Muse's The Resistance isn't futile
The new album will astound listeners with its blended style.
Published Sept. 25, 2009
Muse has done a whole lot in 15 years of making music. Be it putting up with constant comparisons to Radiohead, Coldplay, Depeche Mode, U2 and basically any other major European rock band from the past 25 years or their constant quest to do something interesting and unexpected.
Judging from their contemporary sound, it would be pretty difficult to guess this band has been around for 15 years were it not for the fact Muse has spent the better portion of those years on the soundtracks of our movies, popping up in our video games and otherwise creeping into the mainstream from seemingly nowhere.
Muse's last studio album, Black Holes and Revelations, didn't disappoint with what were some of the best electronic rock songs ever. So, needless to say I went into Muse's newest album The Resistance with extremely high hopes, and for the most part, these expectations were not just met, but exceeded.
At first glance, The Resistance seems grandiose and maybe a bit pretentious. It's a concept album about challenging the powers that be, finishing off with a 15-minute, three-movement symphony. Upon a closer listen and look at the album, it's clear Muse does know their high concept ideas are a bit on the goofy side, but once you hear how good the album sounds, it doesn't really seem to matter whether they're having delusions of grandeur.
The album starts off strong with the first single of the record, "Uprising." The song is definitely one of the most entertaining the album has to offer and sets the mood.
The album has no lack of musical or lyrical creativity and certainly doesn't lack a new sound. The album experiments with tracks, such as "Resistance," combining the sounds of contemporary R&B with classic David Bowie-esque sound, as well as songs like "Guiding Light," paying tribute to cheesy 80s rock ballads. The one place the album digresses is in its lack of cohesion.
All of these songs are easy to enjoy but the album seems as though it could be a collection of singles. This flaw is easy to overlook seeing as every song is pleasantly new with the classic Muse sound we've come to know and love.
The only track on the album that falls flat is the faux opera, "United States of Eurasia/Collateral Damage," which relies heavily on overbearing political themes and an overdramatic sound. This might have sounded like a good idea in theory, but just fails to deliver as a song.
For every bum track, there's an amazing 15-minute symphony. The "Exogenesis Symphony," an extremely ambitious piece on the dangerous direction mankind is headed in, really finishes the album beautifully by masterfully combining legitimately well-written symphony orchestra and piano pieces with Muse style electronica and rock, leaving the listener astounded such a song could even exist. The album presented itself with such grandeur for a reason. Muse was fully and finally capable of keeping up with it.