Album Review

There they were, blasting out “Uprising” for a bunch of screaming teenagers at the MTV Video Awards after being introduced like they were the Next Big Thing. And maybe Muse will be just that, even though most of the audience was likely oblivious to the fact that they’ve been kicking around for more than a decade with their sci-fi prog rock. (After all, true music fans don’t really bother much with MTV these days, do they? Wait a second …what does that say about me?)

Nonetheless, this does feel like the British trio’s shot at the big-time, at least stateside. (They’ve already been highly lauded in Europe.) Their last album, 2006’s Black Holes And Revelations, busted through over here thanks to some clever videos and soundtrack and commercial ubiquity, and their new record, The Resistance, feels like a big-statement type of thing that a band trots out when it feels like the moment is right.

Any album that ends with a three-part “symphony” certainly doesn’t hide its lofty aspirations. This is ambitious stuff, no doubt, and it’s quite a wonder that this bombastic assault comes from just three dudes, albeit with some session players and heavy production helping out. Muse is excellent at creating an instrumental hook out of just a basic instrument such as guitar or piano, and then building off of that while never losing sight of the main theme.

“Uprising” certainly starts things off on a promising note, a shout-along song with a stomping beat from drummer Dominic Howard that retains a new-wave feel thanks to some slinky synthesizers. It’s reminiscent of early Ministry, which this reviewer considers a damn good thing. “Undisclosed Desires” also has its heart in the late 80’s, as it builds from a twitchy open to a catchy, Depeche Mode-style chorus.

It’s the focused songs like those that made me want to join The Resistance, but Muse insists on upping the ante with ambition that quickly segues into overkill. All of the tempo changes from sad piano fugues into furious crescendos become a bit wearying, since they don’t seem to serve a purpose other than to show off. It’s a bit like listening to Trans-Siberian Orchestra: You feel like you’re being attacked by this music instead of enticed by it.

What set some of the material on Black Holes And Revelations apart was that the band seemed to have fun with the sc-fi concept pieces. This album takes itself way too seriously. All of the overdubbed vocals in the world can’t make “United States Of Eurasia” sound like Queen, not without the twinkle that was always in Freddie Mercury’s eye and voice.

As for the concept, two lovers are trying to sustain their individuality in the face of the forces against them. Muse frontman Matthew Bellamy refuses to specify what those forces are (the government? Big Brother? Reality TV?), thus taking the bite out of any perceived commentary on the state of the world. We’re left with tired sci-fi references to overused cliches like the “thought police” and endless rhetorical questions (“How much pain has quaked your soul?/How much love will make you whole?”) that are never really resolved.

Then again, such facile “big ideas” have made Green Day late-career superstars, so maybe Muse is onto something. In truth, The Resistance doesn’t hold a candle lyrically to giants of the concept-album genre from Pete Townsend to Roger Waters to Thom Yorke, nor can it hold up musically next to more whimsical and enjoyable pomp-rock like Queen or ELO. Muse wins points for effort here, but exposes their shortcomings in the process.

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