Muse
Black Holes & Revelations

THE REVIEW

Our Hopes And Expectations

Finally, after three years, the long-awaited fourth chapter of the three from Devon takes shape. The album kicks off on the heels of the apocalypse of Absolution. “Take A Bow” is splendid and, as I have said, still imbued with the previous album. A guitar arpeggio, Matt's voice, and then off into a schizophrenic climax that leads to a sensory explosion of spatial and catastrophic sounds. On the second track, from the ruins of track number one, is the cleanest and simplest song of the album, and perhaps for this reason, the most beautiful and engaging, "Starlight." A piano serves as the foundation for Bellamy's splendid voice.
“Far Away this ship has taken me far away far away from the memories/I’ll never let you go if you promise not to fade away our hopes and expectations, black holes and revelations”.

With the first single released, we arrive in lands of experimentation/gothic and semi-dance with Matt in falsetto from start to finish. Engaging and profound, it is nonetheless one of the revelations of this album and these Muse of 2006. An important choice to release it as a leading single, but not incomprehensible, and personally, for me, it worked.
With a celebratory opening, “Map Of The Problematique” starts, one of the most difficult and beautiful songs on the album. “Soldier’s Poem” is the obligatory eternal “Unintended” of their albums. A touching guitar arpeggio with a subtle drum where Matt's light yet deep singing fits perfectly, but he shouldn't be too calm; rather, he should be angry while singing “there’s no justice in the world and there never was”.

And it’s track number six (“Invincible”) that is perhaps the most beautiful and touching. After a small and brief climax, this touching drum march begins, where an emotional crescendo begins, where the drum gives way to the drums, where the voice opens up more, where the rhythm is more pronounced and it is at this moment everything changes direction towards prog, and the tones, darkening, leave us with an angry drum beat. It is with these two songs, indeed say the three, that the entire album is focused. They are opposites of each other, reflections on the events of war.
“Soldier’s Poem” is their solidarity towards all the soldiers who “fight without reason”. Another noteworthy track is “Exo-Politics” where a possible alien invasion is narrated, rooted in a futuristic psychedelia and with a rising rhythm but woven with the usual riff. With horses trotting on a distant planet, the last track of the album takes Morricone beyond the boundaries of the earth.

The Muse may leave us with a bit of a bitter taste, but be careful not to dig deeper… who knows if by doing so we will end up sucked into a black hole and even come to understand that the Muse are certainly no longer the ones of “Showbiz” but courageously move forward to quench their thirst for new experimentation.

Rating: 3.5