Review Summary: Bellamy and his troops deliver a solid album.
As soon as Muse’s new record
Black Holes and Revelations was released, I instantly raced to my local record dealer, and then proceeded to return home, with the highly anticipated CD cradled in my arms. With nerves and eagerness coursing through my veins, I snuck
Black Holes and Revelations into my CD player, and advanced to laying down on my luxurious bed. Just as the disc begun to spin, I heard a large clatter echoing throughout my house. The noise resided in my rather large backyard. With the music playing in the background, I cautiously approached the door which led to my terrace. To my monumental disbelief there was a large space-ship planted right outside my house, and three men standing to its hind. To my utter astonishment, they unveiled themselves to be the three members of
Muse, Matthew Bellamy, Christopher Wolstenholme and Dominic Howard.
“Come ride with me, through the veins of history,” Bellamy beckoned, and without a further ado, I hopped onto the craft and prepared myself for a spontaneous adventure through time and space.
When our ship came to a halt at our first destination, I was quite anxious to see what would await us. As soon as I stepped out into the unknown, a raging synth filled my ears, like a buzzing bee. There were bombs going off around me, and I was instantly reminded of corrupt political leaders, and the crisis in Libya. All of the distraught figures that circled me were sporting jackets that read
Take a Bow.Abruptly a deep rumbling sound, much like a highly distorted bass joined the synth, and together with Bellamy’s delayed vocals it created quite a tense atmosphere, which suited the dark and desperate landscape I was residing in. Bellamy, who was standing next to me whilst singing, was quite agitated and was insisting that
“you will risk, You will risk all the lives and their souls, And burn, you will burn, You will burn in hell.” Soon the drums kicked in and the music that surrounded me reached a frantic, unfathomable climax. But before too long our stop was over and I was back on the whirling spaceship, travelling off to another dimension.
Our next destination turned out to be a deserted island. A catchy piano tune resonated through my ears, along with an accompanying bass and percussion beat. I was surprised at how quickly Muse begun to start playing for me once again, yet I held my curiosity back and tried to take in the song which Bellamy introduced to me as
Starlight. As soon as the lyrics began I instantaneously cringed. Bellamy was siphoning lines like
“Hold, you in my arms, I just wanted to hold,” that belong in romantic comedies starring Ashton Kutcher. This was clearly an attempt to appease to main-stream audiences. Aside from the fact that the lyrics were cheesy and uninspiring, I found it hard to resist tapping my foot along with the beat of the song. Eventually the song came to a close and Muse once again gestured for me to return to the ship.
When we touch-downed at our next location, the atmosphere changed, and Matt, Chris, Dom and I were plunged into a busy night-club, with a catchy guitar and beat playing in the background. The DJ announced that the new song was labelled
Supermassive Black Hole. Everyone was dancing and enjoying themselves, and Bellamy was singing in a falsetto tone so high I considered the possibility of him breaking one or two wine glasses. Once again however, I found myself flinching at the words that were bursting out of Bellamy’s mouth, no matter how uniquely he was singing it. An eerie guitar solo played by Matthew (who had vanished into the depths of the night-club) ensued, which saw the song to its end, which meant it was time to visit our next destination.
The next place we landed instantly reminded me of a desert. It was a dry arid landscape called
Map of the Problematique, and for a moment I was worried, but then the strongly distorted guitars started playing and all my anxieties were quashed. A soothing piano melody convoyed the guitars and when the vocals begun I was hit full-force with a wave of belonging and love. Everything flowed together beautifully, the singing, the guitars and the drums completed each other, like the final piece of a jigsaw. Unfortunately this song drew to a close much to soon and once again we were hurdling through space and time.
Our next arrival marked the dire turn for our trip. I tumbled out of the hatch located beneath my seat in the ship into a deserted region. Frantic drumming kicked in, and my survival instincts came flurrying into effect. Masked
Assassin’s had surrounded us, but due to Howard’s restless drumming they were warded off. Bellamy played a raring, vicious guitar refrain that left me forgetting the masked men and concentrating on head-banging as brutishly as I could. Eventually the song died down and when I regained the control of my neck we set off for our final destination.
Once again I knew something was not quite right as I stumbled out into the blaring heat of what looked like an Arabian desert. I noticed an out-dated sign bearing the words:
Knights of Cydonia. An acoustic guitar strummed simple chords, and I heard Bellamy yelling “Ah, Ah, Ah!” into the sunlight. Suddenly a guitar riff began to occur, and a crowd started gathering around Muse. Everyone was humming along, and I saw a few circle pits beginning to arise. Most of the surrounding men bore moustaches and lassos. Unfortunately it was only I who saw the sneakily approaching assassins from our last destination (also sporting large moustaches) and they quickly advanced upon a hapless Muse. Everyone stopped playing their instruments, except for an unknown member of the community who was playing a subtle synth. Bellamy started screaming with emotion and compassion to the world at large.
“No-one’s gonna take me alive! The time has come to make things right! You and I must fight for our rights. You and I must fight to survive!” The masked men thought they were victorious, when suddenly, the song exploded into a frantic guitar phrase which involved steady drum-work and blaring bass. The slayers were blown away by the complete collaboration of the song, and as the track drew to a halt I was left raring for more.
Bellamy and the crew eventually dropped me off back home, and I was exhausted beyond my belief. I slumped back down onto my bed without another word.
I woke with a jolt, sweat dripping down my face as the disc
Black Holes and Revelations slowly and steadily began declining the amount of revolutions per minute it was conceding. I realised that in my subconscious state, I had experienced the Muse experience like never before. I had a very enjoyable time, and conceding a few lyrical boundaries I thoroughly appreciated Muse’s new release, even if I hadn’t acknowledged it fully in my waking hours.
Pros:
+Great singing by Bellamy
+Knights of Cydonia has great guitar-work
+The bass of Wolstenholme is top notch
+Use of wide variety of instruments
Cons:
-Drums a bit generic
-Lyrics horrible
Recommended Tracks
Map of the Problematique
Knights of Cydonia
Assassin
