Muse
Black Holes & Revelations

THE REVIEW

The Muse do not disappoint.

We're already at their 4th album, and unlike many peers who have skyrocketed in recent years, the quality of their music hasn't diminished (like with Korn, with Marilyn Manson's latest, and a bit with the 3rd of the Vines) or degenerated (the 3rd of Coldplay [except for some songs]).
The evolution of their sound has reached the point of abandoning many redundancies that emphasized the pathos of ‘Origin of Symmetry’ and especially ‘Absolution’ (a fairly powerful and cathartic album) in favor of even more solid and very, very enticing tracks: this perhaps because now their songs offer more real atmospheres, refined yet less ethereal.

This element combined with their epicness makes them perfect more than ever for a potential film soundtrack: the Muse themselves have said it, and it is evident in Knights of Cydonia which is also considered by many critics as a meeting between arena rock and Morricone (which the Muse said they listened to for inspiration for the album). Besides this, however, the record hardly bores because it is more captivating: in fact, the Muse themselves said that they conceived the album as a revival of rock as a dance genre.
Take a Bow begins with sounds that seem to come from Absolution (just a bit more intense) and you might almost think it's a bad thing... but no... the Muse have never written a song where the lyrics were so emphasized by the music, lyrics which are an invective filled with pathos and resentful mood against the corruption of the greats of the earth (the verse is wonderfully epic and theatrical: 'You must pay for your crimes against the earth'). An overture that at the second minute wraps you in an unexpected electronic trance with progressive momentum in a climax that reaches the stars.

Hyper exhilarating in the reprise of Starlight; The enticing sound of the guitars in the single Supermassive Black Hole, not to mention the falsetto and choruses (perfect: 'glaciers melting in the dead of the night and superstars sucked into the supermassive'); the beginning of Map of the Problematique that projects you straight into space; the undisputed gentleness of Soldier’s Poem, a minimalist acoustic piece yet not pretentious (as acoustic pieces can often be), delightful in the Queen-like harmonies (with whom they share affinities): this is just to mention what stands out the most. The second part of the album is more experimental and ends with the already mentioned Knights of Cydonia that worthy salutes the end of the album.

Go! Go!… hurry!… hurry to buy this album! (If you want)