Muse
Showbiz

THE REVIEW

Ever since I fell in love with Nirvana and Alice In Chains around the ages of 14-15, I have always tried to give my very personal interpretation of the word grunge. After various, convoluted musings, I finally concluded that grunge is something incorporeal and undefined, something that concerns not so much the sound of a song or an album but a specific emotional approach and lyrical writing: in a few words, grunge is an equation that doesn't add up, a shadow, a certain malaise expressed in music in a form that can be more or less rock, poetic, or aggressive depending on the author's interpretations. Following this reasoning, I have concluded that albums like "Awake" by Dream Theater or "Demolition" by Judas Priest, just to cite two very different examples in terms of sound and approach, are grunge albums to the core. Just as "2 A.M." by Iron Maiden is a beautiful grunge song.

One of the brightest examples of poetic and introspective grunge is "Showbiz," the 1999 album marking the debut of Muse (formerly Rocket Baby Dolls), presenting them in a form quite different from what we are used to since "Origin Of Symmetry." This album places the piano predominantly over keyboards and features the hard rock streak that would explode in all its magnificence from 2001 onwards, here expressed more distorted and seminally. Adding to the beauty and intrinsic value of "Showbiz" are, of course, the stunning voice and melodies, almost always perfectly conceived by the undisputed mind behind the Muse project, namely the singer, songwriter, guitarist, and pianist/keyboardist Matthew Bellamy, excellently backed up by a formidable bassist like Chris Wolstenholme and a great drummer like Dominic Howard.

SUNBURN: piano intro paves the way for Bellamy's magnetic voice, who perfectly delivers a text that clarifies right from the start his already mature writing ability for a debut artist. The track has a reflective and melancholic approach, and the guitars take off but don't explode as they do, for example, in "New Born."

MUSCLE MUSEUM: so, what can I say about this song? Certainly that it is one of the absolute masterpieces of contemporary rock: powerful, deep, pressing, psychedelic, and cathartic. It's impossible not to get lost in these mesmerizing melodic lines and not be seduced by the screeching solo and the passionate and desperate refrain. As if all this weren't enough, a superb music video was made for this song, one of the masterpieces of music-image combination, along with "Heart-Shaped Box" by Nirvana and "Galaxie" by Blind Melon.

FILLIP: title translatable as "push" or "impetus": fittingly, this song is one of the most lively on the album: the original bouncing riff as well as Bellamy's almost playful and childlike singing initially, which grows in intensity with the passion that only an extraordinary voice like his can provide. Midway through the track, the rhythm calms down and the piano takes over. Bellamy's singing becomes a psychedelic falsetto, then the guitars and bass return and the track closes as beautifully as it began.

FALLING DOWN: the most suitable title for this song would have been "Feeling High": simply dreamlike and hard to describe for the sensations it creates, of total peace and quiet. Even the singing is stellar and dreamy, envious of a lyrical singer, supported by very soft and discreet arrangements evocative of paradises, perhaps artificial, like the Neptune landscape depicted on the cover.

CAVE: hard rock guitars and pulsing bass for the album's second single, featuring the combination of piano with hard sounds dear to me. The screamed chorus gives the song a particular grit. Overall, the result is well-achieved, although inferior to almost all the other songs on the album.

SHOWBIZ: the darkest and most distressing track of the entire Muse career: a ride that starts almost quietly and gradually acquires an almost hypnotic power and momentum in an epic and dramatic crescendo, thanks to Bellamy's very flexible voice, which reaches goosebump-inducing high notes here, supported by a formidable Wolstenholme and his eternally distorted six-string. Absolutely unrepeatable and unsingable by anyone not named Matthew Bellamy.

UNINTENDED: after the storm of the title track, the atmosphere calms down and this wonderful and sweet ballad enters, where we soar high again as in "Falling Down." The atmosphere is ensured by a Spanish-style acoustic guitar and Bellamy displays an almost angelic falsetto. Goosebumps all around.

UNO: Muse's first single heralded by a hypnotic and increasing melody, with the usual Wolstenholme prominently featured, then Bellamy's almost listless singing comes in, which explodes and becomes desperate and abrasive in the chorus. Truly remarkable the display of creativity in blending so many different sounds so well in a song just three and a half minutes long. Once again, a stunning video.

SOBER: despite the title, this is undoubtedly the most drunk song on the album: the guitars are not particularly sharp, but the bass line accompanying the chorus is very interesting, though the singing is a bit too hysterical and over the top. Overall, a half-filler.

ESCAPE: very beautiful ballad-like beginning, then the guitars explode but the song maintains a very passionate and heartfelt tone, with great personality and emotional impact, thanks of course to Bellamy's magnificent interpretation.

OVERDUE: if they hadn't included it, the album's quality would have only improved: it lasts only two and a half minutes but feels random and too howling for my taste. Filler.

HATE THIS & I'LL LOVE YOU: a ballad with almost fairy-tale-like and very soft arrangements, it doesn't reach the intensity of "Falling Down" and "Unintended," but is overall very relaxing and serves as an excellent closing track for this album.

"Showbiz" is undoubtedly an album I would recommend to everyone, magnificent lyrics and atmospheres, it may not have the impact and virulence of "Origin Of Symmetry" or "Absolution," but it is capable of seducing and offering an incredibly original rock that is absolutely unparalleled in the current desolate mainstream rock landscape.

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