Reviews (page 13 of 13)
não gosto de muse!
Meh
I've never watched Eurovision Song Contest, but I imagine this is what it sounds like.
An ok album
I think I'm in the minority with my opinions on muse. Yea the dudes got pipes and the music is technical and impressive but I just find them still a bit...bleh
Meh
I don't it. I didn't get it in their prime and not again now. Sometimes you think you hear a banger. And then it goes on for just too long. Or there is an immediate dip into drole-ness taking any intensity and excitement out of the song.
Live mag es ganz gut sein, aber auf CD geht mir das Gitarren-Gegniedel ziemlich auf die Nerven.
Sounds like an AI generated Radiohead album
the banger from Muse is called "Uprising" but it's not on this album.
Had already heard this one several times. Mostly written off Muse as an over-earnest combination of Radiohead and Rachmaninoff. From this point in their career it felt increasingly ham-handed and on the nose in its political treatments ('you'll burn in hell' obviously directed at George W. Bush, the cover to Drones, "United States of Eurasia"), to the point my friend and I started referring to Muse as Matt Bellamy and The Tinfoil Hats. Willingness to overlook the clumsiness in favor of its world-conquering pop appeal has me utterly convinced this list was written by a British man who was at least young-ish when Black Holes And Revelations was present in the zeitgeist. Even typing that title confirms it. Despite the obvious gifting the group has in dynamics and harmony, it's difficult to overcome Bellamy's lyrics - though it does work at times when it feels like you can hear it in the arena ("Starlight"). Absolution still feels like the purest iteration of their shtick - though "Map Of The Problematique" remains utterly compelling when you gloss over 'why can't you see / when we bleed, we bleed the same'. I am looking forward to "Knights of Cydonia" at the finish, though, even if it again recalls Radiohead in its opening soundscape straight from "Lucky". Edit: how did I ever get past 'no one's gonna take me alive'? Another review decried Muse's fans as prattling on about the band's 'skills' instead of paying attention to the songwriting, which feels about as concise as it gets. Bonus track "Glorious" reminded me of hearing this album for the first time - the fireworks are awe-inspiring, until you get hold of the lyrics and yet again feel like its reach far exceeds its grasp.
Very same-y sounding to me
Never listened to this band before, sounds like they listened to a lot of Radiohead. Not bad but I don’t think I’d listen to it again.
Meh Mostly discordant Almost liked Starlight Knights of Cydonia reminded me of Night Begins to Shine.
I swear if there's more than one Muse album in this list, then that's mental, and if this is the only one, then it's the wrong one. Both Absolution or Origin would be more deserving. I haven't listened to either in years though, this record put me off the band completely, ultimately. This was my jumping off point with Muse, I remember how disappointed I was after they'd released 3 records which each rocked harder than the last in interesting ways, then this came out, signalling the full on overproduced guitar and keyboard wankery-mode of Muse. There are no more good songs beyond this point. I have a feeling they're still going, so that's U2/Foo Fighters levels. Listening to it now I can see that most of it has seeped into my consciousness through relentless radio play or on TV adverts, none of this record is bad per se, it's just the point where they stopped trying new stuff. Absolution sounded so fresh, this (and the rest of their career from what I've heard vicariously) sounds like Absolution flogged to death. Actually, I take that back - much of the second half of the album is actually bad. Good lesson in how a huge sound and massive overblown-ness absolutely does not stop the listener getting bored. Despite everything else I've said, and somewhat ironically given it's the epitome of all my criticisms, I do genuinely like Knights of Cydonia just for it's sheer batshittedness. I think it does help that it follows 3 or 4 dud songs.
When I was delighted at first by Map of the Problematique and then disappointed when it turned out not to be an instrumental, I realized I just don't like the singer.
ehh. definitely not a fan of muse going in. apparently this is muse at their peak – not entirely sure if that makes the album better or worse. on the first song all I can think is that it sounds like "we have Radiohead at home". the second song – we've all heard it so many times it's literally grating. these two descriptions can be applied to pretty much all the other songs as well. there were maybe one or two songs that I *relatively* liked – incidentally the least popular songs on the album – because at least they didn't sound like a Radiohead cosplay, or at least less so. however, once this is over, I'm blocking muse on Spotify so that it doesn't get into my recommendations and I will never listen to this album intentionally again.
I can take a Muse song here and there, but listening to that album straight through was too much.
Knew I’d hate it, was not disappointed. Starlight was okay.
Ist so nicht meins …
What’s this over ambitious, megalomaniac, artificial nonsense all about? It’s a Blockbuster Movie turned into music. Pink Floyd on steroids. Rock Whores. Stadium crap without a soul. I guess you have to have the same desperate mood to like it. I don’t dare to read the lyrics…I guess it’s the old „I wanna hold your hand“ kind of poems. I don’t like it very much. My fault. Although I hear the stadium choruses and the perfect production.
Not my jam. All of the songs sound the same. Remind me of an opening band at a concert that I’m waiting to get over.
Not my cup of tea. Not super exciting
Nichts besonderes
I’ve avoided listening to Muse for years. Mostly because acquaintances that were fans had otherwise middling taste in music at best. That kind of describes how this sounds to me. It’s almost like a parallel universe Radiohead where they try to be more radio-friendly. Both too edgy and not edgy enough. It’s a little try-hard at times. I don’t hate it. My ears weren’t ever really offended by it, I just was kinda bored by it. For something that sounds so grandiose, it’s remarkably non-compelling.
2000s groove rock plus synth and a Thom Yorke impression. A few standouts, but I'm not really a fan.
Just don't get it
49/100
Sometimes an album is close to being good but is just a miss. This was to frenetic with no real hook to grab my attention. Scale: 5 - My absolute favorites. 4 - Albums I like. 3 - It was ok to listen to but I wouldn't seek it out. 2 - Didn't like. 1 - Absolute shit.
Pretentious, portentous, slick, camp, competent. Not for me but can see why it's popular. Sort of.
already had a song saved from this album, supermassive black hole, but besides that it’s not a genre i usually listen to.
Was great when I was 15 but it just sounds cringey now. A couple of decent songs.
A couple of the songs are really good but the overall album does not keep pace with those songs.
10 black holes and 2 revelations. Starlight och Glorious är väldigt bra. 4/5. Resten är total skit.
Nooooo, my most hated band in the entire world fuck offff. Tbf I did quite like Bow, dunno why, electronic-ness?? Starlight will always be a Mhairi song so I like it for that. Hate supermassive black hole and knights of cydonia. Stuff in between was okay but I still hate something about it like it makes me feel sick and idk why lol It’s the voice coupled with weird sliding guitar thing just…no
Vim escutando o album no caminho pro trabalho, no patinete, e parecia que eu tava num clipe. As músicas tem uma vibe legal, energia boa, mas eu acho que só na primeira vez. Eu não adicionaria nas minhas curtidas pra ouvir de novo. Interessante esse conceito de one-time álbum... No fim, voltando pra casa, apenas 1 música me impressionou e me fez curtir: Knights of Cydonia, parece música de vídeo-game, da horinha.
I had heard of Muse prior to this but never really listened to them. I will say, I believe the musical talent displayed on this record is impressive. The drummer is absolutely killing it. However, I couldn't really get into the songs themselves. It seems a bit too orchestral and theatric. If I had heard this in middle school, I would have probably thought it was so cool.
2006ish
I never liked Muse, although I can recognize they’re technically fine and deliver a good live show. Always had the feeling that it’s a wannabe band, if that makes sense.
I know there are some diehards out there but I’ve never really been a Muse fan.
Uh. Not great. Obviously incredibly talented musicians — amazed the so ich depth achieved by only four people — but I got bored and tired of waiting for the soundscape to evolve into something interesting. At points, it came close, but mostly just a frustrating listen
Not terrible, but listen again. Vocals are more interesting than the instrumentals 2
Favorite song was Starlight. First half sounded like a Radiohead cover band, with the middle being more grunge and unique (which I preferred). The backhalf of the album went back to sounding like Radiohead.
Sort of U2 but not good.
BORING! Thank you nerds, I'd love to listen to you sing about space. NOT!
Too operatic and melodramatic for me. Something inescapably nerdy about Muse, despite their obvious talent. If you like every song to feel like its humanity's last moments on Earth, maybe its for you.
Not a fan of this band. Saw them on whe Plug in Baby was released. Feels like something Queen fan would like. I mean I like some 70s prog but this just sucks at times. I think it his voice and stupid lyrics (Some times I admire it) Go away.
Too disjointed as a whole
Solider' poem, with piano arpeggios and voal harmonies is nice. Invincible is a good song but not a fan of the guitar solo. If not already, will be advert music for a new phone or something. Driving music but the lead singing is bland, even when he goes for power, like in Exo-politics. Hoodoo interesting with its Western Then ballad
I didn't like it. I am not sure how to describe it. It is like they are trying way too hard to be something else than what they should be. I am not sure what they are trying to be or what they should be but I wasn't feeling this album. Thankfully it was relatively short. I do not need to listen to it again.
what's that? even shittier Radiohead?
Urgh. Muse are such tryhards. My daughter asked me “Is this Radiohead?” and I was like “Absolutely not!” I’ve liked some tracks and the albums before this were way more interesting to me. This one, nope.
I gave it a listen, and decided it was not that great. Not sure why, it lacked something. 2.5/5
Most of this album just sounded, sort of, noisy to me, though 'Super Massive Black Hole' is still a banger. The quieter/slower tracks are better on the whole, but not enough to save this album from mediocrity. Just on the wrong side of boring, really.
Worse places for prog to end up, to be fair. However, while shortening the form sounds like an excellent idea, it ends up emphasizing a cardinal sin which seven-track double LPs seem to unconsciously avoid. There simply isn't enough distinct material to pad out the record to a dozen songs. And there's little propulsion between the tracks. As repetition goes, Muse is more straightly rockish than noodly: A wash there.
Sounds a bit like Coldplay or something. This is not a compliment. All a bit boring and overblown really. It might have got a 3, but Soldier's Poem is dreadful, so it's a 2.
Today, the 1001 albums app made some welcome changes. The font for the numbers in our summary sections is both larger and thinner. I'm no expert in fonts, so I don't know the name of that one, but I like it ( I'm fond of "calibri" and "verdana", for example). And it's not the only thing that's new on the app: if you go to your summaries, once again, we now have the names of our favorite and worst artists at the top of all those wonderful album covers. Yeah, good idea. I wonder why David Bowie doesn't appear there for my own favorite arists, though. Black Sabbath does, but I've rated less album from them than ones by Bowie. Is it because I've rated *Let's Dance* less than four stars? You tell me... But no worries: Pixies, Sonic Youth, PJ Harvey and the Beatles are there, that's all that matters. And I hope Neil Young, The Cure, A Tribe Called Quest and Kendrick Lamar will soon join them. Apart from that, nothing much happened today. Oh, yeah, there was an album popping up on the app this morning, I almost forgot. 🤔 Do I *really* need to speak my mind about this record? Today is Sunday, after all. Maybe I can take a break... Alright, alright, let's do this (heavy sigh). I would start with the understatement of the year: Maybe the production on this LP is a little overblown, don't you think? 🙃 There, I've said it. I hope Muse fans are not too shocked by this hot, hot take. 😜 Let's be fair, half of the tracks on this LP are catchy--albeit with quite a few laughable moments in them, both musically and lyrically. And I can appreciate the wide range of influences inspiring those songs: Philip Glass for "Take A Bow", wide-eyed pop for "Starlight", modern r'nb for "Supermassive Black Hole", Ennio Morricone for "Knights Of Cydonia" (except that Other Lives have since used that latter influence for far better results), plus a little bit of Queen here and there... In other words, it's a bit ridiculous, as nice as those influences are on their own. I know Muse have publicly stated that some of those tunes are tongue-in-cheek "exercises", but still... And the other half of those tracks is just a terrible borefest anyway, not even worth a good laugh. When you listen to the whole thing in one sitting, you're just left wondering if the band is totally naive or incredibly pretentious. But maybe they're *both*. I've just read this LP is not even in the latest editions of the 1001 albums book. It didn't take long for Dimery and co. to realize the sort of shmaltzy blokes Muse had become by the time of *Black Holes And Revelations*. Hence why they needed to go to leave some room to other, more worthwhile artists. And it's exactly why I'm gonna exclude them as well. After all, Bellamy and co. have had their share of the spotlight for a long time. They're incredible musicians and performers, and sold millions and millions of units, I hear. But that sort of thing never meant that a band was really *good* or relevant artistically speaking... So next please... Number of albums left to review: 538 Number of albums from the list I find relevant enough to be mandatory listens: 221 Albums from the list I *might* include in mine later on: 108 Albums from the list I will certainly *not* include in mine (many others are more essential to me): 134 (including this one)
Muse has never been my particular cup of tea, but their earlier stuff is a bit more entertaining for me. Mostly decent stuff here, with a few standouts as pretty good. Not much to go nuts over, but pretty good overall
I really enjoyed Showbiz (released 1999), this album doesn't reach me.
Same vocal intervals on most songs?
I find this music to be pretty generic and sterile. This is supposed to be soaring, epic, dramatic music but I was just bored by it all. I had only heard a couple of the singles before, and otherwise don’t know a lot about Muse. I’m sure everyone makes Coldplay and Radiohead references- they definitely sound like a boring Radiohead. Maybe a deeper dive into the band would show those comparisons to be unfair, but I’m not interested in listening to any more.
Boring catchy made for radio rock.
Radiohead lite.
I already knew Supermassive Black Hole, which I actually quite liked. The rest of the album is too clean and "epic" for my taste, the lyrics also do nothing for me at all so I will probably never revisit this ever.
I can't listen to a full album with this voice. I get it, you have range. Reign it in.
Let me just be frank. Over the top music. Over the top singing. Listened to Pixies (pure, direct, no BS) and then to this one (exactly opposite). 2 stars and not 1 because of, well am in a mild mood.
Noisy and not what I was in the mood for. It was okay.
Ill-advised U2/Radiohead collaboration.
Like a more rocking, but less interesting Radiohead. I actually recognized a few songs that I didn't know was them. Not too bad, but nothing thrilling. It could be a 3 I suppose but I'm dropping it to a 2 because this thing reeks of pretension and Muse fans are overzealous. This does not nearly live up to the hype.
"Black Holes and Relevations" is the fourth studio album by English rock band Muse. The album was recorded in three countries and noted for a change in style incorporating influences from Depeche Mode, Millionaire, Lightning Bolt and Sly and the Family Stone. OK. I see that. The music is classified as alternative rock, progressive rock and space rock. Yep. Sometimes in the same song. Sometimes all three at the same time. There is a lot going on in their songs. The lyrics address political corruption, alien invasion (one song), revolution and New World Order. There are some just love/relationship songs. "Take a Bow" begins things with a swirling blend of classical, electronic and rock. A Moog synth. Dramatic guitar at the middle and end. Lots of drama in their songs. An attack on NWO leaders controlling everything. This sounds like Queen. The second song and single and probably my favorite is "Starlight." A more straight-foward alt rock melody and the heavier guitars. OK, on their third single "Supermassive Black Hole," we get their 90's Depeche Mode imitation. Lead singer Matt Bellamy going falsetto. They then go space rock with the guitar. I think this about getting sucked into a relationship with a person that inevitably going to dump you. The last and fifth single "Map of the Problematique" had the riff written wuth a keyboard and then translated and split into three guitar signals. This is when this album tends to lose me; there is so much going on, way too busy. The album ends with "Knights of Cydonia," best known by me as one of the last songs of Guitar Hero III. It was tough. The song itself goes from space and laser sounds to a driving guitar and keyboard to a guitar jam. And a lot more. This was frustrating. I like a few of the songs and parts of most of the songs but they try to do so much on every song it was giving me a headache. When I need to draw a diagram of the musical changes in each song just to keep up, I don't find that fun. Muse has had a very successful career so there is a lot of people that like them. And, heck, I saw them in the last few years and enjoyed it. Not today.
This sounds like Billy Corgan forced Radiohead and Coldplay to collaborate on an album about conspiracy theories at gunpoint.
Highlights: All and none If you've heard one Muse album you've pretty much heard them all. I'm almost grateful because they're like America's one dose of clownish Eurovision bombast. They do "experiments" from one to the next that are more just savvy cash-ins; here it's on Beck's renewed popularity ("Supermassive...",) and Coldplay mania ("Starlight"). They also fart around at the end with Spanish-ness, orientalist motifs, and spaghetti western surf, and it's honestly their best because it knowingly embraces their campiness. They're like Nicolas Cage -- sometimes you're not are they're in on the joke. They do have very fleshed out cadences, almost Rufus Wainwright at times, but just because they have more chords doesn't make it fresh. The musical ideas tend to be stiff while the power comes from the performance, and the performance had exactly two dynamics. I will say this -- it's hard to make the Zvex Fuzz Factory sound good, and he manages to use its oscillation just enough to breathe some life into the arrangement. They are veteran stadium rockers. They can nail all of this live. If you're a middle manager in retail with no strong opinions on art that just wants to check Rock Concert off the bucket list -- accept no substitutes.
Just don't really get muse
He sounds distractingly like Thom Yorke on a lot of the album. Did not enjoy. Putting arpeggiated synths over boring rock music doesn't really make it better.
instrumental album would've been better
Didn't hold up to multiple listens. Got real sick of it real fast.
Abit bland
Too noisy for me. It didn't make narratively sense for me.
Bono?
There's something fun about this, but then on the other hand it's sort of like if Thom Yorke got a lot cheesier, lost a lot of IQ points, and then started writing songs about space.
Another post-2000 album that didn't survive long enough to stay on the current version of the list, which is fine. This should never have been on the list. Muse is butt rock masquerading as prog, it's arena garbage for people who think they are smart, it's pseudo-intellectual pap, it's music for people who think they are smarter than the room but never bother to enter rooms they know will challenge them. It's music for people who think it's clever to talk shit about NIckelback. It's an evolutionary stepping stone to Imagine Dragons. Burn it and bury it in a shallow grave.
Knights tietenkin on edelleen loistava, hitit ja rakenne kantaa, mutta mahtipontisuus, sanotukset ja Bellamyn maukuminen kyllästyttää nopeesti
Avausraidan kaltaiset "fiilistelyt" ovat täysin hyödyttömiä: ne edustavat soundeilla kikkailua sen itsensä vuoksi. Toisaalta Starlightin kaltaiset "fiilistelyt" sisältävät riittävästi melodista sisältöä toimiakseen kappaleina. Invinciblen kaltaiset "biisit" (jotka koostavat suurimman osan levystä) ovat geneerisiä ja ohitettavia. Toisaalta Supermassive Black Hole ja Knights of Cydonia ovat hittejä, jotka voivat saada kuuntelijan palaamaan kokonaistasoltaan heikommankin levyn äärelle. Onko tämä kakkonen vai kolmonen? Riippuu siitä, kuinka paljon on valmis skippaamaan kuullaakseen hitit uudelleen.
Wiki mentions the bands that influenced Muse and I was very surprised that they didn’t mention Radiohead. The lead vocalists of Muse whines and wails exactly like Thom Yorke. I listened to this album twice and both times when it was done Spotify sequed seamlessly into Radiohead and Muse sounded almost the same. A noisy pompous Radiohead though. This album was much more listenable when there was less singing, eg Knights of Cydonia, but I’d rather have the original
Helt ok men låter ba int jättebra nånsin... o de lyrics ja snappa upp sög as
I'll be honest I wasn't feeling like relistening to this album so I put on their new album that came out today instead. Probably a mistake as it was a huge waste of time. Yeah I really just couldn't give two shits about Muse. Possibly the most uncool band on the planet.
boring
Kinda like the killers but unique in their own way. Not my thing
Muse can’t decide if they want to be Radiohead, Coldplay, British alternative from a few years earlier, a grunge band, or a wannabe metal band. This identity crisis leaves Muse sounding like they’re constantly trying to reference something instead of incorporating their influences into their own sound. The obvious Thom Yorke imitation vocals really place this into a lower category for me.
A few standouts like knights of cydonia, starlight, and glorious, but overall it was quite repetitive (especially the vocals)
Sounding like a cross between Coldplay, U2 and Radiohead with "anthems" for the noughties generation this is generally as dull and insipid as you would expect, although to be fair "Supermassive Black Hole" is quite a sinister sounding track with a catchy chorus.
Yeah again why is this album on this list, not that exciting or interesting, definitely nothing new when it was launched? They are one of those bands that are made for adverts they have like 30 seconds of intrest in a couple of songs but the rest is just dull.
Just not very exciting, is it? Far too safe and dull
I’d rather be listening to Radiohead
--- muse black holes and revelations --- take a bow 2/3 k maybe a bit long, but overall i like it. it _sounds_ like a minute long intro track, but lasts almost five minutes? --- starlight 3/3 this is the title track, the chorus repeats the album name. i always forget this is the title track cause it's not named for the album --- supermassive black hole 2/3 too slow --- map of the problematique 3/3 --- invincible 1/3 i just want to go listen to (the good tracks from) neutral milk hotel's In the Aeroplane Over the Sea hate the marching snare and this song is not fast enough to walk to hate hate hate this --- assassin 3/3 oh yeah this is why i remember liking muse --- city of delusion 2/3 not mad at this --- hoodoo 3/3 good if in the mood for big and operatic? which is not often, but.. --- knights of cydonia 3/3 oh yeah this is why i remember liking muse they saved the best for last --- glorious 1/3 did not need a bonus track, cydonia is the correct ending
I wanted to like this one so much better cause it had some of my favorite elements. Super cinematic moments and a dusty desert sound but to manny misses in between
bleah
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.
Veit ekki hvað skal segja, fílaði þetta einu sinni. Geri það ekki lengur.
I mostly like their first 3 albums but this is a fair load of wank
Take a Bow: the tinkling lasted about 3 minutes too long. The blame at the end was something. Longest outro ever. Supermassive Black Hole: more like supermassive suck hole, amirite? Map of the problematique: equally as loud as the previous three songs. No decrescendo/crescendo, just loud. Set the metronome to 140 bpm and go. Soldiers poem: first down tempo song, almost lullaby like. Somehow still loud though.... Invincible: quieter intro. I have bass boosted on my earbuds as most songs are quiet on bass lines, but these guys pump up the bass. Cool little bass riff halfway through. Hoodoo: started surfer rock/Mexicali, ended goth rock. Weird. Glorious: I don't think I like this album. It's not necessarily "bad," but it's an album that has a lot of notes, but none of them memorable. Almost like a more frantic Coldplay. PS: I did not realize that Glorious was the last track of the album when I made the above note. I am glad it is over.
too theatrical/dramatic/overblown for my liking
Whilst a fun enough listen, I ultimately found all the bombast rather empty and unsatisfying.
Of its time, a bit overblown for me
For a supposed progressive rock group, Muse manages to come off as quite a superficial bunch. Every song here follows a formula, which wouldn’t be an issue if the formula were compelling, but it isn’t. Very few of these tunes are catchy, and even fewer interesting. The music is bombastic and decidedly safe, almost distractingly so, and the lyrics are humdrum bullshit. They want to make a political statement, but the best they can muster is jejune blather about fighting corruption, fighting for your rights, fighting the establishment, fighting for what? Freedom, of course. If you’d ever wondered what The Vines would sound like if they ventured into space, look no further. This sort of vapid, milk-and-water nonsense might appeal to you if you’re the sort of person that likes corporate dad rock, but if you can’t dig it, steer clear.
Dad Rock for teenagers
Some cool tracks but pretty unimpressed overall
It was okay. I'm not a fan of the whiny/angsty rock lead singer voice...it becomes too much when listened to as a whole
OK. This is really a bombastic one, but I wonder about the purpose. All over I can hear Radiohead, Queen, and U2. None of these bands I particularly like, but if I have to, I much rather listen to the original ones. Not that Muse are bad, they just don't catch my interest, my attention continually wanders in and out. Starlight has that synth pop thing going on and the distorted bass, which is okay until Bono comes in. Map Of The Problématique becomes a bit more interesting as it sounds like Depeche Mode (or like Paradise Lost when they were trying to sound like Depeche Mode, without, exceptionally, really sounding like a copycat) in parts, until Bono auditioning for Radiohead comes in. Some beautiful vocal harmonies on Soldier's Poem. I liked that at the beginning it sounds very 60s, somehow doo wop (many have mentioned Beach Boys but I couldn't agree less), but at the end it morphs into a Queen tribute. The last, proggy bit of Invincible was interesting., while its first part really sounds like U2, not only the singer this time around. In general the use of synths is interesting all over the record, but again, if I wanted to listen to some prog I would go for some 70s band, and this not only excludes Muse but all the post 90s new prog bands. Some NWOBHM on Assassins mixed with bits of System Of A Down, which is kind of surprising. Liked also the bits where they incorporated some world elements in the last few songs. All in all, a band that seems to wear its influences on their sleeves. Highly visible though. To the point where you wonder if it's just influence or they are actually mimicking. A curious fact: although the edition I have is from 2011, my book doesn't feature this 2006 album, which probably means that the it was kind of an afterthought for the authors destined to be featured in some future edition.
Pompous
One star album with one extra star for Starlight.
Not the best of Muse, though Knights of Cydonia is an outstanding track.
So this album came out when I was 16, and I remember being really disappointed with it then :( feels like their attempt at doing a Night At The Opera that just falls a bit flat. The lyrics aren't as clever as they think they are, and it's super overengineered. Forced myself to relisten to it this morning though. First track is really quite dire, don't want to sound too much like a grandpa but it's just noise, isn't it? Starlight is decent twinkly pop, Supermassive Black Hole is less good twinkly pop. Map of the Problematique is ok, but it'd still be one of the worse tracks on the previous albums. The next one is a floppy wander with no energy. I like Invincible at the very end, when it sounds more old school Muse, but it spends way too long getting there (and the lyrics are SO cheesy). Assassin sounds like a proper Muse song and is probably the second best song on the album. The next two I have no proper opinion on, they are in the old Muse style but just doesn't really get going at all and are in no way memorable. One after is half Muse, half theme tune to a Western and it is not a combination that works. Then Knights of Cydonia - the only song on this album that actually achieves the level of theatre that they're going for. Almost prog-rocky, I do like this. Should have left it at that, would've been a nice closer, but they added on another track at the end that is similar to the 8 and 9 in that I am utterly indifferent to it.
The first track is ok. A bit nothing really. I'm trying to remember some lyrics, or the basic tune, but I've got nothing. Sums it up quite well. The second track I'd heard before. Quite decent tbh, memorable tune, I can remember the basic lyrics for the chorusy part. It's fine. I may have heard the third track before as well. Seems kind of familiar, but not enough that I remember any lyrics or anything. Fourth track I have no memory of at all. The fifth track had me scrambling. Had I downloaded a dodgy copy of the album and someone had mixed up the tracks with another band? No, apparently not. That is the intended fifth track. Doesn't fit, at all, and isn't very good tbh. Sixth track. I've had enough now. All I'm hearing is loud noises. Seventh track is worse than the sixth. Louder and more annoying. Eighth track is a bit better. Less noise, more of an actual song. Again though, not one that's stuck in the memory. For the ninth track we've gone acoustic. Nice. Oh hang on, it doesn't last. They threw some trumpets in towards the end. Then scrapped them for more LOUD GUITAR AND SHOUTING! Tenth track. Tarantino. Not sure why he's popped into my head. Maybe there's a bit of Pulp Fiction similarity at the start? How long before we get back to the shouting and the guitars on this one? Not bad, just over half way. They've thrown in some piano on this one, just to mix it up. At last, the final track. Thank God. Oooh, more Tarantino. Long intro on this one. Hang on, this bit rings a bell, "no-one's gonna take me aliiiiiiiiive". Was this a single as well? This is alright. And it's over. Good.
hm. pretentious. vibey. annoying. guitar-nice. > Gave me a headache but i have got Covid so idk > opening track got on my nerves > second track was generic and didnt sound nice enough to get away with having no meaning > something lacking but i cant recognise what > i disliked it and dont know why but were too bored by it to listen again to recognise what i didnt like > the third track is the most popular on the album and i was hoping it would bring some power to this album but it was only a little less annoying, meaningless and generic as the other two tracks i'd already listened to > the album was underwhelming > i would NOT say that somebody must hear before they die > i might go as far as to say that i would recommend not listening to this album for its sheer boringness
i listened to this before and it was mid and im not putting myself through it again. good job to Supermassive Black Hole though
This album is all over the place musically, I found myself physically frowning at some points while listening to it. Can't imagine anyone really liking this if they didn't already like it in their younger years. I thought the radiohead comparisons were lazy but no, it really does sound like a bad radiohead imitation attempt. 1.5/5 Top tracks: starlight
Still something about this band that doesn’t click with me. Oh look at me I’m classicaly trained but I make ‘rock’ music now. Ohhh I’m so edgy. Yawn
The Imagine Dragonification of Tool.
J'ai toujours eu un peu de mal avec la discographie de Muse. C'est là un parfait exemple. Je connais très bien Starlight par la promo radio mais je n'ai jamais accroché, ni à l'époque, ni maintenant. De cet album, je ne retiendrai que Take A Bow et Supermassive Black Hole.
Wack
Whining and moaning
SHITE
This really rubbed me the wrong way. It’s not just that the vocalist’s preferred tone is whining. It’s also annoying that this band is so derivative of Coldplay and Queen that you might think you were listening to a mashup of those two bands. There are a few songs where they introduce metal elements with the other two sounds and, in those moments they sound a little unique & interesting. But even then you can hear the whiny singer doing his best imitation of a prog rock singer whining the worst metal lyrics in his whiny voice. Ugh. A 1.
'& our freedom's consuming itself / What we've become.' Whatever Muse is getting at, which is some sort of miserable gravity pull of Coldplay w/ the worst aspects of Radiohead, I can do w/o. This's not profound: 'Our hopes & expectations / Black holes & revelations, yeah.' At best it's hokey, a drab conceptual piece that goes w/ no mood, at worst it's a blasted resurrection of prog sensibilities that should've died out after The Wall. There's nerdy & pretentious, there's dense & vapid, & somehow Black Holes & Revelations is all four. 'Why can't we see / That when we bleed, we bleed the same?' It gets worse as it goes along, & anytime you think they've figured something out, it's ruined by space sounds, tedious drama, & Bellamy's bad singing.
Shit holes and revelations
No. Just no. Muse capitalized on what made Origin of Symmetry successful : excellent musicianship, bombastic compositions, and the voice of Bellamy. But whereas Origin of Symmetry was carefully self-restrained, making it sincere despite its self-consciousness, the leash has been loosened since Absolution, and this one was already showing worrying signs that Muse wouldn't stop their race towards a deluded sense of grandeur and epicness. And oh boy, this album is a mess. Muse, trying desperately to get out of Radiohead's shadow, pushes the overdrive pedals to the metal, washing everything in layers upon layers of effects and pitch-shifters, at time driving towards dance beats and New-wave synths, , with each song racing towards the most cathartic, explosive climax it can. It feels forced, it drags on, and it's often grating. It's a kid screaming at us to look at them. We do, not because we enjoy what they have to say, but with the faint hope that if we listen, the shrieks will stop. They won't. It never stop, for the duration of the entire tracklist. Every track tries to show a new trick, but it's something we've heard before a gazillion times, from intense guitar solos to vocal performance, from upbeat dance grooves to classical music inspirations, it's a catalog of overhead, tame ideas "enhanced" with ultramodern and slick (way too slick) production. Bellamy shrieks and wails throughout like an emo cat that just learned his parents divorced, while trying to touch on postmodern subjects such as alienation and technology, fascism and authoritarianism, paranoia and love. All subjects Radiohead also treated on Ok Computer and KidAmnesiac, in subtle and thought-provoking ways (think Paranoid Android, Fitter Happier, or any track from Kid A). Muse approach these themes with the subtlety of a middle-class edgy teen. And the worst part is that Muse never turned back from this path, despite evident qualities as musicians. It's bloated ego and "oh boy are we good musicians" all along, without any depth or substance. It's an ad : alluring on the box, but a cheap plastic imitation of something better once opened. It sucks, but it's luckily forgotten fast. On a personal note : I don't undestand why this album is listed on this site.
Please stop it with the quasi-electronica british pop!
At one point I loved "Supermassive Black Hole," but now I can only think of vampire baseball. Good baseball—bad album.
Bombastic over-produced nonsense. Very obviously the spiritual heirs to Queen AND NO THAT IS NOT A COMPLIMENT
damn cmon now. I would have been just fine going the rest of my life without listening to this. I’ve heard “Starlight” and “Knights of Cydonia” more times than I ever needed to, and I was kinda hoping there’d be a deep cut here I might like. nope. this is bad, through and through. obnoxious vocals and weak proggy schlock. confirmed that I’m a hard pass on Muse.
Trash
A weak copy of radiohead
At best a rip off Radiohead with pop ambition replacing creative ones. At worst they're wannabe U2 at their most bloated and boring. Grating vocals, unearned peaks, predictable dynamic shifts, corny electronica. Piss poor. Just some of the worst stuff the 21st century has churned out yet.
Awful!
Seemingly inspired yet uninspiring.
I'm never going to like Muse it's middle of the road rock
I tried severql times. Not my thing. Sounds likr christian music
It sounds like Radiohead with training wheels, and 10 years too late.
This is music for people who use the word "epic" way too much. Not sure what it's doing on this list
This was crap.
Yuk!
What a terrible band
Wholly underwhelming, and a painful example of the loudness wars in full effect. Bury this one, buddy's egotistical, faux-glam vocals bring me second-hand shame. See you never again.
Sounds like a full-scale, no-expenses-spared, shameless ripoff of Radiohead in the 90s. I didn't listen to the whole thing--the Thom Yorke singalike vocals are really distracting. I don't like the harmonies on Soldier's Poem, and I like any and all harmonies, usually. I just can't get around this one takeaway: Thom Yorke sings with a great deal of emotion in his voice, and that contributes to his unique style, especially on the first 3 Radiohead albums. This sounds like someone aping Yorke's singing style, with similar emotional embellishments...except the emotion is totally absent and no one gives a shit what this Muse guy is singing about.
Boring.
07/02/2026 1. take a bow - okay.... only ever heard supermassive black hole and didn't expect synths? not mad on the vocals, but it has only just started. two mins in and still not mad on the vocals. very 2000s. just got to the guitar, bit better but the synths behind are ruining it for me anyway. drums are nice. not massive about the lyrics either. sounds weirdly quiet for the volume i'm playing it at and the buildup to the end. stadium rock for hipsters. like the distortion at the end though. 2. starlight - oh my god this is where that piano riff comes from. reminding me of the nonce coldplay psa. why were singers in the 2000s so whiny??? *3. supermassive black hole - sadly already like this song but haven't listened to it in years so it may have changed. just got to the verse, not as good as i remember, but still better than the previous songs. alright. 4. map of the problematique - christ the synth is back again. still don't like the vocals. how it manages to sound so over the top but still soooo boring is insane. emo shit. overdramatic in a horrible way (fan of 60s baroque pop and melodrama movies saying this btw). drums are nice ig. 5. soldier's poem - softer. liking the beach boys-esque melodies. wilfred owens didn't die for these lyrics though. war is bad song. this is what idles lyrics sounds like to me. 6. invincible - liking the intro. just got to the drums and regretting it a bit, but i like the spacey vibe of the guitar and the keyboard? together. these lyrics are the worst thing i've ever heard before. no subtlety at all???? about two minutes in and i want to kill myself. how am i only halfway through this album??? 7. assassin - more metal influenced. do not like metal music. drums are reallly great though. admittedly liking the chorus. lyrics are shit as ever. 8. exo-politics - like the backing vocals. love the ufo effect :) just bland rock though. 9. city of delusion - bit western in this one? bass is reaaallly nice in this one. still do not like the vocals. like the trumpets. very glad this is almost over. *10. hoodoo - liking the more western vibe of these ones... guitar intro is great! would actually like this one if it was an instrumental. reaaaallly liking the slower vibe and the orchestra in the back. just got to the louder part and any sort of enjoyement has dissapated. sounds like mcr. do like the strings in the back though! 11. knights of cydonia - liking the sound effects at the start. why has this suddenly turned into a western album though?? not complaining bc i like it more lol. synths just started. anytime i like something in one of these songs, it gets replaced by the worst thing i've heard in my whole entire life. 12. glorious - liking the intro. looking forward to whatever shit will start now. bass is nice, but still generic indie rock. wish this guy would just shut up oh my god. so glad this is over. 2000s (indie) rock is officially in my bad books again. so glad i never have to listen to any of these songs again. please god can i have an enjoyable album next.
Dreadful. Utterly dreadful.
Yep, I ain't listening to this.
Punk ass Radiohead wannabes. 1.5
Eh too aggressive of an album for me. I just listened to few songs and had to skip cuz I couldn’t get through it.
“i will avenge and justify my reasons with your blood” bro ma chi sei
I thought Muse sucked shit going into this listen, and I came away still thinking that.
F no
I assume everyone who likes this album is insufferable
Dollar store Radiohead
the owl city to radiohead's postal service.
For a second, I thought I was having a good time. I can't really say I liked most of the songs on here. It started strong, but got worse and worse as the song dragged on.
As much as I've tried, Muse has never really been my vibe. Whiny and boring IMHO.
Bombastic amalgam of U2 and Queen.
Slop then, slop now, why did people ever like this?
Might get a little harsh with this review, but man. I thought this was pretty shitty. I've never cared much for Muse, so I was hoping this album would change my opinion on them as a mediocre-at-best band. Unfortunately, it only solidified it. My biggest issue with this album is that it's just bland pop masquerading as more complex rock music. Then, they make the lyrics alien and celestial to try to hide that from the listener further. It's like a movie studio turning an intricate sci-fi concept into a big budget movie. They have to remove all the interesting context and heavy ideas in order to make it appealing to the mass audience and make money. There's no actual depth or feel to it. While I don't think this was meant to be a concept album, the issues become more obvious when you compare it to some of the other sci-fi-inspired works I've had on here, namely Tarkus and 2112. I didn't love either of those albums either, but they actually committed to the ideas they wrote around. Unlike Muse here, which just turned it into something corporate and cold with dance music underneath. While I do think the Rush/ELP works lacked some soul, I don't think this BHAR had any to begin with. Yeah, that was pretty negative. But that's my take. To end with something nicer, there were a few bright spots spread throughout the album that made me think they have the ability to come up with something good and interesting. Still, this one was bad. Overall: 1.3/5
Not for me, this one.
Late one night in San Francisco, I was very drunk and battling a Russian woman in 8-ball. She was known to be one of the better players in that bar. I was terrible at pool and am even worse now, but I got lucky that night and happened to beat her on a bank shot. In one of the few unadulterated moments of glory in my life, I recall hearing Muse over the stereo. Despite my inflated sense of mastery, I still managed to come to the very sober conclusion that Muse sucks. All these years later, I have given them another chance. Maybe I was full of it back then? Too ungenerous? This album sounds like Coldplay trying desperately to be Radiohead. It's embarrassing. I'll reserve my generousness of spirit for people making authentic music. On a song-level, whatever ... but Muse amounts to a band that wants to be another band and thinks that by fortifying their unoriginal music with arpeggiated crap, maybe we won't notice that somebody wants to be Thom Yorke. We noticed!
I would rather listen to Jagged Little Pill (two stars) than listen to this again. So for consistency’s sake (and fairness to Alanis), one star it has to be
I dislike muse so much, everything about this made me dislike them even more
Damn this album is boring and bland. The songs are so slow and meandering. What is this music for? Background? Anyone paying attention is in for some boredom. 50 mins never felt so long.
This music reminds me of Smirnoff Ice. I don't know a single person that likes it yet clearly millions of people do. Where the hell are they?
Too anthemy sounding
Pass
It's like the Franz Ferdinand or Killers albums where I think I'm not going to know the songs but I know and hate them from radio. In 2006 I liked Radiohead a lot. Hearing this must have been one of the pushes to not like Radiohead so much. This music is a strip mall full of chain stores in the burbs, the sort of stuff that convinces the young the whole world is dumber & less special than it is. 1 star you shameless cowards. music: hated. (⌐■_■)
Man... what was with the 00s? Did that decade REALLY suck this badly, or did the bot that put this list together just really miss the mark? Thinking back to around that time, I recall being preoccupied rediscovering obscurities from the 80s, so I'm probably not the best judge... though, maybe I was subconsciously in survival mode shielding myself from what would have otherwise broken my will to ever listen to music again... hmm... Right then. That musing aside, back to this Muse. I had never heard, nor will I ever choose to hear again, any of these tracks. Sadly, I have to re-ask the question that's been asked all too often on this journey: was this REALLY something that needed to be heard before one died? What makes this special? It's not innovative. It's not particularly good. In fact, it's objectively quite bad. Was it just randomly selected as a token representative from what was simply a terrible year in music? Equal parts puzzling and troubling, this.
Cacophonic.
The older I get the less I like Muse. As a young teen I loved them, and by my late teens I found them to be cringe worthy. I always held onto my belief that this was their last good album, however when I saw this pop up I instantly feared that belief would be put to the test. It is pure dog shit. Absolute radio ready over polished conservative parent approved rock music. Every single lyric on this album is a vapid statement about "the man", though never going in depth enough to reveal which "man" they might be talking about. Guess Matt Bellend was smart enough to sell himself to both sides of the political spectrum and only complain when right wing people liked his music after the money was made. The synths are budget stock sounds with an absolute lack of interesting sound design, the instruments are quad-tracked and quantized beyond any semblance of human playing. Yeah this is just souless corpo rock. When Assassin started playing I thought "Oh I remember this, it gets kinda heavy right?" followed by a neat System of a Down riff and then straight back to average rock land. When we finally got the Knights of Cydonia I was relieved, the one song I thought was going to bring this album back for me, but after enduring the slog of shit proceeding it all the joy was gone and my love for that goofy prog rock banger turned into grating rage. It is bland. It is safe. It is boring. Thank fucking god we have Yank Crime next.
Who cares
Awful
Black assholes
Starlight is unbearably whiny. Supermassive Black Hole is boring. Giving up on this album, def not my thing.
shit
I hate everything about this. I just finished "invincible" and am questioning the logic of riding this wave to the shore.
The debut album from Muse was good. Everything after that was parodying glam rock. This album received so much air play in the year of release, which indicates the quality of music that year. Overall, this is quite shit.
Too many guys singing in high pitched voices. Could not complete.
If all your ideas suck, it doesn’t matter how hard you practice. Radiohead: No more rock music. Muse: *makes this* Everyone: Right, no more rock music.
Ook echt geen zin in. Misschien wel mijn meest gehate band. Laat maar zitten.
Not for me at all
Wowowow hate hate hate
I'd only heard small bits of this lot before, and from what people had said about them there must be something I'm missing. I was ready to hear something fantastic. What I got was the kaiser chefs and the killers with more whiney keyboards and vocals. I really couldn't have been more underwhelmed. There is something I'm missing, an hour of my life. The phrase that has been used on several occasions on here is "I'll give it a 1 because there isn't a zero." This is NOT true for this. They have fully earnt their 1.
Nope. There’s something completely robotic and completely unauthentic about Muse. I’ve just never been able to connect with whatever it is they are trying to achieve.
Boring. Every song sounds the same.
++: Take a Bow +: Supermassive Black Hole, Hoodoo +-: Map of the Problematique, Soldier's Poem, Knights of Cydonia -: Invincible, Assassin, City of Delusion --: Starlight, Exo-Politics 3,2/10
Oof. To maintain integrity with my 15 year old self (this album, and Aha Shake Heartbreak were the first non-60s/70s CDs I bought, as I crawled out of classic rock exclusivity), I cannot in good conscience give this 1*. Gotta go 2*, but oof, in relistening this… isn’t great. I see a conversation with a major label’s upper brass going something like this: “Man, those Radiohead nerds sell a lot of records.” “I bet we could sell even more if we polished up the spacey weirdness and made the band more handsome!” Holy, does Muse ever sound like a Radiohead cover band on this one. A closing fun fact: I saw Muse live at a major music festival. Throughout the show, they use little timed cameras on their mic stands to project their faces onto a big screen. About midway through, the bassist’s camera shifted, and whenever the camera went to him we saw up his nose. Nah you know what, screw it. 1* it is.
Not for me.
I used to like the second song
Not for me
Radiohead: The Musical!
Baby's first progressive rock album. Incredibly impressed with their own intelligence. Thom-Yorke-ripoff vocals. The prog-latin crossover missed the bus since The Mars Volta did it orders of magnitude better, but the spaghetti western stuff on Knights of Cydonia is kinda cool (until the unlistenable processed vocals kick in). The pop rock songs like Starlight remind me of more enjoyable hours I've spent listening to Coldplay but end up being the best parts of the album. I also like how the album cover looks like a drug deal scene from Breaking bad! The piece de resistance is the lyrics though. On a song ostensibly about the grandiose theme of the galaxy being sucked into a black hole, we're treated to this: "I thought I was a fool for no one But, ooh, baby, I'm a fool for you You're the queen of the superficial How long before you tell the truth?" WELL PLAYED, SIR! I F*****G LOVE SCIENCE!
bombastische luchtbel
One of the worst concept albums I’ve ever heard in my life. I was bored listening to this. The singer’s voice had no personality. If the Earth was being engulfed by a black hole and the Government was trying to cover it up, I would think a person would be more emotional and not sound disinterested.
What a load of pompous, bloated old guff.
People who were kids at the turn of the millennium who liked Rush but didn't want to be accused of just listening to what their dads liked would like Muse. Ugh.
Neat
Honestly. Fucking hate it. Emo shit.
Radiohead was too weird for commercial rock radio in the mid-2000's so they called up Muse to do a shameless impression of what Radiohead would sound like if they just kept making albums like The Bends. From the get go, I found them irritating and insincere. Not much has changed, I was very bored by it. Though, "Knights of Cydonia" gave me Guitar Hero 3 nostalgia, so there's that. The album felt entirely too long at ~50 minutes long. Not sure what Muse doing on this list.
Emo the Killers. Cool.
Bland in a way that is actively unpleasant
5 songs in: Well, so far, this album appears to be what you get when you feed the Nine Inch Nails and Andrew Lloyd Weber catalogues into ChatGPT and ask it to make you something hopeless. Complete: Ok, to me, it's almost 50 minutes of Jesus storming the temple in Superstar. It's just a lot. I wonder how much of my experience is created by the way the aids process sound. There's a lot where the soundscape just feels like a whole lot of....noise vs music. I can kind of recognize that there are layers of things happening, but all I'm actually experiencing is the aural version of when you've rinsed your paintbrush off in a cup of water with too many different colors.
Synthetic Radiohead. Just so sterile and uninteresting.
Always hated Muse, and I'm not sure why. Didn't mind Knights of Cydonia on GH3, but grew to like them less and less over the years. I've even seen them live and didn't enjoy it. I think listening to this hasn't really changed it, but I can see something of Radiohead in there? Idky I don't like it/them, but I just think it's soulless sort of bluesy rock/proggy guitars that I think is all male bravado. If Muse sorta stayed at Feeder's level of success, maybe I would respect them more - a little local band in Devon. But why they are so huge I cannot say, unless the majority of the public have a shit taste in music (they probably do). I once made a joke about Muse calling it "Matt Bellamy's [something something]" which really made me laugh at the time, but I can't remember what it was. Ah well, here's 1 star on me lol.
Shit. Would be ok if I died before I heard this rubbish. Wannabe rock band
I’m a scientist and can confirm that black holes exist. Revelations however is bible nonsense.
A-Muse-ing
Shite
Once you notice Matt Bellamy takes a massive breath in between each line, you can't unnotice it.
I know I have heard of Muse. I just could not remember the song I had heard. For EVERY song that played I thought “This is the song” because they all sound so much alike. They don’t sound bad, they are just forgettable. And I still do not remember the song I knew them from.
супермасів блек хараша щоб грати на моїі тій роботі зімість їхнього радіо а так хз простенько
how derivative can one band be?
I really don't like this band. Really annoy me. 1/5
Not good, didn’t like
No.
Ya paso ese estilo en mi vida; me gusto y ya meh
A couple of good tracks, but that's it. Sounds heavily produced. I thought I'd enjoy it, but sadly, I didn't.
One and a half decent songs
I couldn't get past the third song. No thanks.
Ich finde die ersten beiden Stücke langweilig. Liegt wohl auch daran, dass ich den Text nicht ganz verstehe...
Starlight on edelleen nostalginen ja vie yläasteen koulunpenkille, mutta eipä tätä muuten voi enää kuunnella. Oli suosikkibändi 14-vuotiaana, mutta sinne se kuuntelu ansaitusti jäi. En ymmärrä, miten tämän on voinut aikuinen kriitikko kuunnella ja todeta tärkeäksi. 1/5
unbekannt
Pompous mouth breathing bilge
Reading the Wiki page before listening I was excited and really wanted to like this album, but I couldn’t because…well … because it’s shit.
"Starlight" is a decent song, but that's where the compliments start & end. They almost had something good with "Glorious", but then the singer kicked in and it turned into scuttery crap. This shit sounds like somebody taught Andrew Lloyd Webber to add effects over electric guitars and ditch the piano for keyboards.....and also turned Tory Peer Webber into an even bigger tax-dodging, snooty douchebag. This is Operatic Posh-Boy Emo. Excruciating trash. Just listen to "Hoodoo" & "Knights of Cydonia" back-to-back and tell me those weren't written by cunts. This is music for dorks who are maintaining a firm grip on their virginity. 👎👎
L’unica stella va al gruppo, perché se fosse stato un cantautore, il cantante avrebbe preso zero
Y.A.W.N.
Yuck
Can't stand Bellamy's voice. Listened to 3 minutes 29 seconds of take a bow and quite. I'm out
Really dislike it — the vocals, the histrionics of the music that probably plays OK live, the lyrics, all of it. Blehhh…..
Didn't like it at all
Too crowded and generally noisy Just 2 Songs that are gems
Well, this album certainly tried very hard to get my attention... I suppose there is a time and place for this kind of music - but in my opinion it is not on this list.
I’m on a plane headed back from Vegas. My ears hurt. I did not like this. I’m curious if the band sees this as “deep and meaningful art”. If so, they may be the types who find a particularly interestingly (or not) laid dog turd as “art”.
God I hate muse. Didnt give it a try. His voice makes me angry
Un peu l'équivalent d'une Civic avec des néons qui passe sur Marie-Victorin
Pew pew pew pew pew
Un album pompeux avec beaucoup trop d'arrangements et un chanteur qui se force à avoir une voix langoureuse. L'intermède de style Morricone est intéressant mais complètement forcé.
This was my first time listening to a full Muse album. Over the years I've heard them compared to a weak Radiohead style band, but I could never verify. Listening through this, their "top rated" album - I hear not only Radiohead, but lesser known bands they may have aped while creating this record. Opening track "Take A Bow" sounds exactly like an shitty synthesized/alternative radio version of the tiny indie rock band Pilot Drift's album Iter Facere's opening track "Caught In My Trap" (released 2 years earlier in 2004), like markedly close in tone and build up. Elsewhere Muse takes typical hints from Radiohead (both vocally and electronically) all over this album. I also hear a lot of California band PaloAlto (who were also inspired by Radiohead - hence the name) all over this album. It all just feels artificial. Like they're really trying to sound like they belong on the radio. They are the worst parts of Radiohead and glam rock's shittiest band: Queen. No thank you. 1/10
Not my cam
I don't give two sh*ts about this album
nah
I didn't listen it with much attention but i try and i dont know, the songs just dont stook up and i dont find them musically interesting, but like its very personal like its based on my music taste and i just dont fit in it.
Day 5: Unbelievably shite. Very disappointed because I was quite excited about this one, but I really couldn't finish it. I already knew supermassive black hole was class, but the rest that I managed to listen to were either boring, annoying, or just embarrassing
Not for me
If I wanted to listen to music that sounded like this I’d listen to U2, Queen or Depeche Mode, so I put on Khruangbin & Leon Bridges' "Texas Sun" instead. 1/5
Utter dross.
I am not super familiar with Radiohead, but Muse seems like something that was just trying to ride those coattails. I don't really get the appeal at all, and frankly it's just too much.
Didn't like 1 star
Meh...
Nope
I expected to hate this, and it still somehow managed to be worse than I expected.
Boring
I didn’t like Queen the first time around. Chucking them in a blender with a bit of The Strokes and a little U2 makes me like them even less this time around.
Below par Queen. And I bloody hate Freddie Mercury as well.
Just not for me
Some groups can be expressed mathematically, as the summation of particular influences the group is more than happy to acknowledge. Beatles + Black Sabbath + Pixies = Nirvana. Orange Juice + Strokes = Franz Ferdinand. With today's band, it's Genesis + Queen + Jeff Buckley + Radiohead = Muse. I can't be the only one to feel trepidation upon seeing the first side of that equation. Each one of those acts has some fundamental aspect that may very well deter the uncommitted listener (yes, even Jeff Buckley). The result threatens to be simultaneously stuffy, affected, histrionic and cold. And the result is stuffy, affected, histrionic and cold. Muse were one of the late-90s British groups to reject Britpop, with its punky irreverence and kitchen-sink concerns, instead borrowing excessive virtuosity, conceit and tone from prog whilst leader Matt Bellamy insisted on singing every damn note in Jeff Buckley's falsetto. My fellow travellers on life's long journey, you should know by now that a rejection of punk will never win my favour. Also, Muse's resuscitation of prog does not feel inspired, but just the inevitable recycling of everything recyclable from the past. At some point, some band was going to try and bring back The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway, and Muse thought it might as well be them. That paragraph didn't mention the other band, the band who has overshadowed Muse for their entire existence: Radiohead. In my review of The Bends, I discussed how The Bends accidentally invented the next decade's trend of landfill indie. Muse obviously nick plenty from Radiohead, but far more from OK Computer and Kid A. Now, I have no qualms whatsoever with such outright theft, as long as they do something with it. And to their credit, Muse do do something with their loot; unfortunately, they tend to do bad things. Black Holes and Revelations (yes, that title is wank) is the consequence of seizing upon one facet of a myriad of artists, then intensifying it to the exclusion of all other concerns. So, as stated before, Matt Bellamy's falsetto stems from Jeff Buckley's use of the falsetto. I've never been persuaded that Jeff Buckley is the greatest male singer of the 90s, but I understand that his falsetto broadened the dominant male range of the time, and was meant to extend how widely male singers could reach for. Just singing falsetto drastically misses that point, and incidentally is extremely annoying. Likewise, Muse steal Queen's theatricality, but forget to take along the camp fun Queen revelled in. The listener is put in the bizarre situation of hearing Muse attempt their own version of Peter Gabriel's Slipperman, all the while wishing that Muse would just get Phil Collins involved somewhere. And I've written before that OK Computer's student politics seem jejune nowadays, but where do Muse go with such concerns? Conspiracy theories and ancient aliens building the pyramids. The last parts would suggest that Muse have some sense of humour to lighten this broth, but this album is delivered with iron solemnity, as a deeply profound article. Even the deliberately comic bits (e.g., Knights of Cydonia) feel perfunctory when taken with the whole of the album, as if Muse just seek to avoid accusations of disappearing up their own fundament (and thus slip even further up the back passage). Okay, I admit I would have relented somewhat, in that Supermassive Black Hole has a decent, straightforward groove that redeems the album slightly, but then I took a walk. On that walk, I realised that Genesis + Queen + Jeff Buckley + Radiohead = Emo ELP. Emo ELP: Two words, five syllables, one unsalvageable album.