Muse
Hullabaloo

THE REVIEW

In this double CD by the British band, there is the entire essence of rock expressed by Matt Bellamy and company.

The first CD collects some rare b-sides recorded between 1999 and 2001, while the second album contains all the live explosiveness of the English trio with 51 minutes of hard and enveloping rock 'n' roll.

Surely in the b-sides collection there is nothing brand new, but there are some noteworthy tracks, like "Shine Acoustic," a semi-acoustic track with a great impact, and "Recess," characterized by a very simple yet striking bass line.
"Forced In," the opening track, is a highly psychedelic instrumental ballad of 4'20", with the occasional interjection of Matt's falsetto. "Yes Please" and "Ashamed" are classic "Muse-style" numbers, transporting us more to the sound of "Origin Of Symmetry" than to that of "Showbiz".

In cd2, however, there are 11 live tracks recorded on October 28th and 29th, 2001, in Paris. Tracks predominantly taken from their latest work, "Origin of Symmetry".
The best-executed track is surely "Showbiz," but other pieces like "Muscle Museum," "Dark Shines," "Citizen Erased," and the previously unreleased "Dead Star" give a great impression when performed live.

A CD that will surely please all fans of Matt's band given the presence of 10 unreleased tracks (available only online) and 11 live pieces that demonstrate just how impressively a band, only on their second album, can engage live. Well done.