Muse
Black Holes and Revelations

THE REVIEW

There's not much to do, the group of the versatile Bellamy greatly resembles the combo of the late Freddie Mercury, and not only on a strictly musical level, which is quite evident and openly declared as an influence by the frontman, but rather on a level of logistic, marketing, and image and aesthetic choices.

Pompous and talked-about at least as much as Queen, but also skilled, at least as much as the latter, in knowing how to satisfy and unite mainstream inclinations and sound refinement.

"Black Holes And Revelations", their fourth album, confirms what has been previously said, resulting in an extremely and perhaps too heterogeneous and ambitious album, that moves without even asking permission from syrupy and saccharine pop tunes with a piano base in a U2/Keane mix ("Starlight") or irritating and misplaced falsettos over a synth and guitar base ("Supermassive Black Holes"), to decidedly more unusual pieces, such as the oriental atmospheres of "City of Delusion" or the rock-dance combination, which creates a very particular sound in "Map Of Problematiquè", among the most successful experiments.

The best episodes reside in a dry and very heavy piece for Muse's standards (in the style of the previous "Hysteria" and "Stockholm Syndrome"), with an absolutely alienating drumming and harsh guitars opposed to a solemn and slow classic refrain that Bellamy has accustomed us to, "Assassin" and the 6 minutes of the hard prog-oriented "Knights Of Cydonia", with various digressions and a memorable long introduction based on synths, acoustics, and trumpets, that leads us into a second part where powerful guitars and a finally relentless rhythm section take over, guiding us by hand on a long journey through space inside an intergalactic battle for survival, a sort of 2000's Bohemian Rhapsody, among the best pieces ever written by Muse. Noteworthy instead is the main riff of "Exo-politics", which ideally brings back to vintage hard-rock, although the song develops on a much more canonical melodic base.

Also not missing is the mood and minimalist and humble atmospheres in Radiohead style: see the short "Soldier's Poem", which does not fail to remind us of Queen in the final choruses and the ballad with guitar reverberations that reproduce a relaxing marine environment of "Invincible" or the love for electronics and synths, spread a bit like sugar in a donut from the initial "Take a Bow" with a sound halfway between aerospace and apocalyptic through the already mentioned "Map Of Problematiquè" or the single "Supermassive Black Holes".

If overall the outcome is not negative and some interesting ideas can be glimpsed, however, emphasis and close scrutiny must be placed on what doesn't work and somewhat penalizes the final result, which could have been much higher.

In particular, Bellamy's vocal lines do not fully convince, often lacking a precise identity, wanting to go through too many different styles (from falsetto to low and subdued notes), often resulting in incompatibility. Another issue concerns an excessive and exaggerated heterogeneity of the offer, with tracks all different from one another, to the point that it can be talked about not as a work, but as small fragments, often with no continuity solution.

Overall, this work lacks an underlying soul, a common matrix, that is well identified.

Nevertheless, Muse fans will listen to it and love it, others will still find at least one or two songs that will manage to impact just the same. If Muse put aside the desire to satisfy and want to become accessible to everyone indiscriminately, then they could be looked at with much more curiosity and fascination for the future.