Black Holes and Revelations

by

Muse

Edit

If you are wondering if Muse's fourth studio album - Black Holes and Revelations is good, let me assure you, it is not only good, it's bloody well GREAT.

I thank my son for turning me on to Muse. Honestly, they are about the only thing musically that we have agreed upon recently. We used to have some common likes in the nineties but both traveled different roads in Y2K, he going the Hip Hop route and I heading to Europe for a dose of Femme and Symphonic Metal.

Muse of course, is neither, although they are European (UK). In the case of Black Holes and Revelations, their music is so wildly varied it defies labeling. From the angelic, harpy sounding, bombastic lead song - "Take a Bow," to the catchy rock song with piano and a strong beat - "Starlight," to the funky bass driven sound and high pitched falsetto vocal of Matt Bellamy - "Supermassive Black Hole," one might suspect they were listening to three separate bands.

Following songs like the complex, involved - "Map of the Problematique," the short but sweet slow ballad - "Soldier's Poem," the spacey Floydish slow paced, building toward a crescendo - "Invincible," to the speedy guitar driven - "Assassin," would only reinforce the feeling of different bands playing different music but sharing the same lead singer.

"Exo-Politics," a medium speed, percussion led rock number, is followed by the wonderfully complex flamenco sounding, "City of Delusion." The flamenco influence continues in, "Hoodoo," but is interrupted by a strong classical and operatic intrusion of piano and vocals. The last song, "Knights of Cydonia," is a kaleidoscope of interesting sounds and Queenesque vocal harmonies, set to a galloping beat. It is close, but this gets my vote for best song.

Song Track List

1. Take A Bow (4:35)

2. Starlight (3:59)

3. Supermassive Black Hole (3:29)

4. Map of the Problematique (4:18)

5. Soldier's Poem (2:08)

6. Invincible (5:00)

7. Assassin (3:31)

8. Exo-Politics (3:53)

9. City Of Delusion (4:48)

10. Hoodoo (3:43)

11. Knights Of Cydonia (6:06)

Band Members

* Matthew Bellamy - guitar/vocals

* Chris Wolstenholme - bass

* Dominic Howard - drums

Conclusion

It took four long years for the band to come up with a follow-up to there hit album, Absolution, but the wait was worth it. In my estimation, they not only equaled Absolution with Black Holes and Revelations but eclipsed it.

When listening to Muse I cannot help but make comparisons to the mega band of the eighties and nineties - Queen. Yes, there are definite similarities to that wondrous band: diverse, eclectic song writing, ranging from the simplistic to the grandiose; style and delivery are in many cases similar to Queen; composition and arrangements also resemble Queen and lastly their vocals and harmonizing again, remind me of Queen. Yet, with all the similarities they are so different. Yes they remind me of Queen but I didn't say the sound like Queen. Maybe a little here and there but overall, they're Muse.

Until now my favorite Muse album was Origin of Symmetry. I doubt whether I will get Black Holes and Revelations out of my Cd player for awhile. It's not the kind of album that gets old very fast - five stars.

Muse have become one of my favourite bands after seeing them at an outdoor festival show in February 2004. Some of their songs have become attached to parts of my journey through life in the time since. So I literally ran out and bought this album as soon as it became available. It's definitely been inspired by the music of the 80s in a BIG way, while still maintaining the Muse sound. I don't find it as gratifying as Absolution, however. They are trying to be challenging and to break new ground. I should note Queen, Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin didn't hit 10/10 with every album release, and I don't expect Muse to either.

The first and last tracks are absolutely superb - both 10/10 efforts. It's just a pity the rest of the album can't compete and at times suffers from being a bit too derivative.

* Take A Bow sounds like a soundtrack for the end of the world, it isn't really a "song" as such and almost threatens to turn into techno at one point. It's also one of the two most blatantly political tracks on the album, clearly aimed at GWB and those like him.

* Starlight is a good if fairly generic song, with echoes of 90s era Britpop and also their own song "Time is Running Out".

* Supermassive Black Hole could almost have been released by Prince. Falsetto vocals over a chorus harmonic held together by a strong beat and one-string guitar.

* Map of the Problematique reminds me of "Enjoy the Silence" in more than a few ways. It's darker, it's heavier, but very reminiscent.

* Soldier's Poem definitely has echoes of "Love Me Tender" by Elvis Presley and vocal chorus techniques that are even older, I found this one a bit flat personally.

* Invincible starts with a military-style drumroll being faded into a tune not entirely unfamiliar but still original. It gets towed through modern prog-rock territory towards the end into its dramatic finale.

* Exo-Politics is a fairly straight-ahead Muse-electro-rock number.

* City of Delusion would be far more solid if it didn't borrow so heavily from "Butterflies and Hurricanes" - it is otherwise an excellent song with a definite Latin feel and some of Matt's best vocals to date.

* Hoodoo starts off in a Spanish/Middle Eastern-inspired jig which falls away into the album's most downtempo minute and a half before some brilliant piano kicks in to rescue the song and deliver it into the apocalyptic second section. It then eases out with a whimper.

* Knights of Cydonia is one of the two best on the album, and reminds me a lot of Blondie's "Atomic" but with Queen playing and producing, and it has several changes of pace along the way, building up into a solid rock close. It too has a lot of soundtrack elements (I wonder is Muse going to get into soundtrack production in the future?)