BLACK HOLES AND REVELATIONS

I thought about this and decided i'm gonna give it 5 stars, people might shout and say but this isn't prog rock, where the hell are al the prog songs? there's no prog in any of those songs etc etc, and i would full heartedly agree. There are traces of prog in the songs on this album, most notably (in my opinion) city of delusion, hoodoo and knights of cydonia, and of course even so this comes nothing close to the greats such as Yes, Pink Floyd etc, whose elements of prog styling and song length are so prominent it would turn most muse listeners away in disgust. But think of the album as a whole, not just by the 12 individual songs (i'm counting the japanese bonus song release too). See where i'm getting at?

The album, i think, is very sorta...it's very much in a way a concept album. But not like any that Pink Floyd would do for instance. When you listen to the album from start to finish in the order it's in it's almost like a journey in a way. It has the same effect as prog rock does on me, going from highs to lows and in between, making you feel happy, sad, joyous...this is what great prog rock does, and this is what this album, as a whole, does. And for this it deserves a 5...

From the opening seconds you're drawn right into it, with the dark synthesiser opening of take a bow, it builds slowly to aggressive lyrics, guitar, bass, the old aggression of some of Muse' previous work is current here, and then a sudden change to "Starlight", a very, almost childish riff greets you and stays throughout the song, and the highs and lows i mentioned above are present here. It's very pretty in a way, you can't help but smile almost. And then you're thrown straight into the very alternative supermassive black hole. You either love it or hate it i think, and if you hate it it'll grow on you anyway, it's ridiculously catchy, quickly done, and contains barely any prog elements whatsoever. But it fits with the album. And so does the next song, Map of the Problematique, a very electronic sounding piece of music that almost transports you to space. It really sounds like it's been pulled straight from 2001 A Space Odyssey or something. Bellamys voice fits the mood of the song, again a very dark, almost sinister piece like the opening song "Take a Bow". The next one, "Soldiers Poem", takes it down a bit. It's short, and opens up the next song "Invincible" quite nicely. But "Soldiers Poem" is basically almost like a poem, and with the slow drum beat and acoustic guitar and almost (at times) barber shop style lyrics it's certainly not your typical muse. Invincible is a terrific song, opening with a terrific slide guitar intro and organ, and building up with a sort of marching drum. These disappear come the second verse and then comes the bass breakdown and the amazing guitar solo and outro. But it's very much a love song, very soppy, but very well done. Muse soon bring back the aggression though with "Assassin", which after a calm guitar intro bursts in all guns blazing with a heavy riff and intense drums. And then comes the lyrics, it's a very aggressive song, almost like such songs as "yes please" and "ashamed" from Hullaballoo. This aggression lingers in "Exo-Politics", a very political song (obviously) with a catchy guitar riff, and although again no prog, it just fits. I can't explain it anymore than that It's in the final few songs that the prog kicks in. "City Of Delusion" is very alternative, not very often you get songs nowadays with trumpet solos. It's very Muse though, nice calm (in this case almost Spanish sorta sounding) intro and verse, intense chorus and amazing breakdowns, usually (and in this case) with Bassist Chris Wolstenholme doing the honours. Then comes "Hoodoo", very different from anything on the album, sticking with the sorta style fom "City of Delusion", it goes from nice quiet acoustic guitar intro, with a verse accompanied by Matt, who sounds amost haunting with his lyrics. Then the aggression comes in the form of the piano, and the lyrics still haunting, though louder and almost desperate. The dark tones that stayed throughout the album and song fade out with the song, and we enter "Knights of Cydonia", which is introduced with space like laser sounds and horses galloping...a moments silence, then on with the song. Matts guitars and voice give the feel of the wild west, and you feel almost as though you're in the wild west, it's incredible, the galloping of the bass, the faint sound of the synth, it all goes perfectly. The songs begins and ends its outro with the very memorable guitar riff and lyrics, and you wonder if this was the same band that wrote supermassive black hole. The final song "Glorious" still fits the album, and it's almost poignant in a way. It's nice, but not sweet or anything. It brings you right back down to a medium after Knights, right back down to arth.

It just all fits the album, disagree if you please but it's how i feel and i do hope i've justified it enough. If you read the whole review, thanks a lot. Whether you think it's prog in any way shape or form or not prog in the slightest, you can't deny it's a decent album.