ABSOLUTION

With this album Muse firmly establish themselves as major players in the music industry, and confirm what their fans knew, that they have the talent and the drive to be around for years to come. The 20 second intro leads into the piano pounding, opening of 'Apocalypse Please'. This track is amazing live and even in its studio form it has an energy and presence which makes it hard to believe that we are listening to a three- piece. Mathhew Bellamy on guitar, piano and vocals breathes life into this track and gives himself to the song totally. 'Time is Running Out' follows and is a builder, it has a Heep-like thread near the beginning (Heep fans might recognise it) but this is not to suggest they have obvious influences - their sound is uniquely their own and would be difficult to copy. 'Song for Absolution' comes next and is quite superb. It is probably the best song on the album and features heart-felt vocals and tight playing - the video accompanying this song is outstanding and you are advised to see it if you can. 'Hysteria' will probably be known to most people due to its MTV-airplay and it is another well-written powerful song. It cannot be over-emphasized that this band has a BIG sound which belies the fact that we only have three players - ELP and Rush have had similar comments in the past and Muse now join them, in more ways than one. A welcome addition to the Prog Archives. This album has many other highlights, including 'Butterflies and Hurricanes' and 'Thoughts of a Dying Atheist' and will surely feature on many prog fans playlists.

You know, there are times when I want to give an LP masterpiece status even when the context tells me it's clearly not a masterpiece of prog rock. This tends to happen when an album grips me in the right way, and I simply enjoy it with tremendous enthusiasm every time I hear it, despite its obvious imperfections.

However, I approach Muse's Absolution as if I was going to be listening to a Prog Rock album and sadly, this is not even in the running for a Masterpiece of Prog Rock award - it's proggy alright, but not proggy enough to compete with Genesis, Gentle Giant, VDGG et al.

In all fairness to Muse, while it's not a Prog Rock album, it is a complete masterpiece and a finely crafted and well thought-out concept, and I think it's just brilliant:

With Rich Costey of Philip Glass and TMV fame behind the knobs, Muse rise to a whole new level with "Absolution" - the riffs are bigger and crush more bones than ever before, the imperfections in the chord sequences are all but gone, Matt's voice sweeps Justin Hawkins away in lung-bursting, wine-glass shattering and spine-chillingly haunting style, Thom Yorke and Radiohead are all but forgotten, and the atmospherics are, er more atmospheric.

It's my habit to do a track-by-track analysis, so I won't do that this time, but simply dip in and pull out the interesting highlights...

The first of which is the introduction, and the second of which is the second track, a towering, apocalyptical colossus entitled "Apocalypse Please". "It's time we saw a miracle, come on, it's time for something Biblical". Stirring stuff indeed, and the music shifts beneath it, with huge power chords trading place with bubbling synths, beautiful quasi-classical dischords, delicate falsettos, pounding drums and crashing piano chords - if ever there was a piece written for the end of the world, this truly is it.

The next highlight is track 3. "Time is Running Out" may contain lyrics that whiff strongly of gouda, but the atmospherics in the quiet sections contrasting with the build ups to the massive choruses are textural genius and just seem to press all the right buttons. The range of guitar sounds that Bellamy uses is quite stunning - especially when you consider that this is not all studio trickery, and he does this live. What he also does live is that falsetto that makes your throat hurt in sympathy. OK, it's not a prog song, but its' gigantic anthemic splendour is surely something to admire.

Ye gods, the next highlight is "Sing For Absolution" - Muse may have produced some of the most beautiful ballads ever on their previous albums, but here they surpass themselves, with a melody of aching wistfulness, and haunting atmospherics. They also restrain themselves admirably on the first chorus, a feat which hightens the drama spectacularly. The only issue I have with it really is that it's very much in the tried and tested Muse formula, so seems somewhat familiar until it reaches the codetta, where Bellamy is at his most impassioned yet, and produces a fine tenor top C in natural as opposed to falsetto voce, with lush guitar counterpoint.

...and so it goes on. Another monster riff from hell kicks off "Stockholm Syndrome", which proceeds to grow and grow until another massive riff kicks in, redefining bombastic to it's core. This is where I run out of adjectives, and words like massive, gigantic and colossal don't seem quite enough to describe what's going on here - Muse don't play heavy metal, but the music is equally if not more intense than even some of the more intense metal bands - quite frightening in a way - and the piano arpeggios only serve to heighten the drama and power of this song. Essentially quite simple, but this is ROCK at a new level, and shows clearly why Muse are prog-related, and why Rick Wakeman himself declared Muse to be a modern Prog Rock band. The riff that finishes this piece defies all words. It's hard to imagine anything better...

With their astute sense of drama and overall album shape, Muse take it right down for "Falling Away With You", a sensitive ballad style opening, leading to the predictable but very welcome and absorbing huge chorus. The textures are experimentally arpeggiated and highlight the sense of falling away very well in a musically onomatapaeic way. There are more achingly wistful melody lines backed with unusual atmospherics, that segue straight into "Interlude", a tension-builder par excellence, and then...

It might be overplayed on just about every UK radio station, but "Hysteria" simply has the king of all riffs to its credit. I said it's hard to imagine anything better after "Stockholm Syndrome", but this is it. A fairly unremarkable song by Muse's standards is framed and underscored by this perfect creation of riffdom, a riff so awesome that even if you listen to it quietly, your ears bleed. Even the obligatory truly awful guitar solo doesn't take anything away from this riff - you keep listening because you want more - you need more - you want it now... all together, air guitars at the ready...

"Butterflies and Hurricanes" is the next highlight, the soft intro not kidding you for one second - you know that a monster is on its way and, while it can't and doesn't try to compete with "Hysteria", the build-up over a minute and a half is simply masterful, and has that unmistakable prog vibe about it. I'll say it again: How the devil do three guys manage to make so much noise? Did Matt have personal tuition from Lemmy?

The drifting, shifting harmonic progressions are pure bliss, and the string and piano layers provide full pretensions to progginess - the silence dropping into the Rachmaninovian cascades around 3:30 is simply inspired - you'd think Emerson would start looking over his shoulder eversoslightly... Bellamy keeps up the piano backing through the next verse - although it's a bit far down in the mix for my liking.

"The Small Print" is another adrenaline-fuelled rocker with yet another riff that would make Godzilla feel like an ant about to be crushed. Bellamy gets enthusiastic with the textures - this is, after all, what he is best at, and why there are so few guitar solos on Muse's output; Who needs them when the textural development is this good? With obvious inspiration from Johnny Greenwood, Bellamy really has an authoritative style combining rhythm and texture with wonderful angular chords.

"Endlessly" suggests that Muse have been listening to the later Radiohead output, as the intro reminds me a little of the textures that the latter explore on "Kid A", and the textural build-up is gentle and flows well enough, but stands out as a marked contrast from the other material presented here. The change in percussion texture around 1:30 provides an amazing sense of space, and helps to rescue what is otherwise a very plain song by Muse's standards. Some of the textural experimentation is brought forward around 2:40, and brings a new focus to the song, but really, it's just on to the next one.

The problem with a song like Hysteria is that it's pretty much unfollowable, and you really have to stick with "Thoughts of a Dying Atheist" to get the most out of it - and it does have much to offer, despite a couple of harmonic progression issues towards the end of the chorus, especially. However, there is more tremendous energy here, and the lyrics are thought-provoking, if not profound; "It scares the hell out of me, the end is all I can see".

"Ruled by Secrecy" marks the 3rd album in a row out of 3 from Muse in which I feel unsatisfied with the ending. It starts to feel like a lot more of the same, with nothing really new to offer from the deep bag of Muse's trickery. It's worth sticking it out, though, as more Rachmaninov-inspired piano is forthcoming around 3:30, and from there to the end, the ride is very enjoyable (and prog related) indeed.

In summary, then, a slightly over-long album jam-packed with proggy goodies and musical highlights, with more drama per square inch than RADA, and more passion than Mills and Boon. If the word "Bombastic" turns you off, then look elsewhere for entertainment, otherwise, very much an album for everyone (even if you only ever listen to the first half), with some of the best riffing outside "proper" heavy metal - and some riffs that outclass even that. Oh, and a fair smattering of progginess.

Well due to overpowering demand of the Pro-Muse lobby force that put the NRA (National Riffle Association - for the non-Americans see real patriot Michael Moore's amazing Bowling For Columbine film) to shame, Muse did finally get in our beloved Archives. I must say that while having a good notion of what Muse were about I had not really deepened my research since what I heard on radio seemed to be enough for me. Out of professional curiosity ten days ago, I went out to the library and rented the two albums I will review today. My original idea about them was that they were an intelligent alternative rock group (in their case I refuse the pop term or even Indie rock) that obviously listened to R.E.M. and The Levellers during their youth during the 80's and were actually taking pattern on Radiohead in the late 90's. Only excellent references you can see if you like that particular type of rock, but hardly groundbreaking at the turn of the century. But I would suggest those people downplaying the Radiohead similarity to wake up and re-listen to them.

While I am not a major fan of this type of rock, I always thought that Muse were maintaining with Radiohead the level of rock above the waters, but I hope not to raise the ire of fans by saying that their music is highly derivative of the afore- mentioned bands although they have moments on this album that are unusually metallic - the middle part of the title track and its follow-up Stockholm, that is almost Motorhead sounding if it was not for the typical vocals and later on Small Print. I can actually tell you my original impression was completely confirmed but I have actually listened to this album and the other over ten times hoping to fond what the big deal was to progheads. Some might argue that ten spins are not enough to get the substance out, but this old geezer with his almost 1500 reviews behind him, has enough experience to do so. So aside the infectious grooves, tight power chords, concise songwriting and an honest attitude, I found little to seriously make a proghead actually be heads over heels about such an album. Compared with previous album, I would say that there are two added dimensions: a Rachmaninov-styled piano (Rach is one of my fave classical composer) and Muse actually listened to a whole lotta Porcupine Tree before writing this album. These two new elements brought even more pressure on the PA citadel and an inquiry was set-up to see if the added vitamins were enough reinforcement to the usual Muse formula tracks for inclusion in the Archives, aside from the obvious PT influences.

"Well there is a very good prog group, Porcupine Tree!!!" I hear from the peanut gallery. "Yes, PT is a good prog group but they are already included in the Archives, but let's stay on topic: is this derivative album really worth the proghead's investment?" answers the lecturer to which dead silence is the only possible reply to such a pertinent question. Then a Muse-NRA lobbyists pulls out a Kalachnikov shoots the reviewer, the chairman of the board, the president of the SOPRHA (Safeguard Of Progressive Rock Honour Association) and the lecture-giver and yells "Mute" (not Muse) to the panicking crowd. Out come blaring from huge speakers and at unbearable volume this fairly good heavily guitar-fed rock for the next 500 hours. As the hostage crisis is obviously not getting resolved by the authorities outside as they call the army for snipers and special assault troops. But finally as the record had spun for the 473rd time, the deck rendered it laserhead at the end of their most intriguing (lyrically anyway) track on the album (Thoughts For A Dying Atheist) and the lobbyist was completely lobotomised as were the hostages, they all came out calmly but completely brainwashed yelling that Bellamy was the new prophet and started out to form yet another lobby to change the Muse Archives sub-genre to Avant/pop or even better RIA (Rock In Affirmation).

Did anybody say that reviews were made out to make sense? Well this one is supposed to! Let's not get over-excited with this neat and professional album (the artwork might just be worthy of Storm Thorgeson), with its share of highlights but also poorer moments. Unfortunately I would argue against them for being a little too focused (funnily enough I generally complain of the opposite) as most of the tracks are simply still too Muse-like formula and brings almost nothing new. I did enjoy the piano and hope to hear it more in future albums. In retrospect I am happy the Archives gave me the drive to review this group, but so far, none of their albums will join my collection! A worthy inclusion in the prog-related page, but hardly anything essential as far as the prog dimension is concerned!

It´s weird for me to put 5 stars to an album that lacks the complexety that I find so amusing in prog...but whats right is right! This album deserves the whole 5 stars. Every song is excellent and what is even more important (what really makes a 5 album) is that they all work so good with each other.

What I find so great about this band is, first of all their Radiohead infuence ( another of my favorite bands), second how much emotion all the songs have and I dont mean that they are ballads...as a matter of fact there are no ballads in this record, but how Mathew Bellamy´s voice and music sound so perfectly raw that its honest...thats the word, honest...from the first time I heard Muse I noticed that the words and music of this band are honest...and thats something i really apreatiate in music!!!

My favorite songs must be "Apocalypse please", "Time is running out", "Stockholm syndrome", "Hysteria" and "Butterflys and hurricanes", but the rest of the songs are also great!

...Mike Portnoy was right...the best album form 2003!!!

Muse are not just a mere band, they are a phenomenon.A hard rocking trio lead by the lavishly talented Matthew Bellamy this is undoubtedly their greatest album to date.The first time I heard Absolution I literally lept around the room jumping on the settee and playing imaginary air guitar! They are as pompous and loud as anything around and inevitably have drawn comparison to that other famous trio Emerson,Lake And Palmer.Bellamy is every bit the showman like Emerson although he sticks mainly to lead guitar while Dominic Howard drives the music forward with all the ferocity of a young Carl Palmer.Simply breathatking at times this band are on the edge constantly but somehow always manage to hold it together.The songs are nicely varied with some quiet ones in amongst the carnage.The best songs though are the heavy ones.Just listen to Stockholm Syndrome as they crank it up a notch.The spirit of ELP in guitar form is well and truly alive!

5 stars and you better believe it!

Two reasons why I tried spinning this CD of Muse that has been in my son's collection: first, some people did mention that there was some influence of Muse style with Dream Theater "Octavarium" album and second, some prog sites reviewed this album as well. On first reason I think it's good that fans of both bands (Dream Theater and Muse) can introduce one another. Fans of Dream Theater would explore the music of Muse (Like what I do now) and fans of Muse would explore their music boundary to progressive metal scene - Dream Theater's music.

"Absolution" in my opinion is a good album by Muse. Musically, when I listened to this CD for the first time, I could only relate the band's style is in the vein of Radiohead and sometime U2 - even though it's not 100% correct. Look at the composition and singing style - it's quite tending to Radiohead. For me personally, enjoying this CD is like a retreat from having enjoyed other spectrum of prog music like symphonic, art, psychedelic or even krautrock.

Of course I cannot tell you the history of the band and who's who in the band as I'm just a newbie in Muse. But as any other prog band this album starts off with ambient short introduction (22 seconds) followed with "Apocalypse Please" with its floating style music that reminds me to Radiohead. Composition-wise, it's not as complex as symphonic prog music but it's good to comment that the band opens this album with nice song like this one. I enjoy the simple keyboard punch in the middle of the track.This song seems to be a popular track as many FM radios as well as local bands that covers this song. "Time Is Running Out" is another good track which is also popular in my country. I like the guitar fills and singing style.

Preceded by short "Interlude", it's fascinating to enjoy "Hysteria" which has good composition featuring a dragging vocal style - yes, similar with Radiohead singing style - combined with nice distorted guitar and effects plus keyboards. The ultimate enjoyment is the guitar solo portion during interlude which sounds simple but it's engaging the mind.

It's a good choice for a break. If you like Radiohead, you'd better give it a shot with this album. There is practically no bad track right here. All of them are good ones. Keep on proggin' ..!

Peace on earth and mercy mild - GW

Bought this album yesterday on my friend's (also bandmate) advice and listened to it twice, and all I can say is Thank You to my good friend Richard. The fact that this band is listed in ProgArchives surprises me a bit, but when bands like Radiohead and Anathema make it onto this site, I should not surprised.

The only way I can describe their sound (for Absolution at least) is as follows : à la Radiohead (The Bends / OK Computer period) but with more guts, more rock, less psychedelic, a bit more straighforward and a bit less experimental. Compelling, to say the least.

Singer Bellamy sounds a lot like Radiohead's Thom Yorke, only better in my opinion. His melodies send shivers down my spine in every song, and he is really intense. His guitar and piano playing are inspired, and his songwriting skills have nothing to envy to anyone out there.

The rythm section, with Chris Wolstenholme on bass and back vocals and Dominic Howard on drums is a solid team, more on the reliable and creative side than on the technical side. They have good chemistry and are the perfect base upon which Matthew Bellamy can evolve.

They are the modern day proof that trios make more than excellent bands (Rush, The Police, The Tea Party, etc...). Undiluted, powerful, they sound as one.

Two spins don't allow me to call this album a masterpiece, but my breath was taken away by the intensity of this album. A few weeks more, and this album would have had five star rating, courtesy of little me.

Muse - Absolution

Muse is one of those mainstream rockbands with similarities to progrock. "Absolution was the album that really brought Muse to my attention. Before, I only was familiar with the occasional single but until recently I never felt the urge to go out and buy and album. It was with the release of their most recent album (and the accompanying single and hype) "Black Holes and Revelations" that I decided to check upon their music. Since I already knew several songs from "Absolution," I thought this would be a good point to start.

Muse has this very typical sound. They use a lot of sequenced keyboards and bombastic piano playing to accompany the heavy guitar fills. Matt Bellamy's voice is rather awkward for a mainstream band with its highpitched tones and lots of breathing 'segments' (intake of air while singing).

"Absolution" has the feeling of a concept album. Part of me says this was their intention, basically because of the inclusion of a song called Interlude and the fact that most lyrics are sort of connected by theme.

The album starts rather eerie with the song Apocalypse please. It works rather good as an introduction despite the fact that it took me a while to get used to (and like) the opening section because of the odd melodies.

What follows is the song Time is running out, which was also released as a single. The introduction is rather un-rockish to these ears with its ultra low keyboard pattern and 'finger snapping' but with the chorus the guitars come out to play. Lyrically this song is rather political, which was even highlighted in the video that was shown for the single on MTV: generals and other military staff members marching while the band is seen performing.

Up next is the album's second single: Sing for Absolution. This epic song is a trip on its own. Each time I hear the song I have to visualise its animated videoclip: the band is presented as pilots of a space shuttle which makes a trip through space and ¾ in the song they crash and they crash land in a totally ruined London. thus meaning earth was abandoned, because they left from another planet and still represent human beings, but now I'm drifting. great aspect about the video in connection with the song is that the crash scene in the video is shown as a background for the guitar solo. This guitar solo also really gives the feeling like something is crashing. The destruction of London, that and the lyrics also give this song a bit of a political touch.

Stockholm Syndrome is the first big rock tune on this album. The song's title has always been on my mind ever since I saw Muse on TV performing the song live. During this performance they totally trashed most of their onstage gear. They left only one working unit per instrument so they were able to finish an extended version of the song with wrecked guitar amps, giving it all a very unearthly feeling. I know I loved it at least.

One of the main issues with this album is the fact that the overall mix is sometimes a bit too 'narrow'. I personally like a lot of spacey, atmospheric artists such as Porcupine Tree and those artists mostly have brilliant production in which every instrument is well balanced and noticeable. From time to time the sound is too compact for the compositions on "Absolution". During other moments it works perfect though, such as the bombastic instrumental piano part in the final song on the album Ruled by Secrecy or the minimalist composition Blackout with its classical music feeling to it.

Butterflies and Hurricanes must be the most varied song on this album. It seems as a rather odd choice for a single and I know that around the time it was released it did not impress me that much. but now it must be one of my favourite songs by Muse. With its slow built-up intro and several vocal harmonies, it is not the catchiest of songs presented here. I absolutely love the little piano bridge that marks the transition between the quieter intro and the uptempo sequence that follows it. What's even more beautiful is the section just after the 3minute mark. The song breaks down until only the piano remains and now we get to hear Bellamy's true skills on this instrument. This lasts for a while until we're back for a reprise of the openingsection of the song and another go at the up-tempo chorus.

The small Print is perhaps the most mainstream song on the album. This is the least progressive song perhaps, but it is definitely a great tune to listen to. The chorus is really good too and extremely catchy.

Not being a Muse expert, I did not know that one always has to expect at least one song that's quite a contradiction to the others, so the song Endlessly rather surprised me with its almost dub like groove and chilled-out keyboard rhythm. This is also the song with the biggest quantity of weird noises and awkward melody changes.

The last uptempo song before closing track Ruled by Secrecy is the beautifully titled Thoughts of a dying Atheist. Its chorus is rather catchy, not to mention moody with its lyrics about being afraid to die. The song features a typical Bellamy guitar solo.

After an album filled with mostly uptempo songs, Ruled by Secrecy is a beautiful closing track. With its guitarless composition and only a minimum of rhythmic patterns, this piano song is a song that will be engraved within your memory for quite some time, mainly thanks to the brilliant bombastic piano section around the 3minute mark which gives me shivers each time I listen to it, not to forget Matt's fragile vocals during most of the song.

The one thing I can conclude from this experience is that I was stupid to neglect them for this long but they definitely managed to get me addicted to their music. Hopefully it'll also work the other way around, that Musefans will decide to give prog rock a chance, because both definitely seem to collide one time or another.

Muse: An introduction to prog?

3.5 stars. First of all the album cover is brilliant.The music is a blend of Prog and Alternative music, with a definite reference to RADIOHEAD. I think it's the vocals really.The first time my daughter had me listen to this cd a couple of summers ago, I was reminded of Thom Yorke and RADIOHEAD right away, with the mournful and haunting vocals and the alternative sound.This is just more uptempo and energetic for the most part with a QUEEN vibe. The theme of this record seems to be death and the end of the world. Actually a young guy , I would say in his early twenties came in the store while this was playing, and he asked if I was listening to a cd, I said yeah, it's MUSE. He said who ? I said MUSE. Anyway, he stayed for about three songs and then asked for a piece of paper and a pen, so I gave him these and the cd, to write down the band's name and title of the disc. Another convert.

The first song "Intro" is twenty seconds of vocal samples that end with the piano pounding away and continuing into the next song "Apocalypse Please". The vocals on this song are excellent, and the melody is bombastic with the drums leading the way. "Time Is Running Out" is a song that opens quietly that builds to a full sound.The melody is catchy and again bombastic. The drums and vocals are the focus. "Sing For Absolution" opens with piano,light drums and reserved vocals that build. I like the way Matthew holds the notes as he sings. The guitar comes to the fore and is really good. A definite RADIOHEAD vibe to this song. "Stockholm Syndrome" really rocks out pretty good ! Great in your face guitar leads and pounding drums along with the Thom Yorke style vocals. This would be great to hear live. "Falling Away With You" really contrasts the mellow, beautiful acoustic passages with the full, heavy sounding passages quite well.

"Interlude" is about 30 seconds of distorted guitar sounds. "Hysteria" is an uptempo, catchy tune thats pretty good. "Blackout" is a mournful song with cello and some real Post Rock sounding guitar melodies. "Butterflies & Hurricanes" has a lot of tension in the intro, as if the band is having a hard time holding back. The drums signal a change of pace as they do let loose. "The Small Print" features some good piano and guitar. This is an energetic, emotional song that is a highlight for me. It's great ! "Endlessly" is reserved and melodic."Thoughts Of A Dying Athiest" is an uptempo and surprisingly fun song with amazing lyrics. "Ruled By Secrecy" opens with fragile vocals and piano, drums eventually come into this powerful song.

Clearly if your a fan of RADIOHEAD or Alternative rock, this is a must.

Absolution

Not a really progressive rock album, I suppose, but nonetheless it is a very cool album. I actually bought it around 3 years ago, but I haven't had any chance to talk about this album. Now it's the time.

Since this album is not a really progressive rock album, I reckon this is more of a "true-rock" album, maybe has a bit alternative aspect in it. With a quite proficient musical skills and well-composed songs, also cool sound effects. But for me, the best thing is the feeling everytime I listen to the album, which is very important. Honestly, this is a kind of albums which I like all the songs in it. As a comparison, as a hardcore Dream Theater fan, sometimes there is a song in an album which I don't like. However, different with Absolution, which all the songs are really cool. Again, not progressive metal songs, but they are very good songs, more mainstream actually.

My favourite song in the album is probably Sing For Absolution (track 4), which has a nice vocal and lyric. The song is more of an easy listening song than a metal song, but then again, I like it. An example of a song that needs a "quite" high technical skills is Stockholm Syndrome (track 5) and Hysteria (track 8). Both of these songs can be compared directly to Octavarium's Panic Attack from Dream Theater. That song has an intro like Stockholm Syndrome and a solo like Hysteria. Now think, if the song is similar to Dream Theater's, this album should be a cool album.

Bottom line, I should have given this album 4.5 stars, maybe 5 stars for a hard rock or alternative rock album. However because this is a progressive rock review, four stars can really exemplify the coolness of this album. Okay, time is running out.

Sing for absolution!- Imoeng

Edgy music.

Absolution is the breakthrough album for Muse, one of the proggiest of prog-related bands on this website. While they may be a little too young at heart for their own good, they are a very entertaining band that puts on a show and knows how to compose. This album is a testament to that if nothing else.

If there is one complaint is that the music, despite having many energetic and interesting moments over the traditional alt. rock band is that it seems to be much too formulaic. Many of the songs have the same or similar qualities to them. I see a lot of comparisons to Radiohead, but possibly only in vocal style, as artistically they are two very different bands with vastly different approaches. For one, this band is much heavier and more rock driven whereas Radiohead relies more on electronica and experimentation (as can be evidenced by albums like Kid A and OK Computer).

That being said, Absolution is still a well done album and worthy of having, especially for those who may be looking to cross the bridge from rock to prog, they work wonderfully, as I have been able to get several friends of mine to enjoy Porcupine Tree because he had an interest in Muse.

According to the ratings description here in PA, a 5-star album is "essential: a masterpiece of progressive music." So, giving 5 stars to an album that is not 100% prog would be somewhat of a contradiction, as for something to be considered a "masterpiece" representation of any category, it has first to FIT that category.

Even though, from that perspective, giving 5-stars to a prog-related album such as Muse's ABSOLUTION would seem completely incoherent and out of place, let's approach the matter from a different perspective. Let's agree that the concept "progressive music" is still matter of discussion, and that we should be able to decide whether a particular band is progressive or not by our own considerations, of course under the guidance of the principles that rule this website.

In that case, for me, ABSOLUTION is a masterpiece of music, and if not of "true" progressive music (in the style of Yes, Genesis and others), a masterpiece of music that shows progression, that has so many elements of interest that transcends the boundaries of the genre. So, before I start talking about the music itself, let me start by saying that for me this album is worthy of a perfect score.

The music in ABSOLUTION is a mix of many different genres and styles: most of all, we have strong influences from British-pop; we hear sounds from bands like Blur. Another big influence, if not as big as some suggest, is the music of Radiohead. For me, the sounds, the structures, the tone of the music itself is not really similar to that successful band, but we can't deny that Matthew Bellamy's voice sounds very much alike Thom Yorke's, though less in distress, slightly more optimistic and more centered, less nerve-shattering. But that's not all: we can find strong alternative influences here, some punk influences (as in any alternative music) and even a few hints of metal. Yes, there are many riffs here that remind us of the heaviest of genres, played, of course, with the utmost restraint and control. That's what this music mostly is about: emotion but under control; there's a showing of anger, love, hate or happiness but always focused in an objective, which is: making the best music possible. That's why most songs are short, there's no time wasted in delicacies or solos or displays of power or virtuosism. Muse's music is strongly song-oriented, and no doubt the three British musicians are quite the masters of compelling song-writing. There are many progressive-elements here, too, with interesting harmonies, textures and instrumentations, but, as said before, never for the sake of any of them is the music allowed to lose any cohesiveness.

A brief song-by-song:

Intro (?/10) Well, this is just noise, the noise of a marching band. But it blends so perfectly with the start of.

Apocalypse Please (10/10) What a start! Powerful chords signal the beginning of the end of everything. The rhythm is heavy, fate is upon us, the end of the world. But this is more of a reflection about what's coming than a lament. Bellamy's voice is desperate yet never annoying or over-indulgent. Some rays of light of all colors in the way of piano arpeggios and distorted guitar make a fantastic bridge. The vocal harmonies are excellent. A masterpiece of a song.

Time Is Running Out (9.5/10) A groovy, sensuous rhythm of the most minimalist expression, just some percussion and here-and-there piano notes; it grows in power until the chorus explodes with desperation. Such a simple song, such a great song.

Sing for Absolution (9/10) This one starts quietly, elegantly, piano over a soft, perfume-filled atmosphere. This song starts with such class, an atmosphere of smoke, velvet, luxury, yet sung by a distressed person. The chorus is less brilliant.

Stockholm Syndrome (10/10) This track is so incredibly amazing that it would get more than 10 if it was possible. The main riff is very metallic, yet so in control. This is the riff that Dream Theater heard for sure before writing "Never Enough". Such a driving, powerful, energetic, dramatic song I've yet to hear again. Bellamy's voice only adds to the unfolding tragedy; then the chorus: what a perfection of a texture, the piano notes underlining and the guitar spacey arpeggios it just complete the magnificent picture. A true anthem of a rock track, one of the best of this decade.

Falling Away With You (9/10) After such a song, the only good decision was to give us a quiet, mellow, atmospheric moment of relax. And Muse deliver in a fantastic way. A beautiful ballad with acoustic guitar over piano arpeggios and Bellamy's dramatic voice. The music clearly reflects the "falling away" theme of the song, with a descending theme that creates a wonderful, sad, romantic, emotional atmosphere. Another success.

Interlude (?/10) Again, just transitional noise. So brief it doesn't hurt the album.

Hysteria (9.5/10) Another epic track, not for its proportions but for its quality. The riff is, again, very reminiscent of what DT gave us in OCTAVARIUM, and the fact that the New York band chose Muse's music as source of inspiration shows the quality of this British trio. A dynamic, kinetic track that only speaks of drama, controlled drama. An excellent song.

Blackout (8.5/10) A very slow, mellow, quiet, romantic, sedated song. It takes us to a canal, to a canal at night, in the middle of a beautiful city, in a European city, in France, in Italy, where it's normal to let oneself be driven by the movement of water while being lost in the glare of the street lights. Good, very good song.

Butterflies and Hurricanes (10/10) This one starts ambiguously, quietly, with dark, secretive notes. The music depicts the butterflies, and with electronica rhythms it takes us to the hurricanes. Powerful piano chords, a heavy drum rhythm, energy, the fundamental force behind this album: DRAMATIC ENERGY, always presented using the best musical resources to do it. A varied track, the middle section is almost impressionistic in nature, but then it turns romantic, passionate, and then we go back to the 21st century . Outstanding. Marvelous.

Small Print (8/10) A more conventional rock start. A fast, pulsating song. The chorus is not that great but it works. This track is slightly more noisy and less brilliant than most of the songs in ABSOLUTION. It's good that it's so short. Another proof that Muse put much effort into the structuring of the album as a whole. Endlessly (8.5/10) What a classy beginning! Soft percussion and sensuous piano chords, in pure pop style. The texture gets more interesting, yet the song doesn't change that much. The bridge with the spacey, narcotic atmosphere is a welcome addition to an otherwise linear track.

Thoughts of a Dying Atheist (9/10) The fastest song in the album, full of energy, of speed, of relentless drive. The song in itself is pretty simple, standard pop-rock, with a Salmon flavor to it (only one person will understand this), with some Cure or U2. Great simple rocker.

Ruled by Secrecy (8.5/10) Over guitar and piano arpeggios a doubled-voice sings, cries with the utmost peace. A lament expressed after all has been already said, so that there's no need to physically manifest the suffering any longer. A quiet, atmospheric, sad song that closes the album in decent fashion.

All in all, let me quote a phrase from a fellow PA reviewer, Cert1fied who, talking about "Stockholm Syndrome", said that this music is "essentially quite simple, but this is ROCK at a new level, and shows clearly why Muse are prog-related, and why Rick Wakeman himself declared Muse to be a modern Prog Rock band. The riff that finishes this piece defies all words. It's hard to imagine anything better.... Maybe he was speaking about that single track, but the definition applies to the whole album. A masterpiece of rock, a proof that popular music hasn't got to be bad, a testament to the fact that we have to allow ourselves the pleasure to discover music even if it implies us exploring the most "commercial" territories of this, our beloved genre, rock, and progressive-rock at that.

No doubt this is progressive-rock.

Recommended for: Any rock lover; fans of simple, accessible, brilliantly written songs with a flavor or "Brit-pop" to them; fans of great riffs and fantastic texture-work.

Not recommended for: People that dislike emotional, dramatic, energetic, bombastic rock music; people that can't stand their prog not to be long and full of solos; people who think that whatever music that is commercially successful is bad music per se.

.you're missing a MASTERPIECE.

I discovered Muse way before its inclusion on PA. So, no surprise for me when comes the time of this review. This ain't prog (but none of their work is). IMO, Muse is one of the most interesting rock bands of the moment (with Franz Ferdinand, Clap Your Hand , Placebo and Arcade Fire to cite a few). I go and see a reasonably high numbers of concerts year in, year out. When I go to watch true prog bands, the audience is almost my age (late forties) and usually the audience ranges from 300 (the majority) to 1500 (very rare) people.

When I went to see Muse for their "Absolution" tour, the concert hall in Brussels was packed (9,000) and sold out. I looked like a rarety in the hall. I could easily be the father of most of the audience. So, I 'm not quite sure that youngsters are keen to listen to "prog" bands nowadays and to me, there is no doubt about their "progness, even releated). Anyway, they are integrated in PA and since it is one of the bands I really appreciate (especially live) , I will not complain.

This album starts brilliantly with a great trio of songs. The title track with his dual tempo is extraordinary and very emotional, while "Time Is Running Out" is of course at the opposite : a wild and brilliant pop/rock song. The opening number (opening their show as well) was a great moment of the concert and is a very good choice to start this album.

"Stockholm Syndrome" is another fabulous song. A "noisy" intro but a very catchy melody. At times an incredible and extremely powerful riff will invade your loud speakers. Almost punkish as well. It is an incredible song : complex, violent, at times irritating, heavy. Muse in all its splendour. Another of my fave of this great album so far.

Just to cool down, Muse will prolonged the tradition of slow and peaceful tracks. They will usually be inserted after powerful ones. Exactly what happens here with "Falling Away With You". Almost acoustic at times, a pleasant chorus will rank this song into the good ones. And if you like heavy ones, do not worry. After a short and useless interlude : "Hysteria" is there. Another excellent number combining the strenghts of a traditional Muse song. Great drumming from Dominic in this all mighty song.

Another slow transition with "Blackout" and another attempt to "Unintended". Same exceptional emotional feeling, but a bit too mellowish. My least preferred song here, but I usually like their fast, bumping and fresh rocking songs more than the slow ones.

From the very first notes of "Butterflies And Hurricanes", you know immediately that a great moment is ahead. Another more complex song with some theme variations : mellow intro, strong rocking but very melodic middle-part, an opera-like piano and strings part (fully classical) and back to the opening. Very effective and so diversified.

Back the punkish sounds again, with "The Small Print". Another rhythmy (to say the least) track. But the exceptional melody again will turn this one into a very bearable song (but not for the average progheads, believe me). This album is bloody damned good. As usual, a slow one follows. "Endlessly" is almost childish. Same mood as for "Blackout" and same appreciation. Not too great.

I was a bit afraid that the same would happended like in their previous albums, meaning that they were a bit disappointing towards the last few tracks.

Fortunately, "Thoughts of a Dying Atheist" is far from being a filler. A wonderful melody as well and a "pogo" song at times (you know : "Pogo Dancing" : when goes up, must come down). Just great, I'm afraid. "Absolution" will close on a very slow tempo : "Ruled By Secrecy" is again on the mellow side of their repertoire, but a very nice piano part will come as a nice conclusion. This is by far my favorite Muse album. "Absolution" remains fantastic almost throughout all its lenght (only two weaker numbers). In terms of rating, it deserves more than four stars but not really fave. But since there (unfortunately) no other choice possible (so far ?), I will upgrade it to five star. A great almbum of rock music.

How do three people make so much noise?

MUSE are here, I suspect, because of their sheer intensity and presence. They incorporate many of the sensibilities familiar to progressive music, but do so in bite-sized morsels often mistaken for pop songs. With few exceptions, they are not. They are well-crafted, spirited and above all passionate rock songs that ring every bell in the listener's mind. Big-scale sounds in small-scale packages. Anyone who objects to this exuberance is simply a curmudgeon.

'Absolution' is a fair step up from their previous two offerings. The album begins by tearing four new orifices in your psyche: the four-pronged attack of 'Apocalypse Please,' 'Time Is Running Out', 'Sing For Absolution' and 'Stockholm Syndrome' is one of the most potent slabs of music you'll come across in popular culture. To my mind, these opening twenty minutes are packed with more innovation, cleverness and sheer musical glee than THE BEATLES ever managed.

'Apocalypse Please' thunders in with a cataclysmic piano line, a seismic shock. This is the end? Already? I know what MATTHEW BELLAMY means: we're not in for an easy ride here. He calls for a miracle, and he's delivering it in crashing chords and swirling synths, rock painted passionate progressive in a way that few of the inheritors of the progressive label can equal. I already have my money's worth.

'Time Is Running Out', you betcha, and the music communicates MUSE's sense of urgency - and, finally, the guitar arrives. Such teasers. They're maturing, not firing all their guns at once, letting a song build naturally. This song is a splendid number. BELLAMY has a wonderful falsetto, which fills the sonic gap normally occupied by a lead guitar. Then the song runs out and the extraordinarily beautiful 'Sing For Absolution' begins. This is BELLAMY at his lyrical and vocal peak. The track builds into a masterpiece, and the vocals are sheer genius. Not that he has a great voice - far from it. But rock music works best when the voice isn't sweet: there's plenty of roughness in the delivery, including the ubiquitous gasp for breath, and a sharpness to his notes that adds an edge to the music.

Can they produce a fourth memorable track in a row? 'Stockholm Syndrome' is the best of them all, a fierce behemoth with a monster riff and wonderful rhythm. What a hook in the chorus! And they lead us magnificently through the song using every trick in modern music's vast lexicon.

The album inevitably falls away a little from here, a result of MUSE front-loading their albums. It falls away literally with the next track, as MUSE realise they need to give us time to recover, to catch our breath before the next sonic assault. 'Hysteria' is that assault, with a staggering riff as gorgeous and epic as you've ever heard, and another hook chorus. And there's still 'Butterflies', 'Endlessly' and 'Thoughts of a Dying Atheist' to come. There are a few below-par tracks, but that's almost inconsequential. It all sounds a little 'samey' on first listen, because BELLAMY's voice is front and centre, but give the album a few listens - each track's personality will emerge.

In a word, epic.

The trio of melodic prog excel with this album - one of their best.

The first thing I noticed listening to this album was the crystal clear clarity of each track, beautifully produced and the band play with musical virtuosity. I discovered most of the songs on the DVD release so was quite used to the way most of these tracks were played live. The music on the studio release here is more subdued yet has heavy aspects.The songwriting is written with expertise and there are classical rock influences, and a similar style of vocal performance in fact to early Radiohead in most respects. Matt Bellamy is the driving force of the album and belts out one track after another with huge vocal ranges in a similar style to Radiohead's Thom Yorke.

Each track is different in thematic content and all feature strong melodies and a consistent high standard of structure. The atmosphere of the album is remarkable, like nothing else I have heard.

The vocal arrangements at times feel like ELO or Queen and they are major influences to their style of music. Other influences are the classical composers Rachmaninoff, Chopin or even a touch of Puccini. Muse create a huge wall of sound consisting of loud clashing guitars, keyboards and drums with a punding bass line throughout.

Highlights include Time Is Running Out, Sing for Absolution, Stockholm Syndrome, Hysteria, Blackout and Ruled by Secrecy.

If you have heard of this band and did not know where to start, Absolution is a definite starting point encompassing all that is great about Muse.

'Absolution' - Muse (6/10)

'Absolution' is a work of two faces. The first 8 songs (which i would count as being the first half) are fantastic, and flow very well. Musically, theres great songwriting, great performances and an epic quality that is rarely found in alternative rock. The rest of it however is mediocre (albeit listenable) material that really seems to kill the album's overall sense of body and completion.

There are parts here that do not sound like a band of only three musicians. Muse have a way of magically turning a 3-piece into the sonic equivalent of a rock orchestra, and giving a strength and bite to their music.

Is this band going to meet constant criticism from prog fans? Unfortunately, yes. They are very alternative rock based, which many could consider a far cry from actually being prog. While theres definately a feeling that Muse are never going to be full-out prog, they incorperate prog music into a more accessible songwriting style that is definately enjoyable, although the band tends to flow in a very depressing direction in terms of their musical style and feeling.

'Absolution' is not the greatest Muse has ever made, or will ever make. However, it, like many things in life, is but an evolution; a development and transmutation. I have my hopes up that someday this talented band will make an 'Abolution II' of sorts that will carry the same level of quality from the first side and keep that going throughout the entire product... Until then, we have a fatally flawed masterpiece.

Absolution was recommended to me by a friend on the premise that I was (and still am) a RADIOHEAD fan. I knew nothing about the MUSE at the time and listened to the disk several times in different situations and over an extended period of time.

At first, I was of course more than stunned by the overwhelming similarity with RADIOHEAD, which was not only in terms of vocal expression of the singer M. Bellamy, but also in the composition and stylistic practice (gentle, sweeping and melancholic, chamber pop balladry Vs. noisy guitar-driven and electronically empowered speedy rockers). Later, I became even much less impressed. Although I can hardly point to any obvious error or weakness - the technical side of the album is perfectly played and produced, even the songwriting is decent and written "by the book" - I cannot help but feel that a large portion of its obvious popularity lies in its following the beaten path of "OK Computer" and later RADIOHEAD efforts.

It is fairly listenable, decent copycat of RADIOHEAD with certain post-Brit-pop mainstream leanings, but the music that offers me nothing new that I already had not heard.

PERSONAL RATING: 3/5

P.A. RATING: 3/5

Absolution is the album that I've listened to the least out of the three Muse albums that I've had the opportunity of experiencing. It didn't really have much to do with the album itself but more with the circumstances that surrounded me at the time of its release. I consider the 2002-2004 period in my music development to be highly significant to my current level of enlightenment. This was where I really got into the Symphonic Prog bands like Genesis, Yes and ELP meaning that I personally refer to that period as my classic years.

I can understand why Absolution is currently the highest rated Muse release on the site. The album features quite a few of the band's best songs like Time Is Running Out and Hysteria at the same time it also fully utilized the Muse-sound that has, in the recent years, become a subject of imitation by other bands. But even though this record is an important artistic statement it also has its share of filler material. In fact, Absolution is far from a solid all around release that I would have wished it to be since the album is almost entirely split between excellent and filler material with very little middle ground in between the two.

The album starts with a short intro track that transitions into the atmospheric sounds of Apocalypse Please. This is where we get bombarded by a few heavier tracks like Time Is Running Out and Stockholm Syndrome that are easily the highlights of the album. Unfortunately it's the album's second part, starting with Interlude, that isn't really as strong. Things do start nicely with another heavy guitar rocker Hysteria but Blackout sounds quite pretentious to my ears and even though Butterflies And Hurricanes is easily the most progressive track of this album it just doesn't reach the intensity that the song's build-up originally promises.

The last four tracks consist mostly of either experiments gone wrong or just filler material that the band added just to fill out the space. Small Print and Thoughts Of A Dying Atheist are just two straightforward rockers that feel like an insult after all the excellent heavy hitting rockers that came right before it. Endlessly is flirting with disco which isn't something that I think this band needs to explore any further. Finally Ruled By Secrecy closes the album with another atmospheric landscape which I do find suiting even though I wish that the track had a stronger punch to it.

Overall Absolution, just like Origin Of Symmetry before it, is another important piece of this band's history due to the high number of great songs incorporated into the mix. Unfortunately the filler material restrains me once again from giving a Muse album anything higher than the good, but non-essential rating. Still I urge all the fans of this type of music to check this album out since this is one of the few times when Muse managed to satisfy all the spectrums of their fan-base without resolving to truly cheesy moments.

***** star songs: Time Is Running Out (3:58) Stockholm Syndrome (4:57) Hysteria (3:47)

**** star songs: Apocalypse Please (4:13) Sing For Absolution (4:55) Falling Away With You (4:41) Butterflies And Hurricanes (5:02) Ruled By Secrecy (4:52)

*** star songs: Intro (0:22) Interlude (0:38) Blackout (4:22) Small Print (3:29) Endlessly (3:49) Thoughts Of A Dying Atheist (3:07)

Before I get into the music I want to talk about the cover. Is that the LP/vinyl cover used on this site? My CD copy has a man holding a gas mask on the front; on the back is what I assume to be the same little girl but she's wearing all red. All three show the same shadows of floating bodies above. This cover was done by Storm Thorgerson and Dan Abbott. Storm of course used to be a part of the Hipgnosis team who created famous album covers and sleeves for the likes of Floyd, Zeppelin, etc. This is one of the best album covers of the past ten years.

Besides the awesome cover, there was only one other reason I decided to buy this: seeing the video for "Stockholm Syndrome". That song, and video, blew me away. I had always heard that Muse were a Radiohead clone. I always liked Radiohead but generally steer clear of copycat bands. Apart from the vocals I really can't see much of a resemblance. Radiohead rarely rocked as hard as these guys do.

The marching beat of "Intro" leads into "Apocalypse Please". Great piano in an odd time signature. Before 2 minutes great sequencer part with falsetto vocals. This part comes back later. Classical piano at the end. "Time Is Running Out" is a catchy song with a great bass sound. Nice subtle keyboards during the verses. Good Spanish-style electric guitar after the first chorus. The piano during the last verse is great. The Spanish guitar part ends it.

Matthew Bellamy seems to use every effects pedal/stomp-box ever created. "Stockholm Syndrome" is a good example of guitar effects. This song has a great heavy riff. The drumming is awesome during the verses. I love the dreamy sequencers during the chorus along with piano. A really good guitar solo but it's way too short. "Interlude" is just distorted guitar which reminds me of the famous "Adagio For Strings". "Hysteria" has a great guitar solo. I like the distorted bass sound.

The album is on a roll till it hits "Blackout". A let down after everything that came before it. A ballad with strings in almost waltz-style. But even this song has a great guitar solo in it. "Butterflies & Hurricanes" starts with what sounds like electric piano and vocals. Then cymbals and strings. Great singing in this song. Later things pick up when the whole band comes in. In the middle there is steady bass and a hi-hat pattern with strings and piano. Then just piano and some strings sounding very classical. Electric piano comes back and first part gets repeated.

"The Small Print" has punk style verses and a metal style chorus. These guys sound so damn heavy on that chorus for just a trio. "Endlessly" has weird sounding drums and electric piano. The chorus sounds like techno. 1 1/2 minutes in is a cool backwards sound. Later bass and some nice synths. The part around 2 1/2 minutes is great. Melodic and atmospheric. The last two songs are the least interesting.

Absolution is a great modern rock album. It's probably the band's most proggy effort. I think this deserves 3.5 but I can't really give this 4 stars. It's not something that every prog fan needs in their collection. The sound, production and playing is excellent. But some of the songs are fairly straight forward verse/chorus/solo stuff. At least Muse still does guitar solos in this day and age.

The 5 minute straight-jacket

Released in 2003, "Absolution" was Muse's third studio album, and by far their most successful up to that point. Having developed a rapidly increasing audience with their previous album, the band captured the mood of the period perfectly this time around.

It should be said up front that while this is much more than an Indie/pop/rock set, it only really touches on the boundaries of prog, hence the band's prog related assignment on this site.

In some ways this band take me back to the early days of prog. The vocals of Matthew Bellamy for example are very much an acquired taste, in the same way as it took us a lot of persistence to come to terms with the squeaky sounds which emanated from a young Jon Anderson. His style is not unlike that of Thom Yorke (Radiohead), but the setting here is more of a straight rock sound, devoid of the jazz nuances which attract Radiohead. Here we range from the heavy guitar riff driven "Hysteria", veering towards punk of tracks such as "Stockholm syndrome" through the emotional power balladry of "Sing for absolution", to the gentle acoustics of the beginning of "Falling away with you".

The band are heavily reliant on Bellamy's vocals, any instrumental development being confined to his guitar and piano digressions. While this does not in itself imply a lack of variation, it does restrict the the opportunities for the tracks to be fully developed. There is the potential here for a number of the tracks to be taken beyond their 5 minute straight- jackets into more adventurous areas.

Impressively, the noisy, riff fuelled "Hysteria" did make the top 10 of the UK singles chart, showing that there is still a discerning singles market there if the right product is placed in front of them. The highlight of the album for me though is the majestic "Blackout", complete with backing by a small orchestra. Incidentally, the video which accompanied this song was inspired by a scene from the film "The wall" (Pink Floyd).

Overall, a fine album by any standard. Both the album and the band's relevance in prog terms is highly marginal, but who of here listens exclusively to prog?

It's no secret that Muse main man Matt Bellamy is an unabashed conspiracy buff, and so it's only natural that it should come out here and there in the lyrics of Absolution, the first Muse album to come out after 9/11 (which, of course, set conspiracy fans the world over into overdrive). As well as overt espousal of conspiracy theory in songs like Ruled By Secrecy - whose title recalls an infamous work of conspiracy literature - there's also the apocalyptic and paranoid tone of songs like the title track. Hogwash, of course, but musically speaking this is a perfectly logical development of the emotionally overwrought and musically bombastic style Muse hit on in Origin of Symmetry. That said, the playfulness evident in the previous album has all but disappeared and a certain po-faced seriousness creeps into the music here, and I don't think Muse have been quite on form since.

Circa 2013, Muse may have settled into a somewhat predictable pattern (ironically having attained some career highlights like performing at the Olympics in the process). But in 2004, they were younger and fresher and consolidated their earlier promise to produce a masterpiece and arguably the finest of their six studio albums. They also don't sound as hung up on Queen at this point!

Rather, the most positive aspect of Absolution is its eclecticism. As I did in my Strange Days review, I will use two songs to develop this point. Small Print is violent enough to thrill a metalhead (if said metalhead is prepared to look beyond Bellamy's delivery) and that is no mean feat in terms of the aggression quotient. Just the opening bars, THOSE riffs, are headbanging manna for sure.

Which is fine as far as it goes because the quintessential metal sound has become somewhat ubiquitous in the noughties. No, the thing is Muse also perform the lovely ballad Falling Away with You. This is not your typical cliched 80s style power ballad stuff. It has moments that are utterly delicate, sensitive...and moving though I do object mildly to the loud volume of the drums in many places. To me, it appears well beyond the grasp of a typical metal band (or a typical Britpop band at the other end of the spectrum), to straddle both extremes, especially on the same album. Muse not only do so but also internalize these extremes, with everything else in between, into a style readily identifiable as theirs.

And there's lots of this stuff that slots in between. Sing for Absolution moves a little faster than Falling Away With You and follows a more typical soaring pattern but still engages with the sheer power of Muse's delivery. Endlessly sees the band dabbling rather tastefully in more electronic based music. Ruled by Secrecy vaguely evokes Crime of the Century. There are also other crushing rockers apart from Small Print like Stockholm Syndrome and Hysteria.

And make no mistake, there are the usual Queen-isms too, most notably Apocalypse Please and Butterflies and Hurricanes. On the latter, Bellamy's voice is especially reminiscent of Freddie Mercury, though not quite as captivating in my humble opinion. But the piano interlude on Butterflies and Hurricanes gets pretty far out, not quite very typical of Queen.

If I had to use one track to sum up the album, it would be Butterflies and Hurricanes, which particularly dazzled me when I listened to this album for the first time. Muse fit varied styles into songs with relatively straight up structures but involving instrumental virtuosity and deliver these in a manner that is intense and power packed. This is rock music on steroids. There are no half measures for Muse. They are out to dazzle you and sweep you off their feet and how can they not with their enormous talent. Of course, such an approach may not appeal to all and the band tends to divide listeners. But if you are in for the ride, you are probably going to love all of it.

Or, nearly. I do have some reservations about Bellamy's singing. His diction lacks clarity and the hiccup-like sharp intake of breath he indulges in between lines is off putting for me (and from a technical point of view, I am curious as to how he manages this all the time without hurting his voice as the 'onset of breath' sounds too drastic). He also avoids gritty singing on the rockers and it would improve their appeal if he could. Still, he has a pretty powerful voice and belts it out and it has a pleasant timbre when he is singing softly so I will take it.

Perhaps, what Roger Waters said of Dark Side of the Moon is true for other bands too. Maybe bands do strive to give their all and get their act together on one album to deliver one magnum opus. Afterwards, they may not have fuel in the tank for another. And if even they do deliver, fans of one magnum opus may judge the other too harshly from their biased prism (see Radiohead). At any rate, Black Holes and Revelations doesn't seem to have been that one for Muse. They have got time on their side and hopefully they can obliterate all in their path yet again as they did with Absolution. Until then...

I feel like I'm being gutted with every word I write, because I'm tearing so deeply into a piece of my own upbringing. The passage of time has become a cruel sadist, strangling me with the fretboard of my own guitar as I hear the pieces I practiced so diligently in my adolescence. It's sickening, but only because of how brilliant and addicting the original experience was at one point. It's sickening, because I can still recite every damn word of something that I can't connect to anymore. The pedestal that shouldered this old giant has since become dusty, long abandoned as newer acts have built their own pantheon from scratch, but it wasn't supposed to be this way. They sang thoughtfully about revolution and social/political corruption. They incorporated beautiful classical flourishes in their energetic brand of alternative rock. They had a charismatic frontman who was proficient in countless different musical fields.

But, again, the passage of time can be cruel.

Much like Muse's relevance, the quality of their peak era has seemed to decay with every passing year. What once seemed thought-provoking now reeks of a horrible sense of pomp and self-importance that puts their sincerity in question. What seemed so beautifully elaborate and intricate now sounds derivative and dated. What seemed like a modern-day rock opera of progressive rock grandeur and propulsive flights of metal fancy has now devolved into something that is simply a dull homogeneous slog. The same things that once distinguished Absolution as a modern classic have now somehow worked against it, to the point that many of its tracks are practically unlistenable now. I can't get through 'Falling Away with You,' with its blend of overly melodramatic croons and repetitive melodies, and the horrendously overblown piano theatrics of 'Apocalypse Please' become a chore to endure for even the mere four minutes of its runtime. Even a lot of the more uptempo pieces feel a bit lifeless today, and tricks that seemed so impressive to my teenage mind - particularly the piano solo in 'Butterflies and Hurricanes' - seem more gimmicky than beneficial to the music now. Adapting influences from Sergei Rachmaninoff into rock music may be cool on a superficial level, but not when it creates a disjointed and disorganized piece of work. The worst thing about all this is that, with a handful of experiences here, I can still sense how much effort and passion were thrown in. 'Hysteria' is still a beautifully uplifting alternative rock classic, and the pulse-pounding heavy metal riffage of 'Stockholm Syndrome' can still bring the chills. But taken holistically, it all falls apart very quickly. There's diversity here; I'll give the band that. We get everything from alternative metal ('Hysteria,' 'Stockholm Syndrome'), to symphonic rock ('Butterflies and Hurricanes,' 'Blackout') to even some slices of melodic punk ('Thoughts of a Dying Atheist,' 'The Small Print'). But it plays out like a smorgasbord of musical stylings that never comes together in a meaningful fashion. The diversity is more scattershot than complementary, and having Matt Bellamy doing his irritating 'operatic' wailing over every different genre doesn't help matters. This is musical Attention Deficit Disorder disguised as variation.

None of this is pleasurable at all to write, as it definitely hurts removing rose-colored glasses to see how gutting reality can be. But listening to Absolution again was eye-opening (or ear-opening) for all the wrong reasons. Hearing it again is like meeting with a friend after years of distance, only to realize you took completely different paths and pursued completely different interests in the meantime. Deep down, there will always be that bitter disappointment when contemplating what could have been a fantastic reunion, and all that remains is an awkward reminder of how young and naive you both used to be. That, more or less, is the feeling I have now. And I also feel sick.

MUSE released their third album ABSOLUTION approximately two years after their second "Origin Of Symmetry" but in that short time the world had forever changed. The terrorist attacks of 911 and the subsequent illegal wars launched on Iraq and Afghanistan added even more political furor and focus on conspiratorial analysis of world powers run amok. Due to creative differences mostly resulting from Matt Bellamy's liberal use of falsetto vocal gymnastics, MUSE refused to re-record their second album for American record labels (who demanded they did) and therefore didn't find a US release for that album until years later. Having finally resolved their differences, ABSOLUTION still didn't see the light of day for a full six months after its UK release but finally got them in the North American club which helped launch their career into the next phase - international alternative art rock superstars. The 21st century British Invasion had finally begun, although one could argue that it was a mere logical next step of the 90s Britpop scene that had simply branched out into more ambitious avenues closer to the world of progressive rock, but nonetheless MUSE struck a chord with their politically charged lyrics, catchy pop hooks and artful sophisticated approach of stylistic fusion.

Once again MUSE scored big in their native UK with their first top 10 hit "Time Is Running Out," but while finally hitting the shores of North America, only managed to find success on the alternative rock charts. Bellamy claims the title is not religious but rather more in the sense of "purity" which sounds like code for a sense of soul searching in the midst of the world wide chaos that was taking place. While MUSE had started out as political commentators, the events of the world had put their disheartening viewpoints as the focus which is reflected in the darker themes with a more melancholic feel to the album as a whole. While the previous album had a sort of childlike innocence to it, ABSOLUTION feels as if a dark cloud was cast over the band as they lamented the times in which they lived but felt they had to take a stand and be a resistant force in every possible way. Since music was their vehicle of communication, it became infused with their political charged viewpoints which left no room for ambiguities.

While stylistically a darker album in contrast to "Origin Of Symmetry," as heard with the first jaded electronic effects on the opener "Apocalypse Please" with its "Intro," musically speaking, ABSOLUTION is much like its predecessors with a heavy focus on Bellamny's concert pianist skills channelling his inner New Romantic with emphasis on Chopin-esque classical chops as the underpinning. While overall the album is a bit less in the rock arena and more subdued and mournful with symphonic rock influences making a more prominent presence as heard on tracks like "Butterflies And Hurricanes" and "Blackout" which featured a full 18-piece orchestra. There are a few fully charged rockers as well ranging from the single "Time Is Running Out" to the heaviest track on the album "Stockholm Syndrome." The ELO-esque NU-ENRG disco effect still straddles around the classical piano, tango-laced bass grooves and heavy guitar riffs still are abundant even though there are a few new elements such as the focus on electronica on "Endlessly."

MUSE were progressing! So why doesn't it sound like they were? ABSOLUTION has always been my least favorite album of the early albums but i've never bothered to figure out exactly why i always favor the previous albums or the following ones. Something about this one is just off and has always bugged me enough to just ignore it. Having done my research for reviewing these albums, it makes more sense. MUSE had been rejected from US labels due to Matt Bellamy's passionate and overwrought use of Prince-like falsettos in conjunct with a rather 80s Bono (of U2) type of vocal style. On ABSOLUTION he sort of tames it down a bit and the result is that the music suffers since they seem to be the focus despite the ridiculous amounts of musical styles that accompany them. While MUSE's lyrics have developed, the music seems to have taken a few steps back. These tracks are just OK as opposed to the kick ass musical orgy of styles on previous albums. Add to that the tracks are badly paced with a silly ballad ending the album and a horrible production and mixing job to boot. This one just fails on many levels but there are still plenty of great tracks to make it a worthy addition to your MUSE fix. It's just that none of them match the awesomeness of "Origin Of Symmetry" or the next two albums.

After the absolute monster of an album that Origin of Symmetry was, it was clear that Muse would have to do something incredible in order to live up to their material. I personally think that in some respects, they definitely did it, smoothing out the rougher edges present and focusing on a much grander sound, replacing many of the scratchy, abrasive tones with a much more symphonic and synth heavy album, with simply amazing production and sound mixing to go along with it. The songs feel much more powerful and intense in general, and quite a few surpass the majority of the excellent songs on Origin of Symmetry as well. Unfortunately, despite this, the album definitely has a few problems that do drag it down, especially when it comes to the often bland, occasionally straight up bad ballads the album contains, along with there being a severe case of top loading, with the majority of the stand out tracks appearing in the first half.

The album starts off in an incredible way, showing all that Muse have become, with an intense, dissonant piano line as Matt Bellamy belts out his vocals, before layers of harmonisation come in. In general, Apocalypse Please does serve as an excellent album as well for how much darker it sounds, sounding like the soundtrack to the very moment the world is coming to an end. The song progresses with some excellent synths before falling back into the harrowing, intense main portion of the song. 'Time Is Running Out' is a more laid back, mid paced song that builds itself around a simple beat, with most of the appeal coming from the extraordinarily catchy vocal melody combined with nice, subtle changes throughout, with even the climax of the song being remarkably less bombastic than the average Muse affair. The next few tracks on the album are quite a mixed bag, with some being stunning, and others being quite below average. Out of the ballads, I quite enjoy Sing For Absolution for the amazing atmosphere and production, but do find the song to lose quite a lot of its impact due to what I personally find to be an extremely weak chorus that is worse in every way to the bulk of the song. Falling Away With You on the other hand, oh boy, this is in all likelihood my least favourite song from the first 4 or 5 albums of the band, as I find it accomplishes nothing at all, having a shoddy at best melody, and no sort of impact at all in any way other than boring me half to death. On the other hand, two of the better songs by Muse are found here, those being Stockholm Syndrome and Hysteria. These two songs work so perfectly, and while Falling Away With You does break the flow to some extent, these two tracks are such intense powerhouses that it really doesn't affect it as much as you'd first think. Stockholm Syndrome is the band being at some of their heaviest and most intense, with a killer riff, and a constant fast pace that works exceptionally with one of Matt Bellamy's most emotional performances. The way the song proceeds to become even more heavy near the end with a slower, more powerful version of the main riff is also an excellent moment.

Hysteria takes on a different approach, instead of building with layers upon layers of noise, instead just having riffs so perfect that nothing can come close to it. The insane bassline combined with the simple, yet incredibly effective riff, making for one of the best rockers of the band's career, by far. What makes this even more impressive to have such an amazing song is just how simple it is, with a standard pop structure and no big surprises to be found, with the entire song just based around some of the best riffs I've heard. Unfortunately, after this, the album becomes considerably more flawed, starting it off with Blackout, a pleasant, but overall dull song that doesn't do too much for me. In general, even the faster paced songs here more in line with Muse's general sound and pace generally have some issues with them. Butterflies and Hurricanes is in general an extremely good song, reminding me of a more controlled, less frantic Darkshines, mostly with the short piano section before each chorus and transition. Despite this being one of the most promising songs on the album, I do find the piano interlude to be disruptive and to just ruin a lot of the flow and power that the song had, which I find to be a massive shame. The other songs are okay for the most part, with The Small Print a really good, fast song, while Endlessly is a really nice, slower paced song that works extremely well, being absolutely beautiful. The album ends quite weakly, with Thoughts of a Dying Atheist being quite repetitive, and Ruled By Secrecy simply being somewhat unmemorable.

Overall, this album is absolutely genius in parts, but then quite poor in others. The rating for this one was really difficult to figure out, as I was jumping between a 3 and 4 for quite a while, but eventually settled on a 3, as while there are some tracks of pure greatness, most of the stuff past Hysteria is fairly unimpressive, and Falling Away With You is frustratingly poor. That said, the overall darker, more grandiose tone of the album is something I'm definitely a big fan of, and if this album were trimmed down a bit and refined, this would probably be an album I enjoyed even more than Origin Of Symmetry.

Best songs: Apocalypse Please, Stockholm Syndrome, Hysteria

Weakest songs: Falling Away With You, Blackout, Thoughts of A Dying Atheist

Verdict: If you like really bombastic, dramatic music, you'll probably find some enjoyment in this album, as despite some bumps along the way, the album does have some genuinely incredible songs that are just unfortunately balanced out by mediocrity. That said, I do think that if you're looking for something like what has been described, you should check this out at least once, because it's far from bad.

English Alternative Post-Progressive darlings Muse released this, their third full-length in 2003, just in time for the advent of this very website. It's albums like this, in this scenario, where a judgement has to be made: Is this album's current weighted-average rating from fans of the band from way back, perhaps wearing rose-colored glasses? Has the album truly stood the test of time? I will be reviewing the digital version of this album, with a 15th track, "Fury". One thing I know for sure is that they really do know how to market their albums, fairly consistently, with striking imagery and artwork.

The "Intro" starts off the request of the next, "Apocalypse Please", with the sound of military march. And off we are, with a track that is driving and large. Melodies are fresh and clear, the drums are raucous and bombastic. For me, growing even greater with the introduction of synth, immediate frisson. The drums at certain points have a Ringo drag, but are mostly jazzy Hard Rock-ready. The piano, building to its end, brings a greater, more human element; classic.

What is not at all 'classic' and very much consequential of a post-Radiohead world and, to my ears, a world that is still fresh with new Garage Rock Revival in the air, is the very recognizable "Time is Running Out". Big song, good song, but experimental and progressive only in its soundscape. "Sing for Absolution" is a sort of groovy ballad, with driving bass and bright keys. The fuzzy guitar solo in the second half brings things a bit more aright; good bridge, too.

"Stockholm Syndrome" is basically heavy metal in main riff. The drums eventually come in hotter and rolling. The falsetto vocals of Matthew Bellamy are always an interesting touch to this sort of thing; it just works. Darkness gives way to light, as they use synths and repetition as a tool to morph the emotion of the song [almost like some kind of redirection]. Great use of space. For every moment there is an obvious need for looking back, they have another to prove that they're coming along right on time to even make these sort of fusions indeed possible. I'm a believer [in the broader sense]. In a total different vein is the next, "Falling Away with You", a really beautiful track with some very classic sort of melodies and underlying instrumentation (I say underlying, as the use of guitar effects is really what makes Muse sound the way they do; modernizing even element which would be familiar to older generations, I guess(?)). They really flesh out and beef up sweetness here. Very cool effect; unique.

As with the "Intro", I really don't entirely understand the function of separating the "Interlude" into a separate track... It does little to actually tie things together or truly separate tracks... Just don't understand it, and I don't think it's something that can practically be judged according to my own ratings. What it purports to interlude into is the second highly recognizable, popular track from this release, "Hysteria", a very straight-ahead number. It's heavy, but not much else to me.

"Blackout" is yet another track that strikes me as classic, calling back to crossover classical and Trad Pop of the prior century. Bellamy is a good vocalist, certainly, but he seldom breaks out into greatness or daring. Juxtaposed is "Butterflies and Hurricanes", very Muse and very Post-Prog... Am I to be creeped out?... The bass playing here, at least, is nice. Heaviness returns, but not to the level of 'metal', but more to the sort of thing I would expect from bands in the camp of Queens of the Stone Age. Not super exciting... The guitar, though, if anything, is the highlight, as Bellamy does provide some interest in exploring different tones and stylings. Therefore, almost good.

Back to the low on "Endlessly", although I can positively say I like the way that it's produced, and for the first time in a bit; this here maximalist feels a bit cramped. Even in its limited keyboards and drums at the start, it feels claustrophobic and I wanted to turn my volume down. Just an interesting production choice on such a sweet and personal sounding song [I like it and yet it's a bit too much]. "Thoughts of a Dying Atheist" (I like the title) is relatively straight-ahead, too, and yet it is so quick it's hard not to perk up when it comes on. Good performance, but I'm not impressed by composition: a common theme for this album.

"Rule by Secrecy" is another creeping number, with soft electric keys and soft vocals. Following the halfway mark, neo-classical piano enters in. It's a bit much to be so little... And so finally, we get to the newer(?) final track, "Fury". I guess I have not much to say that I haven't already.

It's Muse... And I'm a little burnt out... True Rate: 2.5/5.0

Released in 2003 "Absolution" is rock trio Muse's third album. This is a decent album but will also always be remembered for me as an inside joke within my family for years. I bought the CD when it came out but pretty soon after lost it. It wasn't until a few years ago when my dad was sorting through my CDs he found it in another CD wallet. As I say you probably had to be there :-P. Anyway, this album had it all to do following debut album "Showbiz" and second album "Origin of Symmetry". Particularly "Origin of Symmetry" which was so full of ambition and potential. They set the standard very high, and it was intriguing which direction they would take next.

Well although there are not many bands out there like Muse, I do feel they took the safer option with "Absolution". Going for the big sounding rock songs, in general shorter tracks, mixed in with some slower ballad type songs which were missing from "Origin of Symmetry" but it wasn't to the detriment of the album. Far from it. To be honest I don't think "Absolution" is their best album but it's not their worse either. And I think in terms of a steppingstone to make them bigger it worked. "Time is running out" was their first top ten single at this point and three other singles went inside the top 20 in the UK charts.

Now you have to remember that this was 2003 and streaming services weren't about. So, singles in the run up to the album really defined the success of the album. And 3 of the singles in particular - "Time is running out", "Hysteria" and "Stockholm Syndrome" all sound absolutely massive and are huge rock anthems and are still some of Muse's best songs. So having released these songs as well as having 2 solid albums preceding this; They had more than enough material for a top class set list for touring. And the "Absolution" tour was the first time I saw Muse. To be honest I don't remember much from the gig. But I'm pretty sure I enjoyed it.

So, we know the singles really made a difference for Muse but what about the rest of "Absolution". Well, the first track is just named "Intro" and is very short sitting at 20 seconds as it acts like a step ladder into the album with the sound of soldiers marching getting louder and louder until track 2 "Apocalypse Please" comes in with the snappy, dramatic piano playing. I think the best deep cut of this album is "Small print". On some of their other albums this could have been released as a single but other diamonds just shone brighter in this album.

But I think the difference with this album compared to their first two albums is that there are tracks on here which I don't look forward to listening to. Particularly "Blackout" and "Endlessly" which are just so slow and laboured. On "Showbiz" they had tracks like "Unintended" which showed they can nail these types of tracks, but it feels the two tracks on "Absolution" take the album down a notch. Another song which may surprise people that disappoints me slightly is "Butterflies and Hurricanes". This is for me the most ambitious track on the album. And when you first listen to it and the first few minutes it is great. Good riff, good vocals etc. But the piano bridge doesn't work for me at all. The song stops at a point during this too and just sounds a bit of a mess. It's like it had the potential to be an amazing song but they didn't quite pull it off.

But I think overall, there is enough on here that it is a good, passable album. The monster singles carry the album and really secured their place as an arena sized band at this point in their career. They were always going to reach a point where quality control was going to be tested and I feel some of the tracks on here wouldn't even have made b-sides to singles off their first album. But there you go. Let's look at the positives though. However, you look at it, this was a key step in Muse's rise to the top.