Absolution

The album opens with a short track, Intro, where you hear soldiers marching. In retrospect, this is the sound of the Nazi’s invading Poland as Muse decide to stand defiant for the following 50 minutes. I doubt many bands could title a song Apocalypse Please, yet sound as uplifting. The piano laden intro bears resemblance to Politik by Coldplay, not surprising when Chris Martin consulted Matt Bellamy during the recording of A Rush Of Blood To The Head. When Bellamy declares that "This is the end of the world" , it makes for a glorious, bounce around the room sing along. Only 5 minutes into the album and Muse have transformed themselves into the most astonishing band in Britain today. Once you hear this album, you’ll see what I mean. Butterflies and Hurricanes sees Muse hit mantra like levels with Bellamy repeatedly singing “Best, got to be the best” but having the feel of New Born to it. An almost trance like riff bubbles below the surface, begging to be let loose like Bliss, but restrained by tight drumming and highly skilled orchestration.

To their credit, Muse aren’t afraid of their heroes. Time Is Running Out is tied to the late Jeff Buckley with its piano interlude bearing a similarity to Nightmares By The Sea. Rachmaninov is stamped all over Blackout, probably the finest piece of pseudo classical music you’ll find by a modern artist who isn’t named Jason Pierce. Hysteria contains a riff Tom Morello would be proud of before hitting one of the guitar solos which induces an indescribable euphoria. But whereas RATM get angry and sometimes sacrificed the song for the message, Muse don’t. “Take all you need, and I’ll compensate your greed with broken hearts.” Zach De La Rocha would like to claim the line from Tsp, but he can’t.

Muse have hit a new level. They’ve produced an album so deep, pure and mind blowing that, to borrow a line from Thoughts Of A Dying Atheist:

"It scares the hell out of me"

Buy it.

Muse are basically a guitar three piece. Chris Wolstenholme (bass) and Dominic Howard (drums) are an excellent rhythm section: they make sure that Muse's music always rocks hard (compare with pretty-but-drippy Coldplay, for example, and you will see what I mean). But what sets the band apart is the extraordinary Matt Bellamy.

The little s.o.b. can play the keyboards and the guitar and sing up a storm too. Musicians everywhere gnash their teeth in jealousy at this sort of raw talent. On a couple of tracks in this album he wails an E over top C - out of the range even of the most demanding tenor arias. OK, it is hardly bel canto, but in the overblown but glorious Muse mix, it works. Chuck in some virtuoso guitar work and great deal of mucking about with arpeggiators and you have a instantly identifiable and distinct sound.

Matt is evidently in love with romantic composers from the turn of the century, great music if not always in perfect taste. I like to think that Rachmaninov would approve of the results. Muse are often described as "prog rock". But I hated the prog rock of the 1970s and I love this. Emerson, Lake and Palmer, for example, aped the music of composers like Mussgorsky. But the result was flaccid pretension spread out over interminable double albums. In contrast, Muse write tight, intelligent songs with good chord progressions. But you can bang your head to the result with as much enthusiasm as to anything by AC/DC.

If I had to moan about something, it would be the lyrics, although even these have improved since the last Muse album "Origins of Symmetry". The lyrics to Stockholm Syndrome (the brilliant mushroom-fuelled video of which is easy to find on the Internet) almost make sense and even scan. If Muse ever learn to write words as well as they write music they will truly become a band for the ages.

Muse make rock music for the intelligent. This is a rare thing, so more power to them. I hope the dynamic Mr Bellamy and his mates achieve their evident ambition to conquer the musical universe. On the basis of this album, they deserve all the success they are now getting.

The rhythm section (Chris Howard on bass and Dominic Wolstenhome on bass) are excellent. They ensure that however wild the frontman's flights of fancy, Muse will always rock. Compare them with a pretty but drippy band like Coldplay and you will hear the difference.

But what makes Muse truly special is the extraordinary Matt Bellamy. This demented pixie was born with more musical talent than is decent. He is a virtuoso guitarist, an excellent keyboard player and a truly remarkable vocalist. I have clocked him on the Absolution album singing an E over top C - higher than the most demanding note expectd of a tenor in an operatic aria. He should be apprehended for wailing in a built up area. OK, by the time he gets into batsqueak register it is hardly bel canto, but believe me it works. Bellamy is often compared as a singer with Thom Yorke of Radiohead, but Yorke's voice while beautiful has a far more limited range. Bellmay reminds me more of the late lamented Billy McKenzie of The Associates, which is good company to be in.

Bellamy is also conducting a well-documented love affair with classical composers of the turn of the century, and in particular Rachmaninov. Like Bellamy, I love Rachmaninov, but the old man's music was not always, shall we say, in the most perfect taste. Think up market Hollywood film music and you will not be too far off. The emotionalism and extravagance of such music lends its influence brilliantly to Muse's over the top sound. We get the arpeggios and runs of Russian piano music married to a powerful hard rock backing. This may seem unappetising to the uninitiated, but the result is both beautiful and utterly distinctive. Muse sound like no other band on the planet. The fact that they lost out at the Brit awards to cliche-fuelled retro-rockers The Darkness is just another sad instance of the British love of camp mediocrity.

There are numerous fine tracks on Absolution, but my personal favourite has to be Stockholm Syndrome. If you have never seen the video for this song - widely available on the Internet - do have a look at this extraordinary hallucinogenic film of the band in performance. It's certainly one of the best music videos I have ever seen. I suspect that Matt and the boys love their mushrooms as much as any hobbit.

If I had to whine about something it would be the lyrics, although even here there are clear signs of improvement over their previous Origins of Symmetry album (also brilliant, by the way). Some of Matt's lyrics now scan and there is even some sign of effective rhyme. I like the apocalyptic subject matter, and if he ever learns to write words as inspiring as the music, Muse will truly become a band for the ages.

Some have called Muse a "prog rock" band, and I doubt if this is intended as a compliment. But whereas the classical influences on 1970s bands like ELP tended to produce pretentious and flaccid "concept" double albums that rocked not a jot, Muse have a produced a powerful and tight single album that rocks as hards as anything by AC/DC. I have never seen them live, but from watching a filmed concert I conclude that they are likely to be awesome.

OK, Bellamy is a bit bonkers. Muse can be bombastic. But they are also brilliant. They are one of very few truly original bands now working in popular music and they deserve all the success they are now getting. Buy this record.