Concept: Classically trained frontman? Check. Dystopian concept album? Check. The band wants to be your savior? Check.
Sound: Guess what made Absolution Muse’s most popular album? I’m betting bottom dollar it was the rocking bassist and dance grooves, not the challenging piano cadenzas and apocalypse hype. Muse got big in general for having a vocalist that sounds like Freddie Mercury mid-puberty, so naturally if they were to imitate Queen to the end of their days they’d do pretty well for themselves. Here they make a focus on message, again beginning with a march and breaking up their Chopin covers — I mean, their slow songs — with cheesy Green Day power ballads. What’s really funny is that their best work, namely Showbiz and Hullaballoo Soundtrack, goes unnoticed while their melodramas waste space on Top 40. Not even the ‘symphony’ that makes up the last third of the album really warrants the concept or mediocre guitarwork.
Lyrics: Hey, anybody ever notice that the U.S. is, like, 1984? We’re not gonna take it. No, we ain’t gonna take it.
Quick And Dirty: We’re not gonna take it anymore. It’s good for just three guys, but it’s the same album they’ve been remaking for the past decade, and it’s not getting better. (♦♦♦)
I am fan of Muse. They are great band.