Muse - Black Holes & Revelations
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Free Music Notes for Black Holes & Revelations
Free Music Review: Prince + Queen = the new Kings
Hit: 5 Stars
Ever since Muse won me over with Absolution, I have been amazed by other bands' lack of experimentation, chord progression and exploration of themes aside from love gone bad. Matt Bellamy and cohorts' theatricality astonish me, even though I eschew musical theater. Like others who have commented before, I at first was a little turned off by the first single, "Supermassive Black Holes" (I think it was because I found the video a little too Manson-esque), but now I can't get it out of my head. The funky groove and Prince-like falsetto makes me just want to grind my hips on the dance floor--and I don't dance! "Starlight" is the song that Coldplay wishes they had written, and "Map of the Problematique" is the best song New Order never recorded. The bombastic, conspiratorial and anthemic overtones continue to build throughout the CD (which was recorded chronologically, it appears) to an explosive climax. Throughout, Matt Bellamy's voice channels an inner Freddie Mercury, and the band as a whole sounds bigger than just three guys. But it's the emotion behind Bellamy's vocals that lends sincerity to the overblown and outlandish--no one can listen to him sing "Hold you in my arms" on "Starlight" and not feel the yearning, the pain of being separated by time and space. Is the album perfect? No, but no album is. But I hope that Black Holes & Revelations will help Muse find a larger audience. As much as I loved Absolution and Origin of Symmetry, I think the band relied a little bit more on noise than they did sound, and there are a few more radio-friendly songs here. Bellamy's political statements can be a little polarizing, but I also hope people will put their own personal beliefs aside and let the music speak for itself. In conclusion, I think this is the best album of the year to date, as epic in scope as Green Day's "American Idiot", but with a more glam-rock bent to it. Stunning, eye-opening and addictive. As a singer/songwriter myself, they have set a new bar for me and the rest of us.Free Music Review: Take a Bow
Hit: 5 Stars
Muse have been mocked as a Radiohead knock-off. To some degree one could hear the similarities, even with that said this album is still exceptional and powerfully original.
Even with the noted similarities theirs no denying the originality that lies here.
"Knights of Cydonia" garnished some great interest with its odd natured music video and catchy spacey groove(and later appeared on the massively successful game 'Guitar Hero III:Legends of Rock'). Muse make their stay with the well to do bass savvy chime tingling tune "Starlight", which was an obvious take on a single.
The album holds a wide array of falsetto scattered vocals and creative lyrics, and for once even a very optimistic song "Invincible". The song itself is truly motivational, giving you a 'I can take on everything, things are finally going to change' feel. The slow tempo "Soldier's Poem" is quite relaxing overlying vocals in the background and a soft acoustic to catch it from being a dull song. "Assassin" is familiar ground for Muse musically, but still a great speedy song (think Muse's "Hysteria" with less emphasis on the vocals and more on the beat).
The mechanically processed, electronically doused "Map of Problematiqu" is my favorite song out of the album, opinions very. My reason for it is simple, great sound, unique, and holds multiple meanings.
Each song is its on entity in this case,and show a strong separation from one another giving this album a high replay value. Not a definitive album
by the standards Muse have set so high, but a strong addition to their growing library. If you haven't herd the Muse yet, it may take a few listens to truly appreciate this album, if you like the sound already grab it you'll enjoy the entire album. If you're a fan of their previous works do you even need to read this?! Great album strong album for any musical library.
Free Music Review: A solid outing
Hit: 5 Stars
being a muse fan, its hard to tell if this album is really better than their previous releases, then again being a muse fan, you may be happy with just hearing Matt Bellamy's falsetto on new tracks.
This album is full of strong political themes:
- Take A Bow is a great opening track, electric!
- Starlight is an interesting song; matt's opening piano playing is great, but i felt the lyrics in the song were a little weak.
- Supermassive Black Hole is easily Muse' most different sounding track...while i didn't like it at first, the track does grow on you and chris' bass is really great!
- Map Of The Problematique is first highlight of the album and really showcases matt's vocals
- Soldier's Poem is the first ballad of the album; very touching song about a soldier questioning his government's intentions...
- Invincible is being touted by many as an anthem in the wake of the World Cup, but in my opinion it is possibly the low point of the album
- Assassin: this is the new "stockholm syndrome" in my opinion, very cool track
- Exo-politics: great baseline, another highlight on the album, even if the subject of the song focuses on aliens?
- City Of Delusion: yet another song questioning "the powers that be"; has a cool trumpet playing through the middle of the song
- Hoodoo: the second ballad, very powerful lyrics
- Knights Of Cydonia: the best song on the album, the intro is very epic; the chorus is like a tribute to the band Queen. As for the grand finish, a riveting bass which makes this song easily the best on the album
There is a question of which of these tracks Muse would perform live; some maybe more difficult than others, but this is a solid outing for the band and should warrant them more exposure.
Free Music Review: A stunning revelation!
Hit: 5 Stars
I've been a fan of UK rock trio Muse ever since I heard and fell in love with `Newborn' off their sophomore CD `Origin of symmetry', which prompted me to dig up their awesome debut `Showbiz'. I always thought they sounded a bit like a more accessible `Ok computer'-era Radiohead.
`Black holes & revelations' is their fourth studio CD, and set to be their biggest, having already hit #1 in the UK and earning them rave reviews from even the snootiest of critics.
For the most part, they ditch the Radiohead sound (though lead vocalist Mathew Bellamy still has that desperate/aching Thom Yorke delivery) and add a bit more danceability into the mix, and it works very well.
Opening cut is the brilliant `Take a bow' (no, definitely not the Madonna hit) with its dizzying swirling synths and gradually soaring layered sound, just like a rocket. Similar is the incredibly catchy Depeche Mode-like `Map of the problematique'.
Current single `Starlight' is an upbeat rocker with swirling keyboards, fuzzy guitars and a sunny sound; very catchy. The falsetto sung `Supermassive black hole' is set against a deep bassline, whining guitars and great harmonies on the chorus. Great!!
`Soldier's poem' is a soothing ballad with an almost country feel and haunting backing harmonies. `Invincible' builds up from a soothing start to a jubilant climax, while breakneck buzzing guitars announce the rocking `Assassin'.
Every song stands out really, `Exo-politics', the flamenco guitar driven `City of delusion' and the similar styled mournful epic `Hoodoo' (with its radical tempo shifts), and closing is the galloping, aptly titled `Knights of Cydonia' with fuzzy guitars, swirling synths, a Queen inspired bridge, and a triumphant sound.
This album is a stunning revelation.
Free Music Review: It's Muse, what else can you ask for?
Hit: 5 Stars
Music over the past few years has gotten really weak, and at this point, Muse is one of the only bands who I look forward to new albums from. I was afraid of what it might contain once I heard Supermassive Black Hole, but thankfully that is the only song of that style on the CD.
The CD Starts off where Absolution left off. Where Absolution was about the end of the world, and ends on a sad "let's face it" kind of note, Black Holes and Revelations starts off on a very strong build up that seems to say "let's fight back."
I can always live without hearing politics in music, but Muse seems to do it in a much different way than I've heard before. Their music seems to express their points much better than other bands who just seem to scream out cliches like "bring down the government" and mindless things of that sort.
Musically, this CD is of the same quality as their previous albums with a nice extra touch of a few new styles. City of delusion, and Hoodoo have strong spanish themes to them, which they pull off wonderfully. Supermassive Black Hole, Map of the Problematique, and even points of Take a Bow have a techno style which also seems to work for the band. A Soldier's Poem shows a soft yet powerful side of Muse with some background harmony that was just waiting to come out of Matt for years. Knights of Cydonia has the feel of a Zelda game until it's fantastically harmonized climax "No one's gonna take me a live."
If you liked any of the previous three albums, you will like this one. Just don't go by Supermassive Black Hole as your reference of the CD. That one's just the result of Matt's DJ experience in NY - it gets much better. Grab a copy, this is easily the best album of the year, and it takes chances on top of that. What else can you ask for?