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Rating: This album is like a falling star that, as it gets sucked into the sun's atmosphere, hits numerous meteoroids, causing explosions of enormous power, triggering a chain reaction that releases fantastic energy. The Muse's quintessential album, which has sold millions of copies worldwide and in the UK, represents a kind of "maturation" for the band. An album that invites us to travel through time and space.
The album starts with a sort of military march, as if an enormous war is preparing for its climax, and the listener is unaware of what might come after that march, which lasts a few seconds, but prepares you for a masterpiece. Then you hear a piano, playing in an almost twisted manner, and the Muse's singer accompanies us with his voice, telling us that this is indeed the end of the world, "This Is The End Of The World", the song titled "Apocalypse, Please", presents itself as an anthem to the end of everything, the end of the world, an apocalypse, precisely, that occurs only in the listener's mind, a kind of psychological end, a sweet end.
Then some notes make us realize that the song we are listening to is different, we notice it from the tones, no longer so bitter, by now we have reached the limbo, we are isolating ourselves from the world, and gradually the song increases in tone, literally exploding, a beautiful single that accompanied us through the hot summers of years past, this is "Time Is Running Out", a song that reminds me of many fears and joys from my past, it gives me chills when I listen to it.
With the next song, we are ready to depart, ready to go into orbit, traveling into the infinite and that sense of bewilderment that this album provokes, the song "Sing for Absolution", begins with an echoing chant, in an immense space, making us think of distant worlds, we will start to fantasize with our minds.
Coming out of that metaphysical dimension, where we had abandoned ourselves, we get to know the Muse better, the genuine ones full of energy and desire to play, who with the next song want to remind us of their past works, without distancing themselves from their new work, perfect and magnificent, so the tones mix, from the sense of infinity we move to pure rock, which becomes a perfect experimental symbiosis, let me introduce "Stockholm Syndrome", another single from this fantastic album.
The next song is a poem, ready to make us emotional, letting us enter a world where space doesn't exist, and the notes take us back to our childhood experiences, when our minds were free of thoughts, where days passed quietly, the beautiful memories that this song brings back to mind also make us reflect on our future, this is the beautiful rock ballad titled "Falling Away With You".
A small pause in the album brings us back to ourselves, after dreaming, it's time to go wild with "Hysteria", a song full of energy that explodes in the chorus, making us want to jump everywhere, go wild, like a child trapped in a room full of toys, destroying them, becoming "Hysterical" in essence, this single is accompanied by a video which I consider a masterpiece, perfectly encapsulating what I meant in these last lines.
Now it's time to close your eyes, imagine wandering through space, among a sea of stars, wandering with your mind as you prepare to spin around, the emotion that "Blackout" provokes is this. Let yourself be lulled, empty your mind, and... Dream.
"Butterflies And Hurricanes", this title references the theory that even a wing's flap can cause a hurricane on the other side of the world. And that's exactly what this song wants to make us understand, explaining how even a wing's flap, something so simple, can be an epochal paradox. The fragility of man is put to the test in this song, another single from the album. Note the piano that accompanies the central part of this song, representing the butterfly flying and notice how the ending is instead lively, representing the frightening force of a hurricane.
"The Small Print" is a small pill that is quickly consumed. It gives us a little joy when listening to it, we can't explain why, but it excites us.
Listening to this album, we realize we have almost reached the end just by listening to this song, the third to last precisely "Endlessly" makes us feel a sense of dismay because we finally realize that what we are listening to is an album designed to make us reflect. A historic album.
"Thoughts Of A Dying Atheist" is a song that brings positivity from the first listen, very easy to listen to and relaxing. We are still in the style of the album, only here the tendency is to make everything more cheerful. Joyful.
The final song, "Ruled By Secrecy" is very pessimistic, in my opinion; you can perhaps feel the true soul of the album coming to life, as only the Muse can do, in a song they can summarize everything we have felt, making it forever fixed in our minds, making it immortal. The part with the piano, seems to accompany us to the exit from this fantastic world, perfect, and infinite that is Absolution.
I believe, and I hope, I managed to explain what this wonderful album has caused in me since the first listen. I hope you have the chance, someday, to listen to it, and to realize what I wanted to make you understand.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
02 Apocalypse Please (04:12)
Declare this an emergency
Come on and spread a sense of urgency
And pull us through
And pull us through
And this is the end
This is the end of the world
It's time we saw a miracle
Come on it's time for something biblical
To pull us through
And pull us through
And this is the end
This is the end of the world
Proclaim eternal victory
Come on and change the course of history
And pull us through
And pull us through
And this is the end
This is the end of the world
03 Time Is Running Out (03:57)
I think I'm drowning
Asphyxiated
I wanna break this spell
That you've created
You're something beautiful
A contradiction
I wanna play the game
I want the friction
You will be the death of me
Yeah you will be the death of me
Bury it
I won't let you bury it
I won't let you smother it
I won't let you murder it
Our time is running out
Our time is running out
You can't push it underground
You can't stop it screaming out
I wanted freedom
Bound and restricted
I tried to give you up
But I'm addicted
Now that you know I'm trapped
Sense of elation
You'd never dream of
Breaking this fixation
You will squeeze the life out of me
Bury it
I won't let you bury it
I won't let you smother it
I won't let you murder it
And our time is running out
And our time is running out
You can't push it underground
You can't stop it screaming out
How did it come to this?
Oooooh yeah yeah
Yeah you will suck the life out of me
Bury it
I won't let you bury it
I won't let you smother it
I won't let you murder it
And our time is running out
And our time is running out
You can't push it underground
You can't stop it screaming out
How did it come to this?
Ooooohh yeah yeah
04 Sing for Absolution (04:57)
Lips are turning blue
A kiss that can't renew
I only dream of you
My beautiful
Tiptoe to your room
A starlight in the gloom
I only dream of you
And you never knew
Sing for absolution
I will be singing
And falling from your grace
There's no where left to hide
In no one to confide
The truth burns deep inside
And will never die
Lips are turning blue
A kiss that can't renew
I only dream of you
My beautiful
Sing for absolution
I will be singing
And falling from your grace
Sing for absolution
I will be singing
And falling from your grace
Our wrongs
Remain unrectified
And our souls
Won't be exhumed
05 Stockholm Syndrome (04:56)
I won't stand in your way
Let your hatred grow
And she'll scream and she'll shout and she'll pray
And she had a name
Yeah she had a name
I won't hold you back
Let your anger rise
And we'll fly and we'll fall and we'll burn
No one will recall
No one will recall
This is the last time I'll abandon you
And this is
The last time I'll forget you
I wish I could
Look to the stars
Let hope burn in your eyes
And we'll love and we'll hate and we'll die
All to no avail
All to no avail
This is the last time I'll abandon you
And this is
The last time I'll forget you
I wish I could
This is the last time
I'll abandon you
And this is
The last time I'll forget you
I wish I could
I wish I could
06 Falling Away With You (04:41)
I can't remember when it was good
Moments of happiness elude
Maybe I just misunderstood
All of the love we left behind
Watching the flash backs intertwine
Memories I will never find
So I'll love whatever you become
And forget the reckless things we've done
I think our lives have just begun
I think our lives have just begun
And I'll feel my world crumbling
I'll feel my life crumbling
I'll feel my soul crumbling away
And falling away
Falling away with you
Staying awake to chase a dream
Tasting the air you're breathing in
I hope I won't forget a thing
Promise to hold you close and pray
Watching the fantasies decay
Nothing will ever stay the same
And all of the love we threw away
And all of the hopes we've cherished fade
Making the same mistakes again
Making the same mistakes again
And I'll feel my world crumbling
I'll feel my life crumbling
I'll feel my soul crumbling away
And falling away
Falling away with you
All of the love we left behind
Watching the flash backs intertwine
Memories I will never find
Memories I will never find
08 Hysteria (03:48)
It's bugging me
Grating me
And twisting me around
Yeah I'm endlessly
Caving in
And turning inside out
Cause I want it now
I want it now
Give me your heart and your soul
And I'm breaking out
I'm breaking out
That's when she'll lose control
It's holding me
Morphing me
And forcing me to strive
To be endlessly
Cold within
And dreaming I'm alive
Cause I want it now
I want it now
Give me your heart and your soul
I'm not breaking down
I'm breaking out
That's when she'll lose control
And I want you now
I want you now
I'll feel my heart implode
And I'm breaking out
Escaping now
Feeling my faith erode
09 Blackout (04:22)
Don't kid yourself
And don't fool yourself
This love's too good to last
And I'm too old to dream
Don't grow up too fast
And don't embrace the past
This life's too good to last
And I'm too young to care
Don't kid yourself
And don't fool yourself
This life could be the last
And we're too young to see
10 Butterflies and Hurricanes (05:01)
Change
Everything you are
And everything you were
Your number has been called
Fights, battles have begun
Revenge will surely come
Your hard times are ahead
Best!
You've got to be the best
You've got to change the world
And you use this chance to be heard
Your time is now
Change
Everything you are
And everything you were
Your number has been called
Fights and battles have begun
Revenge will surely come
Your hard times are ahead
Best!
You've got to be the best
You've got to change the world
And you use this chance to be heard
Your time is now
Don't
Let yourself down
Don't let yourself go
Your last chance has arrived
Best!
You've got to be the best
You've got to change the world
And you use this chance to be heard
Your time is now
11 The Small Print (03:29)
Take, take all you need
And I'll compensate your greed
With broken hearts
Sell, I'll sell your memories
For 15 pounds per year
But just the good days
Say it'll make you insane
And it's bending the truth
You're to blame
For all the life that you'll lose
And you watch this space
But I'm going all the way
And be my slave to the grave
I'm a priest God never paid
Hope, I hope you've seen the light
Cause no one really cares
They're just pretending
Sell, and I'll sell your memories
For 15 pounds per year
But you can keep the bad days
Say it'll make you insane
And I'm bending the truth
You're to blame
For all the life that you'll lose
And you watch this space
And I'm going all the way
And be my slave to the grave
I'm a priest God never paid
Say it'll make you insane
And I'm bending the truth
You're to blame
For all the life that you'll lose
And you watch this space
And I'm going all the way
And be my slave to the grave
I'm a priest God never paid
12 Endlessly (03:50)
This part in me you'll never know
The only thing I'll never show
Hopelessly I'll love you endlessly
Hopelessly I'll give you everything
But I won't give you up
I won't let you down
And I won't leave you falling
If the moment ever comes
It's plain to see it's trying to speak
Cherished dreams forever asleep
Hopelessly I'll love you endlessly
Hopelessly I'll give you everything
But I won't give you up
I won't let you down
And I won't leave you falling
If the moment ever comes
Hopelessly I'll love you endlessly
Hopelessly I'll give you everything
But I won't give you up
I won't let you down
And I won't leave you falling
But the moment never comes
13 Thoughts of a Dying Atheist (03:07)
Eerie whispers trapped beneath my pillow
Won’t let me sleep, your memories
I know you’re in this room, I’m sure I heard you sigh
Floating in-between where our worlds collide
Scares the hell out of me
And the end is all I can see
And it scares the hell out of me
And the end is all I can see
Yeah yeah yeah...
I know the moment’s near
And there’s nothing we can do
Look through a faithless eye
Are you afraid to die?
It scares the hell out of me
And the end is all I can see
And it scares the hell out of me
And the end is all I can see
Yeah yeah yeah...
It scares the hell out of me
And the end is all I can see
And it scares the hell out of me
And the end is all I can see
Yeah yeah yeah...
14 Ruled by Secrecy (05:12)
Repress and restrain
Steal the pressure and the pain
Wash the blood off your hands
This time she won't understand
Change in the air
And they'll hide everywhere
No one knows who's in control
You're working so hard
And you're never in charge
Your death creates success
Rebuild and suppress
Change in the air
And they'll hide everywhere
No one knows who's in control
Change in the air
And they'll hide everywhere
And no one knows who's in control
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Other reviews
By theego
The power of sound and lyrics is always at high levels, and this time it is even more fueled by the gloomy climate in which society finds itself.
'Absolution' is the third step in the certainly ascending parabola of the English group, hoping that this is not the peak.
By TheSilentMan
Muse establish themselves as an extraordinary band capable of thriving in the music business, while at the same time making their own decisions.
The genre the trio presents to us is difficult to define, aside from categorizing it as post-rock influenced by some shards of molten metal.
By easycure
Muse truly suck.
The guitar is completely anonymous and the voice is the most hateful and inconsistent thing you can hear nowadays.
By airbag
Absolution is an album devoid of meaning starting with their first track "Intro."
They have proposed something unengaging, unoriginal, and that feels very fake.
By Sir Psycho Sexy
It definitely deserves a score close to perfection, as those who, like me, are fans of the genre can only consider it as the best album recorded so far.
Absolution shows no traces of incongruity: the songs are perfectly arranged so as not to emphasize the gap between the two styles.
