Muse - Black Holes & Revelations
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Free Music Notes for Black Holes & Revelations
Free Music Review: New British wave of music???
Hit: 5 Stars
Man, these guys seemed to have an undying flow of amazing ideas. Ever since I heard Butterflies and Hurricanes, I was drawn to the power and emotion that these guys have. Of course, many times such an amazing release is followed by something of a lesser degree that is the beginning of the end for most bands. This is not the case. Black Holes and Revelations is just amazing on so many levels, be it spaghetti western influnce, surf or just powerful rock, the production, the mixing, the harmonies (and too much more to mention), this CD is pretty much the highest point of the music world at this point in time. There is so many different things to find in this CD that it's impossible to describe it in words. Muse is not a band of semi-talented musicians that are only effective together. They are all playing great stuff here without overplaying. The vocals and guitars are very clear, the bass is tight with the drums and the drummer is just tearin' it up. The first song sounds like a modern day Telstar and rocks at the end. There is a song that sounds like layered Queen harmonies, one that has a sort of Mexi-pop feel with a greatly mixed trumpet solo, some old western clean (with appropriate reverb mix and trem bar) and just all things that make these guys the best in the world right now. Maybe others can pinpoint exactly what this disc sounds like, but for me, I can say that these guys have taken the torch from every great British band (Led Zep, Floyd, The Beatles, The Who and so on) and the bear the task of carrying it alone. Just amazing stuff!!
PS I've been a pro musician for about 25 years. When I hear this band and especially this release, I'm pretty motivated and jealous at the same time. Why couldn't I be in a a band like this???
Free Music Review: A Revelation In Itself
Hit: 5 Stars
This has been available for quite some time now, and still I often find myself playing "Knights of Cydonia" in my head. Muse is still not terribly well known in the United States, which is a shame because they are quite possibly one of the most talented bands on the planet right now.
This album is, in my opinion, their best so far - and I really liked Absolution. An aside: in concert, Muse may be the most accurate band since Rush, as they sound exactly like they do on the recording, but in a good way - no mistakes, all the vocals true, no sour notes, etc. I saw them at Boston University's Agganis Arena in summer 2007, and was blown away by their performance.
Muse is not easy to describe; on the one hand I feel like calling them a cross between Pink Floyd and Tool, because of their ethereal production and ability to make tempo and volume changes at all the right times (and for their great songwriting). On the other hand, their song structure sometimes falls into the category of most modern rock metal, with two choruses, a guitar solo, and strong outro - except that they divert from that formula enough that the label becomes inaccurate.
In the end I think I would say that this album is accessible enough for just about anyone, hard enough for the rock metal crowd, sexy enough for the girls, and original enough for the alternative fans. If we are lucky, there will be much more to come from this tremendously talented group. There is a reason this band is so popular in Europe that they cut short their tour opening for My Chemical Romance in order to return home for headlining shows: they're THAT good.
Free Music Review: Muse are just Better
Hit: 5 Stars
Better than me, better than you. They are just an Uber-talented band with savvy to boot.
I was fortunate enough to see Muse perform on Friday evening (21 March) and was completely blown away! In fact the very next day I went off to the nearest CD store and purchased this and Absolution as a result. To say the performance was mind-blowing is an understatement. But let me not digress too far.
The songs on the album are completely eclectic, from synth-pop to surf-like guitar tones (the first part of Knights of Cydonia reminds of a futuristic version of the Shadows) but at the same time the album never becomes too daunting to listen to. Every second of listening to the album I just keep thinking "What are they going to do next?"
As for fave tracks Knights of Cydonia is my favourite currently (this may of course change as I listen more and more to the album) but I also totally love Supermassive Black Hole and Starlight. (I am going to assume that these songs will likely be most peoples' favourites because they really stand out from the first time you listen to them!) I also think that Take a Bow is very cool, and is the most fitting album opener.
In short it seems as though Muse have managed to progress from where Radiohead started in alternative music and have come up with an incredibly intelligent, musical, quirky [insert as many adjectives as you like] offering that is destined to be a classic. All this and they have managed to avoid the categorisation as a "prog" band!
Go and buy this CD now, and fill the Supermassive Black Hole in your CD collection!
Free Music Review: Muse does it again
Hit: 5 Stars
I've heard a lot of people talking about how this album just "isn't like Absolution". Muse is so progressive, powerful, and relentless: they shouldn't put out another album like the last (and they normally don't, each CD sounds a little different). I believe that Blackholes and Revelations most resembles the Hullabuloo studio album. It's a little like a hodge-podge of random ideas that they just decide to put on a CD. The effectiveness of Muse is that each album seems to cover a certain idea, something that great musicians have to do in order to write truly great songs. They also cover many styles of music in the past 500 years, and this CD just happens to be a closer generation, and kind of western. I'm almost reminded of Pink Floyd, because a lot of PF's stuff seemed a bit random, almost in the same way the Beatles were as well. It must be a british thing :) This album doesn't maintain the usual Muse integrity, and is far beyond Showbiz in the sense that, it isn't nearly as rockin' as all their other stuff. It's much more musical, and dives into the soul a little more. Like PF and the beatles, it's something that you listen to to appriciate each second. But, don't get me wrong...this album is heavy! Any Muse fan knows how much better they are live, and I just recently saw them in Detroit. Each song that was played from the album just sounded spectacular, and definitly made me like the CD that much more. I'd recommend this to anyone who actually listens to music, but people who can't be a little experimental should steer clear from Muse all together.Free Music Review: Unique, but distinctly Muse.
Hit: 5 Stars
Absolution was hauntingly beautiful, but Black Holes and Revelations is astounding. At first listen, I was really disappointed, and considered it mediocre. I think that was because when I heard Supermassive Black Hole, I thought it couldn't possibley be Muse. I got used to it after a couple listens, and I really enjoy the Queen-esque lyrics, harmonizing, and almost dance-like beat.
After having listened a few times to this album, I'm addicted. Muse uses a lot more synth in this album, but I think it adds to the atmosphere well. Each song is distinctive and very well done, though Soldier's Poem seems just a little out of place as it's the only really slow song...Knights of Cydonia. Well, its indescribable. If ever there was a song to harken back to the old guitar-driven songs of Muse and combine the instrumental experimentalism of Queen, this is it.
Thematically, as is signature of Muse, they focus on pretty dark topics, though the few moments of hope and joy are just highlighted because of this.
My favorite songs are Starlight, Map of the Problematique, Invincible, Assassin, City of Delusion, and Hoodoo.
Actually, about half the songs on this album give me chills, especially the last stanza of Hoodoo. His voice is definitely the focal point, and he sings it so slowly and remorsefully. Its amazing to listen to Showbiz, Origin of symmetry, Absolution, and BH and R and notice how much the band has changed lyrically and instrumentally, but how astounding they have remained.