Muse
The Resistance

One can almost see young Bellamy in the early '80s, belonging to a generation of children with their minds set on interstellar travel and cosmic exploration. We were all a bit like that, and could it have been any different for him, with a father who authored a hit like "Telstar" in 1962, one of the first to ride the euphoria of space missions? Battleship Yamato, star sheriffs, Cylons and Romulan empires, metaphysical odysseys, control rooms, and improbable computers, references evoked by the English group through the graphic porthole of a '70s Urania economic series and made explicit by a kaleidoscopic cover that is both vintage and futuristic, a perfect synthesis of an album rich with elements contributing to the celebration of an epic and fanta-political imagination that was never absent from their albums, but which this time Muse, freed from a fascination with the more exotic pathologies, managed to convey with renewed expressive variety.

Indeed, variety is the first thing that becomes evident when listening to the album, even before perceiving a certain underlying coherence that could justify it. Accused by critics of excessive baroque style, sometimes considered ridiculous, Muse have removed any inhibiting brakes and, by taking care of everything themselves, they were able to fully unleash their love for music: symphonic rock, progressive, Yankee-style productions à la Timbaland, priceless choirs, Frenchisms, keyboards borrowed from mid '90s Robert Miles, Arabian scales, lots of Queen, Depeche Mode, even Callas, System of a Down, and a Chopin contextualized in a post-nuclear environment in full Defcon 1 mood, but it all has – hard as it may be to believe – its own reason, everything creates an interesting cue, sometimes complete, sometimes less so, that justifies its presence beyond mere citation frenzy. Constantly changing compositions, curious, at times delirious, Muse at full gallop, with the technical and melodic ability to dare and the courage to really do it, without worrying about appealing to an international indie audience always sensitive to ridicule and always careful to accept it only if masked with cheeky self-irony.
It's hard to understand who might be interested in this musical offering: it won't please historical fans, except in limited episodes, due to the lack of ties with the "Origin Of Symmetry" era; it won't please those who never endured them, because the reasons for their disdain are even more justified with "The Resistance"; it won't please those caught by a casual listen of the catchy singles, due to the continuous changes of tempo and tone and a dedication to experimenting with unusual situations.

If the initial trio represents the material with the highest mainstream potential ("Uprising" is charged, "Resistance" is dreamy, "Undisclosed Desires" is an interesting club experiment, though flat in the verses), with the panegyric – and explicitly ironic – hymn to Eurasia's unification, symphonic elements are introduced that will be revisited at the end. "Guiding Light" and its '80s romanticism made of guitars and echoes play the role of a beacon indicating the way to hope, while "Unnatural Selection", with its structure divided between electric discharges and moments of peace, and "MK Ultra", synths that promise a new Map of the Problems for a song with too many lows, have the task of reassuring those who have followed the group since "Showbiz" and of introducing a fun "I Belong To You (+ Mon Coeur S’Ouvre A Ta Voix)", an experiment between opera, pop, rock, and jazz. The album closes with a three-part symphony, a true personal challenge for the frontman, a cosmic epic of humanity forced into exodus and searching for a new Earth that, especially in the "Overture", showcases a truly memorable atmosphere that's both epic and ancestral.

A brave album, sincere despite/in virtue of its lavish production, lacking an energetic masterpiece like "Knights of Cydonia" and "Bliss" from previous albums, but with a higher average quality than ever before and decidedly more complete overall, both musically and "conceptually". Provided one can endure the dystopian-conspiratorial theories that ignite passion in the heart of the Albion spacerocker.