Muse: The Resistance

Muse return with what is undoubtedly one of the most anticipated rock albums of 2009, ‘The Resistance’. This album was always going to be difficult for Muse, they had painted themselves into a corner with their previous bombast releases, just too much is expected from them. A billion piece string section, falsetto rock-lord histrionics backing vocals by angels from above, acrobatic guitars powered by NASA. Well they haven’t achieved that but have come pretty damn close and built upon their previous work to encompass even more sounds and textures into their arsenal. This album hurls itself into the abyss of cod-symphonic astral pretension wading its way through themes of state control, war, marauding thought police, and overall, love. It’s an ambitious effort to say the least, too ambitious I might venture to say, barmy, overblown, and bombastic but, crucially, brilliant in places. Lyrically, the album is a love letter from 1984 with the message that forbidden love will triumph. ‘Uprising’ is a superb opening, a sort of mélange of the Dr Who theme and a dirtier version of Blondie. ‘Resistance’ combines synths and guitar to make it stand out as a rock piece and is fairly reminiscent of U2 at their best. ‘Undisclosed Desires’ is a little more out there with its heavily synth presence and noticeable absence of guitars. ‘United States Of Eurasia’ are where things really start to get interesting. It hurls everything at you and gives Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody a run for its money. Starting off with slow pianos, it builds into an awesome, Arabic inspired pentatonic melody and riff. The chorus is even more bizarre as it borrows a Chopin nocturne! ‘Guiding Light’ is a bit of a plodding epic ballad but gives time to breathe before we are hurled full speed into a metal frenzy of ‘Unnatural Selection’ and ‘MK Ultra’. What next? A little French I think, yes that is exactly what we get from ‘I Belong To You’. To round things off, a 13 minute Symphony no less! Stunning!