THE RESISTANCE

Muse are a band that I typically first learned about from my then teenaged daughters a few years ago. When one of them bothered to travel from Finland to Poland just to see them live, and another started banking the band down my throat, I had to find out what it was that would make this band so special to them. I had an impression that Muse only has one tune, that they twist and turn and give new titles to.

I gave many listenings to their earlier albums, but only Black Holes and Revelations had any real impact on me. When I found out that they would start their Resistance tour from Helsinki (in Oct 2009), I got their new album and booked a ticket. I expected myself to be the only grown-up among 12 thousand screaming teenies, but alas, there were people of all ages digging them.

Resistance is not a bad album at all. Muse are now experimenting with electronics and flirt with classical music. As a composer of modern classical myself, I'm amazed how well it works when they're nicking from classical, as in United States of Eurasia and I Belong To You. When they're writing original works in romantic style, as in Exogenesis: Symphony their relative amateurism is revealed, but this pompous triptych still works fine. It seems Muse no longer have only one tune, but they now have 1,75 tunes to choose from... ☺

There are some very strong pop tunes on Resistance, like the opening three, and maybe Guiding Light. The very obvious Queen-sound-alike passage in United States... disturbs me a bit, but I like the song's lyrics. I wonder how many Bellamy dolls have been burned by the Bushian Americans...

Resistance is not a very proggy album, but it convinces me that if these guys want to go deeper into prog in the future, they surely have the ability to write strong tunes in their own style. It remains to be seen where their path is taking them.