Black Holes and Revelations

Muse have always struck me as the kind of band who dye their pubes in place of a personality. I've just dyed my pubes red and it looks like I've murdered an octopus in the bath. The music sounds like one of the non-Chris Martin ones in Coldplay had a wild weekend listening to Radiohead and tried to pass it off as an original idea. The result is terminal ear cancer.

I've never liked Muse. Too polished for me. It's okay, but it's rock for an IT consultant with a tribal tattoo under his shirt. Not remotely cool.

fairly unbearable this. its just so synthetic and soulless and those singles have been played to fucking death. 16 year old me copied origin of symetry onto a minidisc and loved listening to it on the bus to school so much that he went to see muse at the apollo. he put blue hair gel in because he was wacky and totally different. that sums up what muse is for. wacky 16 year olds with blue hair gel.

Muse was my first ever rock show. Muse was the first band I discovered on my own, and I recommended it to all my friends. I remember when I first heard "Darkshines" and went bizarre playing it, on repeat, showing it to everyone around. I still wonder why the metalhead girl who all the guys were into, for some reason, did not like its fuzz-driven riff... Well, whatever. The point is – Muse is a super important band to me that has largely introduced me to heavier music, and it's sad that 10+ years after I heard this album for the first time, I don't like it as much as I used to. Is it because this album foreshadowed what Muse was to become in a decade? Probably, and that's key to my relationship with the band: Muse music (sorry for the awful wordplay) appeals to teenage angst and frustration and high hopes I experienced on par with all the other 14-year olds who did not get the lyrics, but in retrospect, the songs appear... Pretty stupid? Naive? Overly pompous? Well, probably everything together, and I don't want to listen to it anymore. Sorry, Muse. Don't get me wrong, I'm still super grateful to Muse. I enjoy (my memories of) the cyber-machinegun fuzz-n-whammy guitar riffs, distorted basslines, insanely produced vocals, guitar-keyboard lines... You name it. Unfortunately, for me, this is the last great Muse album, and that's what makes it more bitter than sweet.

When Radiohead stopped making proper guitar albums after OK Computer, other bands moved into the space that had been abandoned. Coldplay took the softer end, and built a stadium sized career out of it, and Muse ditto with the louder end. It is no surprise that the bombastic end of Radiohead crossed with a healthy dose of Queen also turned out to be a stadium-filling beast. With magpie like references to other moments of bombastic excess (Soundgarden, Ennio Morricone, ELO), this is cleverly composed, schmickly produced, and expertly played, but really, at the end of the day, this is sound and fury, signifying nothing.

Muse’s BLACK HOLES AND REVELATIONS is an epic space rock album that plays like a soundtrack for encountering of the wonders of the deep space. The songs are unapologetically grandiose - like audio versions of Hubble Space Telescope images. It feels like It was created in some cosmic forge involving Radiohead, Yes, U2, Queen and Nine Inch Nails. The music is wildly and perfectly overblown. The vocals are off the hook soaring effortlessly through the maelstrom. A phenomenal album!

Deranged man records album at bottom of well

This album has been removed from the latest editions of the book. Enjoyed it a lot still. I used to not care about Muse much, feels quite strange I’m about to rate it 5*! 4.5/5

Big sounds on this one. I particularly enjoy sexy vamp baseball.

A very important album in my history. I think Supermassive Black Hole was a turning point in music for me. I realized that sexy pop songs are cool.

Give me Matt Belemey desperate vocals and I'm just gone. It is _possible_ the lyrics aren't quite as deep as 14 year old me thought they were, but sonically just so dramatic and in tune with the lyrical styling, and so much fun. Sure muse have a formula, but it's the formula for me.

Apparently this was removed from the most recent edition of the list - good call that.

Five stars for how much I used to slay Knights of Cydonia on Guitar Hero

One of the biggest sounding albums ever

uhm…supermassive black hole has that edgy corporate hard rock sound sorry.. the rest of the album is fine musically. soldier’s poem is great except the lyric is bad. can be said for a lot of songs. knights of cydonia was cool. a lot of these songs are just trying too hard to be deep. would be more enjoyable if i didn’t know english.

Epic as fuck, but forgettable

"The Bends" but 10 years later. Shame, I'd never heard this and was hoping for something weirder, actual proggy and/or dramatic; just got dull indie slop with histrionic vocals.

Pretentious and derivative. Not the worst album ever, but nothing I'll ever voluntarily listen to again. 2/5

This album already sounds super dated. Not a fan of the discount Thom Yorke vocals or the poppy electro rock instrumentals. These guys are just kinda cheesy. Maybe their other records are better? So far, the critics who put this list together seem kinda sus.

The last truly amazing Muse album. Knights of Cydonia is a GOAT stadium anthem. Starlight hasn't aged very well for me but apart from that this still holds up extremely well. Map of the Problematique is a severely underrated Muse track.

Spectacular! A flawless album of otherworldly themes, it eschews all the heavy-handed snide emo bullshit that was prevalent at the time. It was a massive breath of fresh air then and it still is now. You can hear and feel the rock stardom yet to come for Bellamy. I love this wholeheartedly.

Definitely a top played album on my iPod back in the day. Still holds up, a fantastic album

How to be a successful British rock band in the early 2000’s: Step 1: Sound like Radiohead Step 2: Add Distorted Guitars and Arpeggiated Synths Step 3: Profit

Radiohead for theatre kids

All Muse songs are mayonnaise sandwiches

Rubbish. Couldn’t give it 0

No mamen no voy a oír esta mierda.

Muse are a guilty pleasure band for me, I know they aren't great (especially now), but I still have a soft spot for them since they were the first band me and my wife saw live together. I was a little surprised to see Muse on this list, and even more surprised that they picked this album over Absolution or Origin of Symmetry. That being said I think that this is a very good album and I enjoy every song on it. I wouldn't say this album is great though. This was the turning point for Muse where they started to become more campy and cheesy. 4.5

I loved it. I was sucked in from the first song. It was like a good movie, I couldn’t wait to hear what came next.

Confession: I was a huge Muse fan in high school, and that obsession started with this album. Nostalgia definitely plays a role here, but listening back today I'm still floored by how well this album mixes the ostentatious, proggish rock the band was already known for with a heavy dose of electronics + a little Western pastiche to make a Space-Cowboy rock opera that somehow doesn't crumble to bits under the weight of all its ideas. Is it a little corny in parts? Yeah. Do all of Bellamy's conspiratorial, lizard government ideas make for great song material? LOL. Is 'Demonocracy' perhaps the most high-school edgelord lyric of all time? Most certainly. But despite the obligatory trappings of being a Muse album, Black Holes is so much more than the sum of its odd and contradictory parts. The instrumentals here still wow to this day and represent perhaps the most experienced and tasteful performances of the band's career – I've been trying to mimic the simple-but-speedy drum fill in 'Assassin' for years now and still need some practice. Every bass line, guitar solo, and drum fill steals the show without detracting from the holistic impact of each track, and though somewhat indulgent at times the album manages to pull off a cohesive feel without sacrificing each song's wildly individual feel. Muse hadn't jumped the shark yet, but they were definitely on the ramp at this point. Bellamy's introduction to synths on this album may have cratered the band's already divisive career from then on out, but damn if it didn't perfectly gel together into one LP that had a huge impact on high-school me. While I've grown out of my outright fandom for the band, I will never forget or forsake the album that contains all the tracks that made me pay attention to instrumentation for the first time. 'Knights of Cydonia' rocks so damn hard it made me start playing the guitar, a musical touchstone in its own right that put me on the path to being the indiehead I am today. Cheesy, stupid, and over-the-top it may be, but I'll be damned if I don't say that I love this LP.

This sounds like Radiohead decided they cared about what the music sounds like and made a space rock album that isn't actually about space. Weird in all the right ways. Best track: City of Delusion

I was obsessed with this album as a teenager. Still slaps. Still remember the lyrics haha

I don't like everything Muse has done, but I really like this album. There's such a cool mix of fun theatric songs mixed with more "serious" rock songs, often going back and forth in the same track. Just about every song has many nuanced layers; it's a real listener's album as Gina Gleason likes to say.

Supermassive black hole will forever conjure the twilight baseball scene to my mind. But starlight and knights of Cydonia are also amazing. Enjoyed more than I thought. Had never really listened to muse before. But maybe I will again?

Holy 4 on the floor batman. I've tried to get into muse a couple times before and I just can't do it. There are a few fantastic tracks on this album and it is all expertly produced. Howevever I found myself skipping songs and getting bored with their popier songs.

The black hole is Radiohead, and this record has passed the event horizon. On the other side sits God and Stephen Hawking. God’s hand stretches forth, rummages, and pulls out a latte. He hands it to Hawking. I wanted an espresso, not this beige shit, says Hawking.

Mid-90s Radiohead called, seeking royalties.

Promising first track leads into edgecore underwhelmed hipster pop, sprinkled with tech forward synth and basic chord progressions. Don’t forget “soaring vocals” that really cherry top this flourless cake. Probably a victim of my collegiate years being peppered by an inundation of pedestrian level indie inspired hodgepodge with few redeeming qualities. As if Bono was born into a vacuum knowing only Good Charlotte and 30 seconds to Mars. I wouldn’t choose to listen to this, but as an album, for people who like it, I could see this being likable. They’re not entirely talentless but I wonder if this could exist without other references to create the touchstone. And we can’t forget the emotion that really makes me feel like I’m listening to Thom Yorke on a too-high dosage of Paxil. 1/5 Least favorite album on this list so far.

Automatic 1 star for the ultimate wanker band - by wankers for wankers. He's a classical musician playing at being Radiohead, and his acolytes go on about his skills rather than the quality of his song writing

Aburridísimo. Mejor me voy a escuchar Radiohead

Duff stadium-rock in love with the smell of its own farts

should not be on this list

Любимки

Not the best Muse album but still a 9/10

All killer no filler

Arguably their best album with OOS. certified bangers, multiple hits and not a miss on the album. IMO their best mix of music and lyrics. 5/5

This album is a masterpiece. Thanks for including it this week.

One of my favorite albums, every piece is so technically sound. Massive bass, amazing vocal range, solid drums without being too flashy, and incredible guitar and keys. Such a great band.

Very enjoyable, not sure what genre I would put them in. Great first album.

it was better than i expected!!!!! almost perfect album fr. favs from the album: map of the problematique(real), city of delusion (SOSOSOSOOOO GOOD), hoodoo(also real), starlight, sbh

actual bueno

It's like fake grass. SILVER fake grass, just like the grass in planet K-69420. It feels artificial. But it's undeniably fun to play on once in a while.

A big dumb bombastic space western of an album. And it's great. Peak Muse with the perfect amount of silliness. Also, the drums on Starlight spell out 'TITS' in morse code. It's a lot of fun. Rating: 4.5/5 Playlist track: Starlight Date listened: 11/02/23

Muse claramente tem influências de Bach, isso ninguém pode negar ! Hahah

My first impression is if Queen grew up listening to Radiohead.

At first I was going to rate this 4, but after thinking about it there isn’t a single notable song. I think it’s merely tolerable which gives the impression of it being good, but in reality it’s just Fine.

Day 65 - Forgot when this album was generated lmao Supermassive shit hole. 2/5 (Only because I liked Supermassive Black Hole and Knights of Cydonia)

From the moment I saw the douchey cover art of the album, I had a feeling this wasn’t going to be for me. This album reminded me of the Coldplay album with the way it had too much of a clean mainstream feel with its production, mixed with them really trying to capture Radiohead vibes with the music. Album felt like it was going through the motions and never stood out. It’s not a bad album, just not good either.

Some hits, but can handle only 2 muse songs at a time

I quite liked Absolution when it came out, but that was the only Muse album that I'd listened to. In hindsight Absolution has the same issue Black Holes and Revelations does - it's fun enough, but at the end of the day (much like Coldplay) it's just Radiohead with more radio-friendly polish and less depth and talent.

All these songs sound the same. And they sound the same as the songs on their first album (the only other one I've heard), which is to say they sound like throwaway Radiohead songs. And that one that sounds like it wants to be a Queens of the Stone Age song.

Mid

The songs vary from somewhat interesting sounds to really generic arena rock type shit. Thom Yorke and Bono only pull off the whiny vocals because the songwriting's not so vapid. There are a couple solid tracks, starlight and supermassive black hole, but overall really mediocre.

Bored. Ambitious without substance

I think that Supermassive Black Hole being used so prominently in the first Twilight movie has tainted that song for me... and Knights of Cydonia was mega hard on Guitar Hero 3! Overall, I'd prefer to listen to one of Muse's other albums. 2.5

Year 8 Will's favourite!

Yeah

Such a stellar album.

- Mal wieder eine der Bands die mMn im Prinzip keine schlechten Alben haben - Und ich wüsste auch nicht genau, welches mein Favorit ist. Black Holes und Revelation ist auf jeden Fall ein heißer Anwärter. - So geiler kreativer, unvorhersehbarer Shit - Mit "Starlight" und "Supermassive Black Hole" auch zwei Welthits enthalten. Wobei ich nie der größte "Starlight" Fan war, könnte auch ein Coldplay Song sein. SBH ist ein unfassbar ikonischer Song. Als hätten Prince, Britney Spears, Lenny Kravitz und Led Zeppelin eine amtliche Orgie gefeiert. Ich weiß, bisschen weirde Vorstellung... - Ich würde sagen, es gibt wenige Bands die so eine heftige Bandbreite an Genres bedienen können und problemlos auch innerhalb dieser hin und herspringen. - Ich mag das Album von Vorne bis Hinten sehr gern. Besonders den treibenden "Map Of The Problematique" liebe ich. - Und dann hast du da plötzlich so einen Elvis artigen "Soldier's Poem" - ich meine WTF. Also WTFGEIL. Und zwei Songs später mit "Assassin" einen System Of The Down meets Queen alternativ Metal Track. WHOOOOOTTTT - "Knights Of Cydonia" natürlich auch ein geiler Hit. Fucking Cowboy-Space-Odyssee. - Einfach ein Album, was dich auf eine Reise mitnimmt und dich vollkommen erfüllt zurücklässt, um dich dann schon aufs nächste Mal Hören zu freuen. Auch wenn es ein zwei Tracks gibt, die ein bisschen abfallen - krankes Album. Rating: 4,75-5/5

A classic Muse album. It wouldn't be a proper Muse gig unless they played some of the monster tracks on this album: "Starlight", "Supermassive Black Hole", and the huge "Knights of Cydonia". I'm a massive Muse fan and this is one of their best.

Amazing Album

I remember buying this CD, and I still love it. Yes, it’s over the top, but I love the guitar riffs. Bellamy’s voice is incredible. Their energy is hard to beat.

Really great

Excellent

Beter dan dit wordt Muse niet. Starlight, Supermassive Black Hole, Map of the Problematique en dan ook nog het geweldige nummer Knights of Cydonia. Schijf na schijf dus. 4.6

Really really liked this

This album is unfortunately what I consider the beginning of the end for Muse. You've got far more political topics sneaking into the lyrics, the whole thing has an extremely "daytime rock radio" vibe going on save for a few tracks, and the general synth undertones really hammer in the feeling Muse would continue to awkwardly explore nearly twenty years later. However, do not mistake my words of sadness as an adverse reaction to the music on this album, because while this may be the start of something worse, it is also the end of something amazing in the best way possible. Every song walks this fine line between pop rock and alternative rock immaculately, and when it takes time to slow down and let the band (Matt, in particular) show off their musical chops, it succeeds with flying colors. The commanding piano riff in Hoodoo, the solo of Invincible, and the choir in Soldier's Poem, all perfectly showing the immense talent the band posses even on their senior outing. Even the more synth pop-esque takes are solid, almost Depeche Mode-like, runs that fill a perfect hole in a modernized 80s heart. This album has a lot of commercial moments, Starlight, Supermassive Black Hole, and the magnificent closer, Knights of Cydonia, you couldn't escape at the time, but they don't feel like massive blockbusters for the sake of it, they just happened to be, on top of being some of the premier rock hits of the late 2000s. This album may be the sound they'd fail to perfect as time went on, but they didn't need to, because they nailed it on the first try, and I'm satisfied with seeing it close here. Just a fantastic collection of songs, you're bound to find something you enjoy here.

A classic from the 2000s! I discovered this album a couple of months ago thanks to a recommendation from a friend and I loved it.

Real fun listen! Space Rock odyssey, mood's there in three words. I dunno guitar very well and don't listen to rock a bunch but I still remember how much my teen classmates and friends bigged up songs from this album back in the late 00's. Hold's up!

I love the vocals from Matt Bellamy. Muse has this wonderful ability to continually ramp the energy of their songs. Knights of Cydonia is definitely my favorite track. The wicked guitar gets me every time.

Haven’t listened to this through for a long time. Such a great listen start to finish

Not all of Muse's songs work...but when they do they're typically bangers. Lots of bangers on this one. 4.9

Real crackers, this. Ive been a fan for years.

"You will eat it, and you will like it!" This is one of those bands that came along during a time in my life that everything was going really well. I have a lot of memories associated with Muse. Origins of Symmetry, Absolution and Black Holes came out in quick succession and as such, seems like one continuous album. This was the era where everyone began taking their 100gb external drives to the office and plugging them into the company network ... we were all a bunch of artists working on home entertainment (DVD) packaging. Coworkers were quirky, had left of center tastes and every day was a new adventure in music. I'd spend the entire day in Photoshop with headphones on listening to old, different, and new music. ... It was the original Spotify. On the Friday nights, I'd drive up to Mammoth Mountain while sharing the finds with friends on the 5+ hour drive. Then, continue to spend the entire weekend snowboarding with an iPod in my ears. Interpol, Strokes, Clap Your Hands, BRMC, Secret Machines, Silversun, Bravery, etc... It was a good time and because of these memories, I will always gladly consume some bands without complaining. Muse is one of them.

To me the best album by Muse. Didn't like the ones after that that much anymore but this one... Well, this one hasgood song after the other.

A sound that cuts through straight to your heart.

I really liked this. 5/5

Outstanding - everything a rock album should be. Great music, haunting vocals, and each song sounded distinct. I knew I liked Muse, but I never listened to an album start to finish. I like how this one is arranged and will absolutely listen to it again.

5! Simpelthen bare 5. Jeg har hørt det så meget idag, og virkelig dét jeg havde brug for. Hørte det også meget tilbage i 2006 - 2008 stykker. En rigtig efterskole lyd. Klart gateway metal. 😜 - Desuden et af de største festivals minder, fra det første Rock am Ring jeg var til.

Knights of Cydonia!!

Good album

I’ve been a Muse fan from a distance for a long time. And by that I mean, I heard “Knights of Cydonia” in Guitar Hero 3 for the first time and then heard a few other Muse songs. But I have always thought they were pretty cool, and there’s a live version of “Knights of Cydonia” at Wembley that absolutely blew me away in high school, and honestly still does. So I was excited coming into this album, and they didn’t disappoint. Banger after banger. The songs have simple premises but are executed with a precision and complexity that makes them intriguing to listen to. “Knights of Cydonia” is a great example. The song is based around triplets. The drums play triples throughout, the guitar has a triplet riff late in the song, and there’s a synthesizer triplet riff as well. Sounds simple, but the entire song being based around that one concept is pretty genius, especially when it’s executed with the complexity that it is. And it’s all to reinforce the idea of knights galloping in on horses (hence the horse sounds at the start). Anyway, I loved this album. Five stars. Standout Tracks: Take a Bow, Starlight, Map of the Problematique, Soldier’s Poem, Invincible, Assassin, City of Delusion, Knights of Cydonia

These guys had it

I have the same conflict with this album I do with hotel California by the eagles. This is one of my favorite albums but I hate everyone and everything that is associated with this. I must say I know a lot less about this band outside of this album but the fans and the pretentious non political political lyrics of their more recent albums leave me a little annoyed. But that last song is as close to a perfect song I've ever heard on my life. Just for that song I'm giving this a 5. They also tried to stretch into different genres on here that they really don't in any of their other albums as well as most bands of this genre don't either. Its a solid album for a terrible arena rock band.

This might be Radiohead for dumb people but it’s great

I know the hits from the fuse.tv but this is my first experience with most of the album. It may be polarizing but I love the vocals. It has an interesting range and pull that makes me want to belt it out in my car. The songs all sound distinct enough that it doesn't bleed together. I'll listen to this again and want to check out the rest of Muse's discography.

Det Titel des Albums passt hervorragend zur Musik. In jedem Augenblick des Meisterwerks ergeben sich schwarze Löcher und Offenbarungen im positiven Sinne. Was hier Muse produzierte ist schon unglaublich und immer spannend. Keine 0815 Arrangements, sondern hoch kompliziert in wunderbaren eingängigen Melodien. Hochkomplex mit Hitpotential. Mehr geht nicht mehr. Und die Stimme ist so charismatisch und wertvoll. Merkt man es? Ich bin ein Fan von Muse inzwischen geworden.

I loved every track on this album. Big powerful sound very reminiscent of Queen in their heyday. Great stuff - must go out and buy this CD for my collection.

Awesome album from start to finish and Knights is an absolute banger.

Probably the most successful album of Muse, along with Absolution, back when they were actually good. There are some real bangers here, like 'Starlight' and 'Supermassive Black Hole'. The rest are also a decent bunch and fit in nicely to make a cohesive but also varying album. What I particularly like with this record is that it doesn't quite sound like anything else, but is still very good. Some quite unusual riffs and patterns here and there that keeps it interesting. Matt's singing style is also one of a kind I dare say, really nice falsettos and long drawn out wailings. It took me a while to warm up to them, but I very much like this Muse era. Not what comes to mind when I think of my favorite albums, but I still think a weak 5 is quite fitting.