Album: The Resistance / Band: Muse / 10 track CD - 1 DVD

 

Reviewed by Natalie Pinkis

 

Flying down the 101 towards LA, I put in Muse’s new CD The Resistance to prepare my notes.  It was a six hour drive.  I listened to the album the whole way.

 

Muse has always been the prefect ‘slip-into-a-mood’ music for me.  Their songs are hypnotizing; it’s easy to get swept away.  That’s probably why not only can you turn on the radio on any given day and be guaranteed to hear a Muse composition, but you will also hear them on soundtrack after soundtrack.  They seem to be one of the few prominent bands left that equally value both the instrumental accompaniment and the lyrics.  The Resistance; a kind of Coldplay meets the Killers meets the 80’s with a little classical piano thrown in, epitomizes just that.

 

The album is divided into three main parts.  The beginning is a far more contemporary and rhythmic, the middle is a bit more instrumental; drawing heavily on different genres and styles, and the last tracks play with beautiful, classical piano; going so far as to end the album with a three-track symphony.

 

Kicking off the CD with the song “Uprising,” was a brilliant way to go.  Muse pairs its semi-retro beat with sharp, driving vocals, spouting off lyrics like “They will not control us / We will be victorious.”  This is pretty fitting for an album titled The Resistance.  The next few tracks are in the same vein.  “Resistance,” the title track, weaves a bittersweet piano with haunting vocals that abruptly dissolve into a chanting chorus line worthy of Queen.  In fact, it is not the only song on the album to take you back, because in listening to the fourth track “United States of Eurasia,” there is a section that will have you believing that you are hearing the Bohemian Rhapsody all over again.

 

Arriving at the mid point of the album, we are greeted by front man Matthew Bellamy, as he takes the listener through a surreal group of songs with sounds which range from power ballad vocals, to plucked violins, screaming guitars and some dominating organ riffs.

 

Songs such as, “Unnatural Selection,” and “MK Ultra,” are orchestrated and textured beyond belief, but never do these songs overpower the listener.  One of Muse’s greatest strengths is balancing all of their music with the feeling and message they are trying to convey.  “I Belong to You,” a song featured on the New Moon Soundtrack, plays around with piano riffs, that if a piano player such as myself was not enjoying them so much, one would be seething with jealousy.  

 

Bellamy sticks with the piano theme as you reach the end of the CD.  The last three tracks are continuations of the same Exogenesis Symphony.  The “Overture,” keeps you entertained with some wailing guitars, but begins to wind you down for a more peaceful ending.  Haunting strings and pounding arpeggios dissolving into a beautiful, Debussy-like theme comprise most of part two, the “cross-pollination.” The Resistance ends with “Exogenesis: Symphony Part 3 (Redemption).”  Once again it is something one might learn to play as a classical pianist, but Muse adds a contemporary twist with melodic ties to the entire album.

 

When listening to this CD, it is impossible to assign it to a certain genre.  Labeling it just as ‘alternative’ is a huge understatement.  It is difficult to imagine hearing this many creatively and effortlessly executed styles of music, all of which are well crafted and provide for a cohesive single album.   One will read critiques imploring Muse to pick a sound or to pick a style and genre and to stick to that, if even for an entire album, but it is the band’s diversity and originality, while drawing on those many styles that allows Muse to create the sound of the future. We will be hearing from them for a very, very long time.

 

You can visit the Muse website by clicking here.

 

Reviewed November 2009

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Natalie Pinkis is a singer / songwriter and film composer from California . You can listen to Natalie's music on her myspace site.