The highs and lows of a trio's musings
CD Review: Muse "The Resistance"
Suzanne Yada
Issue date: 9/17/09 Section: Arts & Entertainment
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For those who were hoping for more of the fist-pumping anthem rock Muse showcased in previous albums "Absolution" and "Black Holes and Revelations," download a handful of new tracks (legally of course!) and stick to the older albums.
"The Resistance" is full of extreme highs and schizophrenic lows.
When the album hits, it's the most amazing piece of music you will hear this year. When it misses, it's confusing, ill-fitting or anticlimactic.
Frontman Matt Bellamy's voice sounds as if Thom Yorke learned how to belt it like Freddie Mercury and warble like Jeff Buckley.
After this album's release, Muse has officially stepped out of its reputation of being the "poor man's Radiohead." The band is now a modern person's Georges Bizet, the French composer best known for his opera "Carmen."
It's impossible to truly dig deep into the album without having a basic knowledge of classical music.
Not only does Bellamy play Chopin and Saint-Saëns pieces throughout tracks on "The Resistance," but the songs in and
of themselves have movements that reflect common symphonic structures.
For example, "Exogenesis" is cut into three movements - Overture, Cross-pollination and Redemption.
The harmonies, the musicianship and the grandiose operatic heights are mind-blowing.
I have hopes this album will help turn on many rock fans to the wonders of classical music.
On the downside, the lyrics are eye-rolling and overly preachy. They're distracting from the complicated and beautiful compositions.
"The Resistance" is one of the first albums available in the new iTunes LP format. It comes with three videos, extra photos and some brief explanations about
the songs.
The digital package was a bit disappointing, since I'd already watched two of the three videos on YouTube.
You can also stream the album for free at Muse's official Web site, but digital files never capture Muse's full sound. Get the CD.
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