very suddenly with 'Uprising', the first single
from the album. Matt's motive behind this aggressive start was addressing the
nation's increasing unrest about the economical and political situation of the
country, in his words "it sums up the way people have been and still are
feeling about the country." Also interestingly, the previous two albums,
(Absolution, 2004 and BH&R) have started with heavily progressive, more
epic songs (Apocalypse Please and Take a Bow respectively). The song (and album
for that matter) is dangerously close to being labelled as very right wing,
with Matt sneering "it's time the fat cats had a heart attack", and proclaiming
that "WE WILL BE VICTORIOUS!!!", simply because he is completely and utterly
incapable of believing....well...government bulls**t! I absolutely love it.
Anyhow, moving on, the next track on the album- "Resistance" is based on the middle chapters of Orwell's novel 1984, a love
story between the protagonist Winston and his lover, Julia, who believe that
the act of making love is a rebellion against the totalitarian control which
governs them. The book is fresh in my mind, so for all who havent read it or
are a bit rusty, it is definitely worth a read or re-read if you are enjoying
the Resistance. The third track, "Undisclosed Desires" is not quite what you
would expect. Drum machines programmed by Dominic Howard, synthesizers left,
right and centre, and vocoder-laden vocals all join forces in Muse's first
R&B track. Awesome. Again, something completely different, with all of them
stepping out of their comfort zone to try something new and brave. And it
works, it really does.
So now to track four, the first track released by the
band on their website- "United States of Eurasia". Interesting story; the band
posted 6 USB flash drives in 6 different countries with a part of the song on
each, and posted clues for fans on where to find them. I think it took about 3
days for the entire song to be released. Anyway, the song begins with a soft
sounding piano, and how misleading that piano is! Within a couple of minutes of
melodic piano and soft strings, we hear Matt bellowing "BE ONLY ONE" and drums
erupting alongside a heavy bass to create a chorus section of rhythmic Arabic
scales with orchestral rock texture, only to continue into a huge rock song for
the next section before ending astronomically with the band echoing "Eura-sia--sia-sia--sia!!!" a few times. To end this masterpiece, Matt
counters all of the pent up energy with a rendition of Chopin's Nocturne to a
background of what sounds like space commands and a missile taking off.
And out of the sound of the missile getting further and
further away emerges a catchy glam-rock drum beat, very quickly followed by
vocals. "Guiding Light" is Muse's nod back to the glory days in the eighties,
with emotion drenched vocals and massively overdriven guitar solos, while
retaining a simple sound and a spacious mix. This marks the beginning of the
guitar based tracks on the album, and "Unnatural Selection" has it all- from a
cascading organ intro to a massive sounding guitar riff to Matt demanding "I
want the truth!". It breaks down into a bluesy middle section with purely bass,
guitar, drums and vocals, ending on a metal influenced note.
"MK Ultra" is the seventh track on the album, let me tell
you a little bit about it. MK Ultra was the codename given to a heavily
classified CIA project between the early fifties and the late seventies. The
project itself was research program involving a vast number of various drugs
and experiments to control and manipulate individual mental states to alter
brain function. So, in less dressed up words, it was the United States of
America testing drugs and other materials on its citizens in order to gain
control over them. Nice. In terms of the song, it begins with a guitar riff
reminiscent of Plug in Baby and continues at the same pace, breaking down in
the middle for an interesting section and ending on a heavy note, leading on to
the jazzy, upbeat "I Belong To You", on which there is some French opera
influence and even a clarinet solo! It is again something quite different and
unexpected, one of the more prominent love songs on the album. So it seems by
now that the album is really diverse, with everything from R&B to classical
to hard rock.
This brings me to the highlight of the album, the
thirteen minute, three part "Exogenesis" symphony all composed by Matt Bellamy
through years of trial and error. The symphony utilised around forty musicians
in total, making it one of the biggest orchestral tracks a rock band has ever
attempted. And it is really something. Part 1: Overture begins purely
classically with a string section, but before long the drums kick in and it
turns into something more than a piece of classical music. Then we hear
operatic vocals that create a crescendo of classical mixed with rock, finally
erupting with a massive guitar and ending almost completely classically. Then
we hear the second part of the symphony; Cross-Pollination. This starts and
ends with a virtuosic piano solo, anti-climaxing into soft vocals and then
again erupting into a very different middle section with some heart wrenching
vocals addressing the idea of mankind abandoning the now destroyed Earth to
find a new planet in space to colonise and survive. This then leads on to the
final third part; Redemption, which again begins and ends with piano, but this
time there is no heavy middle section, but instead something which belongs at
the end of an epic sci-fi adventure, with Matt Bellamy declaring "It's our last
chance to forgive ourselves," while sharing vocal duties with Chris Wolstenholme.
The symphony is the perfect end to an album that seriously contemplates the
disastrous effects of war waged by our governments, eventually leading to
apocalypse. The idea of the album intrigued me very much, and in a way I feel
it is almost a concept album, beginning with the nation in unrest about our
current economical and political situation, following on to the world being at
war, all the while there being a very prominent love story emerging through
some tracks, and eventually ending with a battle scarred, annihilated planet
Earth. I sincerely hope you enjoy this masterpiece as much as I have.
by Shane Chauhan