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Rating:
THE REVIEW
The highly anticipated third effort by Muse has only confirmed my doubts (and, I believe, those of many) about the actual validity of a band excessively hyped, strangely enough, by both much of the criticism and MTV and other mainstream media.
The confirmation is that Muse truly suck. Aside from the fact that I absolutely do not understand those reviews talking about the band's "evolution" when it's evident from the first to the last note of Absolution how they have remained completely the same, the problem is that Muse play a deliberately sophisticated Rock (see the continuous references to baroque music), deliberately "high" and intellectualized but that in reality has no more substance and is no less trendy than Linkin Park could be.
And by now they can't even "pretend" to be an interesting group, so much has their repetitive and thus pathetic pseudo-existential depressive Rock become. From a strictly arrangement point of view, they have some decent intuitions: especially the bass, endowed with a remarkable sound halfway between New Wave melodicism and the typical power of certain American rock, has a good personality; some ideas borrowed from baroque music work, but the guitar is completely anonymous and the voice is the most hateful and inconsistent thing you can hear nowadays: blatantly copied from Radiohead (and from all those who in turn have adopted it in past years) in the interpretation, it is hateful and repetitive; the melodic lines are indeed poor and absolutely all similar to each other; from this derives that the composition of the tracks is fundamentally poor beyond the little good they manage to create in the arrangement phase. Frankly, and even the lower sales compared to Origin of Symmetry show it, it's hard for even those without much musical culture to continue to consider Muse as a great band.
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Summary by Bot
This review sharply criticizes Muse's third album, Absolution, labeling it as overhyped and lacking substance. Despite some decent bass work and baroque influences, the music is found repetitive and uninspired. The vocals are described as hateful and derivative, while the compositions lack diversity. Sales declines from previous albums support the claim of diminished quality.
Muse
Muse are an English rock trio formed in Teignmouth, Devon. The band members are Matthew Bellamy (vocals, guitar, keyboards), Chris Wolstenholme (bass, backing vocals) and Dominic Howard (drums).81 Reviews
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 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.
By joshg
Listening to "Absolution" by Muse is like living in a dream, a sweet dream illuminated by the darkness of an impending apocalypse.
"Time Is Running Out" scratches your chest in sublime fashion, revealing the album's intense and unpredictable rhythm.
