Muse: Black Holes and Revelations
I can remember a time when Muse were dismissed by many as Radiohead soundalikes; ironically at the time when the latter were moving away from the alternative rock and indie-based roots. four albums down the line, Muse seem to be following the same pattern in experimenting outside the guitar-orientated territory but in truth they have been pushing the envelope for some time now. In the case of Black Holes and Revelations the efforts of the Devon trio have crystallised into their most consistent and startling piece of work to date; crucially it still feels like a natural progression from their existing back catalogue.
The eclectic blend of alt-rock, metal, classical and electronica that has earned the band their reputation has continued to evolve, providing a backdrop for frontman Matthew Bellamy’s lyrics encompassing personal issues, politics, conspiracies and the supernatural. It’s a heady and volatile mix, which has over the years drawn criticism for being bombastic and pretentious; Muse have always kept their artistic excesses more or less in check but in this record they use this to their advantage. It’s their most ambitious and daring album so far but the gamble pays off.
Take a Bow builds up slowly with pulsating synths and a shameless show of grandeur, concluding with a crescendo of their trademark distorted noise that follows into the tender and heartfelt Starlight, a ballad driven by tinkling piano, Bellamy’s distinctive vocal delivery and Chris Wostenholme’s tooth-rattling fuzz bass. The subtle change of direction for the band is especially evident in Supermassive Black Hole, a hypnotic dance floor filler that adds serpentine disco-funk to their long list of genres. Map of the Problematique is another breathless and distorted cancaphony of guitars and synths that sounds like Depeche Mode’s Enjoy the Silence sent a hundred light-years into space via an army of custom fuzz pedals.
The short Soldier’s Poem reins things in with its quiet, undistorted harmonies and strong political slant but Invincible raises the volume back up to the eardrum-shredding level that the band’s fans are familiar with; it makes excellent use of dynamics to gradually up the emotion with a stadium-sized conclusion in time for the high-speed and frantic Assassin, a fantastic showcase for Dominic Howard’s thunderous percussion. The latter starts on a quavering riff reminiscent of the Knightrider theme of all things, once again giving that “Have I heard this before?” feeling that mixes with the simultaneous notion that nobody sounds quite like Muse either.
Exo-Politics is a good example of this - the beat, the subject matter and overall sound is in keeping with the record’s over-arching vibe but is of solid enough quality to avoid being written off as ‘just an album track’; City of Delusion and Hoodoo throw in a bit of spanish-style flamenco that somehow works thanks to the reverb-laden twang of Ballamy’s guitar tone. This carries over and transforms into energetic surf rock which is thrown into the melting pot for the closing track Knights of Cydonia.
Given the quality of the opening track (and everything that follows), it’s a appropriate that the album ends on a loud rather than quiet note like that of Hoodoo; with the gallop of horses and electronic pings, it throws all of Muse’s unashamed bombast and ambition behind it to propel the whole affair to its conclusion. Criticise Bellamy’s high-pitched vocals all you like but the overdubbed vocal harmonies in the interlude of this song remind me of those of Queen: tellingly, one of the few bands who dared take rock any larger, louder, more ambitious and still succeed.
In Summary
Having followed Muse’s career from their full-length debut it’s been a fascinating journey to see an innovative band carve their own niche and get away from opinions limited to lazy comparisons with other bands. Black Holes and Revelations makes nods to a disparate range of influences that make it a risky combination; the important point here is that this three’s gamble pays off in grand style. I can’t even imagine where they will take their sound from here but however things will pan out from here Muse have created their bravest and most sophisticated effort to date.
Track Listing
- Take a Bow
- Starlight
- Supermassive Black Hole
- Map of the Problematique
- Soldier’s Poem
- Invincible
- Assassin
- Exo-Politics
- City of Delusion
- Hoodoo
- Knights of Cydonia
Posted on June 6th, 2008 @ 10:23 am
Black Holes and Revelations surely is the album I have listened to the most in the last year, and even though there is nothing that could surpass my love for the likes of Bliss, Plug in Baby and New Born, I have to admit that I have come to cherish “Black Holes and Revelations” as a whole album much more. My current favourite is actually the heart-wrenching Starlight.
Posted on June 7th, 2008 @ 4:48 pm
@Sasa: I think that, although some of Muse’s best songs are scattered around their entire back catalogue (funny how you mention New Born and Bliss, two of my own faves from Origin of Symmetry!) this is their most consistent album so far. Starlight is by far the best in my view too - it just wins out over Unintended as their most outstanding ballad. I like Map of the Problematique too, but that could be because it reminds me so much of Enjoy the Silence!
Posted on June 10th, 2008 @ 1:02 pm
It’s definitely an interesting departure from, say, Absolution, but I didn’t quite like this album as much like I feel like I should. The fact that I found Absolution a masterpiece, for example, might be part of the reason.