[feh1325]

i'm really digging this album.
favorite moment: bass clarinet solo

 

[virometal]

It would appear Chadbang's and my Queen references aren't entirely original. I browsed some reviews last night and Queen came up repeatedly.

Well, at least Muse and Radiohead have become less linked. I'm surprised some of the press is so lukewarm. To me, it's as if reviewers are afraid to reward big. Things that are slower and more reflective, deserve more praise, at least on the American side. I see the Brit reviews are more favorable. They seem more in tune with cheeky, wondrous delights.

I really like the album, like most of what Muse has done, really like these last two. The band sounds more comfortable and honest, to me at least.

 

[Heyyoudvd]

Here are my feelings on this album that I posted on another board that I visit:


The Resistance is okay but it's definitely a disappointment. I find that the album relies far too heavily on throwing 'epic moments' everywhere and ignores the actual songwriting in the process.

Uprising is an excellent song but nothing else on the album comes close. Undisclosed Desires is cool in a Depeche Mode kind of way and I enjoy I Belong To You as well (although it could have gone without the whole french ballady section in the middle) but aside from those, nothing on the album is particularly good. USofE sounds like a poor man's Queen, Resistance starts off promising but then becomes too generic with the choruses, Unnatural Selection and MK Ultra have a very run-of-the-mill Muse sound, and Guiding Light is really over the top and too epic-for-the-sake-of-being-epic.

As far as the Exogenesis tracks go, they're okay but I expected more. When I first heard that Muse was doing a whole 3 part classical symphony, I expected great things seeing as how Matt Bellamy is very strong in that regard but at the end of the day, the symphony turned out to be merely 'decent but not great'. The symphonic segments in multiple other Muse songs (ie. Butterflies and Hurricanes) are much better.


Anyways, I'd rank the Muse albums in the following way (best to worst):


1. Black Holes & Revelations - the band's most unique, most original, and most diverse album by far. There are so many different styles of music covered on this album (even without individual tracks) and it's all masterfully done.

2. Absolution - I feel this is the band's strongest album as far as songwriting goes but it loses by a hair to BH&R because it lacks the same diversity and isn't quite as interesting. It's like comparing The Bends to Hail to the Thief; The Bends has stronger, more consistent songwriting but HttT is a slightly better album in the end because it's more unique and is more memorable and interesting as a result.

3. Origin of Symmetry - Same reasoning as Absolution but not quite as good. More samey, weaker songwriting. Still a very good album though.

4. Showbiz - Has a few very good song (namely Sunburn, Muscle Museum, and Showbiz) but it also has some throw-aways.

5. The Resistance - See first couple paragraphs of this post. After 4-5 listens it's Muse's worst album. Even if this album turns out to be a real grower, the highest it could ever be is their 3rd best, as there's no way it'll ever approach Absolution or BH&R.

 

[Adreneline]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Heyyoudvd /img/forum/go_quote.gif Here are my feelings on this album that I posted on another board that I visit: The Resistance is okay but it's definitely a disappointment. I find that the album relies far too heavily on throwing 'epic moments' everywhere and ignores the actual songwriting in the process. Uprising is an excellent song but nothing else on the album comes close. Undisclosed Desires is cool in a Depeche Mode kind of way and I enjoy I Belong To You as well (although it could have gone without the whole french ballady section in the middle) but aside from those, nothing on the album is particularly good. USofE sounds like a poor man's Queen, Resistance starts off promising but then becomes too generic with the choruses, Unnatural Selection and MK Ultra have a very run-of-the-mill Muse sound, and Guiding Light is really over the top and too epic-for-the-sake-of-being-epic. As far as the Exogenesis tracks go, they're okay but I expected more. When I first heard that Muse was doing a whole 3 part classical symphony, I expected great things seeing as how Matt Bellamy is very strong in that regard but at the end of the day, the symphony turned out to be merely 'decent but not great'. The symphonic segments in multiple other Muse songs (ie. Butterflies and Hurricanes) are much better. Anyways, I'd rank the Muse albums in the following way (best to worst): 1. Black Holes & Revelations - the band's most unique, most original, and most diverse album by far. There are so many different styles of music covered on this album (even without individual tracks) and it's all masterfully done. 2. Absolution - I feel this is the band's strongest album as far as songwriting goes but it loses by a hair to BH&R because it lacks the same diversity and isn't quite as interesting. It's like comparing The Bends to Hail to the Thief; The Bends has stronger, more consistent songwriting but HttT is a slightly better album in the end because it's more unique and is more memorable and interesting as a result. 3. Origin of Symmetry - Same reasoning as Absolution but not quite as good. More samey, weaker songwriting. Still a very good album though. 4. Showbiz - Has a few very good song (namely Sunburn, Muscle Museum, and Showbiz) but it also has some throw-aways. 5. The Resistance - See first couple paragraphs of this post. After 4-5 listens it's Muse's worst album. Even if this album turns out to be a real grower, the highest it could ever be is their 3rd best, as there's no way it'll ever approach Absolution or BH&R.

I've been a fan since 2000 (Showbiz), It is a shock to see Black Holes & Revelations at the top of anyone's list. It was their most commercial and poorly produced album - not to mention the worst mastered album as well. It has some good songs, but has a lot of skippers unlike The Resistance, such as... Soldier's Poem, Invincible, Starlight, Exo-Politics, and even Assassin - this song could've been done much better (it was played live during Absolution era and sounded about a million times better), but sadly sounded quite crap when recorded.

Muse change a lot with every album, and this one I think they did a great job. It at least beats the hell out of Black Holes for me, beats Absolution by a bit, and is currently tied with Origin of Symmetry for my favorite album by them.

Uprising sounds straight out of Black Holes, that may be why you like it. It's the poorest track on the album for me.

Unfortunately they never quite make the same album twice. And thank God, 'cause Black Holes sucked imo.



Quote:

Originally Posted by virometal /img/forum/go_quote.gif It would appear Chadbang's and my Queen references aren't entirely original. I browsed some reviews last night and Queen came up repeatedly. Well, at least Muse and Radiohead have become less linked. I'm surprised some of the press is so lukewarm. To me, it's as if reviewers are afraid to reward big. Things that are slower and more reflective, deserve more praise, at least on the American side. I see the Brit reviews are more favorable. They seem more in tune with cheeky, wondrous delights. I really like the album, like most of what Muse has done, really like these last two. The band sounds more comfortable and honest, to me at least.

The only song that really has any Queen in it is USoE, and it's like 25 seconds of it all in all.

 

[AndrewG]

I've been listening to this album a lot since its release. I think it is Muse's most accessible / easiest to swallow album, I dig a lot of it. That said, that isn't necessarily a good thing, I would have preferred to be challenged more, and for them to go farther 'out there' like they've been threatening... while I think Black Holes is harder to swallow, I admire it more because there are lots of ideas in it and at many points they go pretty far out there... when I listened to it I was wondering where the heck are muse going to go next? The Revelation is cute more than anything, has some great songs, but IMO the last three tracks are failures, they promise something huge and epic, but build up to nothing. Compare them to Megalomania on Origins, that is one of the hugest tracks ever and accomplishes it without any BS... these are good mood pieces but not nearly as strong as I think they're capable of.

 

[Adreneline]

Interesting.

I don't know, I'm a huge Origin fan, and while I like Megalomania, I think Exogenesis (last 3 songs on TR) is their best song to date. Although, it took a lot of listens for me to take it all in.

As for the 'easy to swallow thing' hmm... I cannot agree. I dislike Black Holes & Revelations a lot minus a few songs here and there which are too horrid on my ears (because of the terrible mastering job) to even listen to. A lot of BH&R is easy-guitar driven, and almost NO piano, and the piano it does have is quite poor. If you look at Muse's earlier albums, they have a lot of great piano incorporated in it. That's why I like The Resistance 10x over BH&R, it has piano everywhere, and their best piano work to this date.

I really think BH&R was a 'safe' album, it didn't go out too far there, where as TR did with the whole symphony and huge change from Muse. I think even Matt himself said the 3-part symphony was too progressive for BH&R (they had it in production for a while, choosing where to place it since Origin days).

 

[sonci]

I could like their music, if I had the right gear to hear them,

On, my ampl and speakers they are unlistenable,

btw, the cover art is the ugliest ever seen,.

They really got courage to call 'symphony' the poor Exogenesis tracks,

 

[Adreneline]

Quote:

Originally Posted by sonci /img/forum/go_quote.gif I could like their music, if I had the right gear to hear them, On, my ampl and speakers they are unlistenable, btw, the cover art is the ugliest ever seen,. They really got courage to call 'symphony' the poor Exogenesis tracks,

There is a symphony playing in the background ... along with the main singer, who is playing the piano with it throughout.

Is that not enough to be a symphony?

 

[roadcykler]

I like MUSE and Absolution is my favourite by them but the "song" Undisclosed Desires is easily the worst pos they've released. It would be right at home on a Beyonce or Lady Gaga cd which is a really bad thing imo.

I think they should have left the whole song undisclosed. Tripe.

 

[Joelby]

I really enjoy the songs on the album. As far as a complete album goes, it is quite disjointed. Could have broken off a few different concepts into individual albums. I'd love a full Exogenesis style album! Undisclosed Desires is a track that really catches me.

 

[sonci]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Adreneline /img/forum/go_quote.gif I think even Matt himself said the 3-part symphony was too progressive for BH&R (they had it in production for a while, choosing where to place it since Origin days).

Oh Please..

 

[sonci]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Joelby /img/forum/go_quote.gif I really enjoy the songs on the album. As far as a complete album goes, it is quite disjointed. Could have broken off a few different concepts into individual albums. I'd love a full Exogenesis style album! Undisclosed Desires is a track that really catches me.

Buy, Porcupine Tree-The Incident

 

[Joelby]

Quote:

Originally Posted by sonci /img/forum/go_quote.gif Buy, Porcupine Tree-The Incident

It's been bought, my friend!

 

[Adreneline]

Quote:

Originally Posted by sonci /img/forum/go_quote.gif Oh Please..

Oh please what? You're too ignorant and closed minded to actually look passed anything?

Yeah, then oh please.

Also, I quite enjoyed that Porcupine Tree album.

 

[virometal]

Quote:

Originally Posted by AndrewG /img/forum/go_quote.gif I've been listening to this album a lot since its release. I think it is Muse's most accessible / easiest to swallow album,.

Well put Andrew. The album has proved itself a capable work of pop. And like a lot of pop, it has proved itself fleeting. As it stands, I'm a little disappointed and left wanting for more depth.