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.
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.
Muse is a great band, and their conspiracy theory vibes are bit harder to stand in this day and age, but this album is absolutely fantastic. Knights of Cydonia is an all-time great tune. Starlight, Map of the Problematique, Assassin, and Supermassive Black Hole are all top tier songs.
This is where I start to fall off with Muse. This album is really great, but the pop elements start to outgrow their proggy britches here and it really begins to spoil the whip-smart arena prog niche they’ve carved for themselves. Still, Knights of Cydonia is a JAM. 3.5
I could never get into Muse, their sound just doesn’t work for me. You want to do the mainstream Pink Floyd stuff? Cool. You want to do the weird Radiohead stuff? Also fine. But together, it doesn’t gel very well IMO. I can appreciate that they’re solid musicians and have big ambitions, but this largely left me cold. 3 stars for effort, but my personal rating is a D+
Not bad, but it didn't have any sticking power with me. I listened to it twice and I can't remember any songs other than Knights of Cydonia. I do remember there's a few that have Queen vibes and that's pretty cool. Overall, it's just not for me though.