Black Holes And Revelations [CD]

Black Holes and Revelations finds Muse finally achieving their full potential, producing an album that is their biggest yet. And for a band that was responsible for the grandiose Origin of the Symmetry, that's no mean feat. In a time when lo-fi and acoustic acts are devouring the charts, Muse are resolutely swimming against the tide. Black Holes and Revelations is an epic album, and it sounds huge--listening to it, it's difficult to remember that Muse are just a trio. This is a band who enter a studio determined to get their money's worth--it wouldn't be a surprise to hear a kitchen sink clanging away in the background. In the hands of a lesser band, Black Holes and Revelations would sound either ironic or silly, with songs like "Starlight" sounding like a beefed-up ELO track, right down to its lyrics about spaceships. And that's not the only 1970's British rock band that's referenced here: by the end of "Soldier's Poem", you'll swear that Freddie Mercury and Queen are providing the harmonies. And the influence of Queen sticks around right through the energetic rocker "Assassin". Black Holes and Revelations wears the comparison well--this is an arena-rock album, carefully constructed by a band who by having no fear of the absurd, manage to transcend it. Quite simply, this album rocks. --Robert Burrow

Muse finally shake off those last pesky inhibitions that inhibited 2003'sAbsolution. Not content with merely mixing classical piano, skin blistering guitars and operatic structures, we now get shimmering synths and what can only be described as prog techno.

Black Holes And Revelations is a superlative stretching album: audacious, inflamed and utterly unashamed of its own ambition. It's also sonically exhilarating.The beats of "Take A Bow"shudder on the speakers as Matt Bellamy wails "You will burn, you will burn" at an un-named world leader, who may well be initialled GWB.

From this modest opening, the album only accelerates and ascends, taking in Muse's most heartfelt love song yet (the gorgeous, expansive "Starlight"), mind blowing mutant space funk ("Supermassive Black Hole") and amphetamine techno-rock ("Assassin"). At times it's the silliest thing you'll ever hear. Often it's the best. Muse just became Britain's most exciting band. --Jaime Gill

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Muse take a bold new step with Black Holes And Revelations, a powerful, upbeat epic album that takes the band’s music to a whole dimension. Once again co-produced by Rich Costey (Rage Against The Machine, Audioslave), Muse incorporate influences from electronica and Prince to pure pop. The album is sure to be a revelation to those still unfamiliar with the 2005 Brit award winner for Best Live Act who headline this summer’s Reading and Leeds festivals.