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Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
It's not really about the music anymore, is it. It's about the breadth and height of everything Muse do. It's about leaving a jet-stream in the sky. Any tune with a trajectory lower than the cosmos is presumably discarded, with arrangements generally sounding as expensive as battleships (intergalactic battleships, that is). Of course the music is not exactly incidental either; Muse's full-on fifth album The Resistance is packed hard with virtuoso musicianship, rigorous instrumental freak-outs and harmonies beamed between dimensions. It's simply what they do now, no matter how ridiculous it may seem. Long gone are the days of the feisty yet formal English post-grunge band with a falsetto bolt-on. So let the madness commence; "Uprising" gives the Dr Who theme tune a stomping glam makeover, "Undisclosed Desires" is like a prog-rock Justin Timberlake, "Guiding Light" is the sound of Elvis' "Can't Help Falling In Love" being jettisoned into the ether in an escape pod and "Exogenesis Symphony Part 1 (Overture)" is ambitious equal parts 2001: A Space Odyssey, The Flaming Lips and a belting Brian May style guitar solo sent straight from the roof of Buckingham Palace. They've not moved on enormously from the grandiosity of Black Holes & Revelations, not that it matters--they've found the place where they're most comfortable. That place just happens to be balanced on the precipice, travelling at light speed in expensive space-suits. --James Berry
Review
Less earnest and self-regarding than Radiohead and less free trade-hippie than Coldplay, Muse know exactly how guilty a pleasure they can be. Stuffing their albums with sing-along pomp and circumstance, their days as sub-prog pariahs have long since passed.
Comparing The Resistance with its 2006 predecessor, Black Holes and Revelations, is never going to be easy. The latter was an audacious leap into the hallowed area where cosmic meets commercial in a way not seen since Dark Side of the Moon. There is a distinct development here, but a self-produced heaping on of classical motifs and Queen-style histrionics isn’t necessarily the one we were hoping for. It’s not that they’re taking themselves too seriously, more that you’re never sure if the listener is supposed to.
It all starts splendidly with Uprising. While owing the late Delia Derbyshire some royalties with its Dr Who theme glitter stomp, it shows that Muse know how to whip up proper chart action. Pop sensibilities create a certain tension throughout, although by the closing three-part ‘symphony’, Exogenesis, they’ve jettisoned such relative restraint for string-drenched overkill, albeit laced with incomprehensible semi-sci-fi shenanigans. Still, this final folly/masterstroke works well because, despite its grand designs, it has a touch of ELO magic about it.
And speaking of grand designs, The Resistance retains Bellamy’s preposterous adherence to conspiracy theories – it’s maybe this that stops it being a solid gold classic. The mismatch between a rapidly maturing musical vision and chunks of John Perkins’s Confessions of an Economic Hitman puts Muse firmly back in the X File marked ‘life’s not fair and someone’s to blame’.
Having said that, quoting Chopin or Saint-Saëns verbatim isn’t necessarily maturation either, but time and again Muse remind you of how good they are at making your pulse race. MK Ultra is a coruscating live favourite-in-waiting, while I Belong to You has enough 70s piano-driven bounce to make you forget all the grim paranoia lying beneath the surface.
At times Bellamy can sound like a rock equivalent of Mulder as he wails “I want the truth!” on the rabble-rousing Unnatural Selection. Someone should tell him that the truth lies in his band’s very capable hands. Muse remain a national treasure, but not one that Nicolas Cage is likely to find. --Chris Jones
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
32 of 34 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Muse - The Resistance,
By The Unknown (United Kingdom) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Resistance (Audio CD)
I'm a long time Muse fan, and some might say, a little obsessive, I have everything, all the B-sides, all the EP's even the very first demo.
This album generally didn't seem to strike the old hardcore Muse fan's taste, and I'll agree, it's different to the legendary Origin of Symmetry, it's just not as powerful, and more piano based on the whole, it seems the classic Muse riffs have gone missing. However, this album still receives and deserves the full five stars, it's different, but no less epic, one or two disappointments are easily made up for, by the rest of the album. 1. Uprising - A great start to the album, again, it's different, but there's still a hint of the old Muse in the chorus, and chanting, which really gets you in the mood to shout out Bellamy's revolutionary lyrics. The song features one riff, in a less stereotypical Muse style, one might describe it as a Marilyn Manson glam rock riff, turned to the "light side". 2. Resistance - When I first heard this, I was exited, the strong piano and drum opening, was unfortunate enough end up at a chorus, some might say, below Muse's standards, with a hint of Freddie Mercury, the chorus vocals just lack the power of typical Muse, however, I am pleased to say this follows on to a rather epic ending, as Bellamy screams "RESISTANCE!!!!" The lyrics couldn't be more Nineteen eighty-four inspired, listen and see! 3. Undisclosed Desires - Yeah... This is not Muse, but more of a Depechemode crossed between Timbaland. Catchy enough, but a fan might question the reason for the production of this song, yes unfortunately Muse have commercialization in mind, and this song is designed to hit the market, in the mainstream R&B/Synthpop genre. 4. United States of Eurasia - Epic track! Powerful Mercury style vocals, crossed between expert piano work, created something completely different, Muse are entering the realms of the unknown for themselves, and they succeeded, all I will say is "SIA!!!!!" Listen and you'll understand! 5. Guiding Light - The weakest song on the album, slow, no guitar riff worth mentioning, sounds like something Queen may have produced in the early 1980's but decided not to go ahead with, something which got lost behind a shelf, and required a little dusting, still, most bands would love to have the capability of writing a song like this. Good in the wider perspective, but come on, this is Muse we're talking about! 6. Unnatural Selection - Powerful guitar riffs, strong vocals, catchy lyrics, and a truly Epic ending, as Bellamy pounds the guitar for a little THRASH METAL! It's the days of "OOS" crossed between something completely different, what you might get if you crossed Iron Maiden and Queen together. 7. MK Ultra, now this is the PWOPER Muse! Excellent lyrics/vocals, powerful riffs what more could you ask of Muse, this might be regarded as one of their "modern greats" up to the standard of their old material, any old Muse fan will fall in love with this track! 8. I Belong To You - Rather Maroon 5-esque, but surprisingly catchy, and easy to listen to, not typical of Muse, but not a complete disaster. --EXOGENESIS This, well and truly makes up for any previous failings or uncertainty in the album. Muse are exploring the fringe of the unknown, and they've never sounded more powerful and epic, this is a musical great, it takes a clever man to arrange an orchestra, it takes a genius to compose a three part symphony, words cannot describe what you will experience when Muse take you on this musical journey, I can only beg you to listen!
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Amazing,
By
This review is from: The Resistance (Audio CD)
This is my first Muse album - and if it's anything to go by, I'll be gettting more! The songwriting, the playing, arrangements are all spectacularly good. This is a must-have album for fans of Prog, fans of Queen and to be honest, anybody who enjoys good music. The whole album has an epic feel to it, with hooks that embed themselves in your head for days. Having resisted getting into Muse for a number of years - not sure why really - I'm a definite convert now. I can definitely see what the fuss was all about. Excellent
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
I love it when I'm wrong sometimes.,
By
This review is from: The Resistance (Audio CD)
I didn't buy this album immediately when it came out. I've been a Muse fan right from the start, when people were saying they were just a second-rate Radiohead. I knew they were all wrong. But when Black holes came out, I found myself really disappointed. The initial listening of a Muse album has always been an event for me, and after my first listen of Black Holes, I felt quite upset that I wasn't blown away by it. I kept giving the album a go, hoping it might be a grower on me, but sadly not. So when news of this album came out, I found myself not feeling enthusiastic. And then I heard the single of Undisclosed desires, was quite impressed, so today I went out to buy the album.
I'm so glad I was wrong in not being enthusiastic. This album is really quite special, and I'm really loving the new direction Muse have taken. Listening to a Muse album can sometimes feel quite all-consuming, and I never really found myself just dipping in for the odd song; it had to be the whole album. Listening to this new album feels like a breath of fresh air. I'm loving being able to hear Matt's amazing talent on the piano, and the insert of the Chopin Nocturne was such a nice surprise. I can hear hints of Rachmaninov in the Symphony, and I really admire the string arrangements Matt has written. He has used the sound of the strings so well, using each sound a string instrument can make, from quite brutal to the such-loved lush string sound. My love for Muse is back!
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