Muse: Black Holes and Revelations
Muse: Geeks?
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Wednesday, 02, Aug 2006 08:53
WEA, out now
In a nutshell….
Explosive, funky, conceited, eclectic, uber-geeky.
What's it all about?
Muse's eagerly-awaited follow-up to 2003's Absolution contains the single Supermassive Black Hole and ten other outlandish genre-crossover tracks.
Who's it by
The Devon three-piece is led by vocalist/guitarist/songwriter Matt Bellamy, with Chris Wolsthenholme and Dominic Howard on bass and drums. Apparently the latter duo had a bigger role in this album than any other previous release.
As an example…
"And burn, you will burn, you will burn in hell, yeah you will burn in hell, you will burn in hell, you will burn in hell for your sins." (Take a Bow, track one)
"Fear and panic in the air, I want to be free from desolation and despair, and I feel like everything I saw is being swept away, when I refuse to let you go." (Map of the Prolematique, track four)
Likelihood of a trip to the Grammys
Debuted at number one in the album charts when released two weeks ago but quickly slunk down the listings. Die hard fans have evidently eagerly lapped it up, but for once it seems the critics agree.
What the others say
"It's The Book of Revelations gone rock, and it's the most overblown thing in the world," NME.
"Black Holes and Revelations is a rich and engrossing listen. On their fifth album, Muse possess a kick ass, take-no-prisoners, confidence that shines brightly throughout," IGN.
"Muse have made the finest album of their career to date, perhaps the most wonderfully rewarding long-player they’ll ever pen, an album that is as ambitious as it is combustive, as bamboozlingly bombastic as it is gracefully seductive," Drowned in Sound.
So is it any good?
Unrepentantly back for more of the same, Muse's return is an elucidating shot of operatic rock diced with science fiction overtones and synthesised sound effects. Exaggerated efforts such as Take a Bow and Map of the Problematique beg untold repeat playings, but obligatory slow songs Soldier's Poem and City of Delusion are pathetically reflective.
8/10
Matthew Champion