ORIGIN OF SYMMETRY

'Origin of Symmetry' sees 'Muse' applying the same sort of angsty, alt/indie rock style full of abrasive tones yet accessible melodies, but sheds a lot of the Radiohead influence along with having a much harder edge to them. Overall, this fixes a lot of the issues that I felt 'Showbiz' had, including having more varied song, a wider range of emotions (although all of them still fall under a similar category, but eh, it's a start) and just better songwriting overall. These changes make this album end up leaps and bounds above 'Showbiz', along with being extremely consistent in its brilliance all the way through.

From the opening moments of 'New Born', it's already clear that this is a far more mature effort, with much tighter interplay between the instruments, along with a much smoother progression. Then the song kicks into high gear with an awesome, scratchy riff that ups the energy of the song tenfold, before returning to the intro melody, now a great deal heavier and powerful, all before climaxing in an incredible chorus. This chorus also displays the much better sense of intensity that the songs bring, slowly building rather than working on the principle of peaks and valleys, making for a much better listening experience for such music. 'Bliss' immediately shows another side of 'Muse' through a song much more along the lines of synth-pop, just with some rock instruments thrown in, but constantly having a very spacey feel to it, overall being a great song. 'Space Dementia' is a definite higher point on the album for me, because of how intense it gets, starting off slow before erupting into pure emotional anguish, and while it does come off a bit over the top, it just works here. The album overall has this really great flow, where you're constantly looking forward to the next track, as each one is a banger in its own right, be it the funky 'Hyper Music', or the perfection of the riff in 'Plug in Baby'. The album's high point is definitely the amazing one-two punch of 'Citizen Erased' and 'Micro Cuts'. 'Citizen Erased' begins with a great, abrasive groove that develops excellently, with everything being filled with such pure intensity and power, building further with the vocals, further improving with the breathtaking chorus. The first 2 and a half minutes of the song are essentially an extended song climax, all before it briefly dies down before coming back just as powerfully as before. This is without a doubt in my mind, one of best songs 'Muse' have written, other than possibly a couple from 'Black Holes and Revelations'.

The transition into 'Micro Cuts' is also amazing, going from the slow, somber ending of 'Citizen Erased' into a faster pace is wonderful. I really like this song, can I understand any of the lyrics at all? No. Do I care? Also no. I just love how much Matt belts out his voice here, reaching extremely high notes with quite a bit of power behind them, even if it does happen to sacrifice his clarity, it just sounds so cool for me to not enjoy. While I originally found the album past this point to start being a bit lacking, after a few listens, I began looking forward to these songs just as much as earlier ones, be it the genuinely great, subtle atmosphere of 'Screenager' or 'Darkshines', with a funky intro and one of the best vocal performances on the album, with Matt sounding amazing when he screams the chorus. I also love the piano freakouts that take place right before each time the chorus comes in. The final two songs are both ballads, 'Feeling Good' being a cover that definitely adds enough of 'Muse's' flair to it to make it their own. 'Megalomania' is also a great song, and this is probably the only 'Muse' album I can think of in which I fully enjoyed the pure ballads present on it.

Overall, I must say that I enjoy every minute of this album, furthermore, almost everything the album has to offer impresses me, with amazing intensity and power. Furthermore, the songs have the perfect mix of accessibility with more complex, abrasive elements, leading to it having an extremely dramatic, yet still enjoyable, and very accessible album. Each song is incredible in its own right, bringing its own ideas, while also all having a habit of worming their way into your head and staying there for ages. This is an album that I definitely would recommend to anyone wanting some extremely dramatic indie rock, and think that it could be enjoyed by quite a lot of people.

Best songs: New Born, Space Dementia, Citizen Erased, Micro Cuts, Darkshines

Weakest songs: none

Verdict: Anyone with any sort of interest in indie rock, check this album out immediately if you haven't already, as this is absolutely amazing. For those who don't, but are open minded, I also highly recommend it. In general, I just highly recommend this masterpiece.