Muse - Black Holes And Revelations (CD 2006)

Muse have never been a band to blend into the background, never a band to simply slot into a genre, never a band that hasn't provoked a reaction. They have always been big in sound, atmosphere & great songs.

'Black Holes & Revelations', however, takes things to a whole new level. I mean, this stuff is MASSIVE. This is EPIC, INNOVATIVE, GRANDIOSE & EXPLOSIVE. It's staggering to hear such scope, vision and imagination from a band once accused of being Radiohead wannabe's...

Muse take the meaning of quirky & weird to new heights. For example, single, 'Supermassive Black Hole' is nothing short of brilliant. There's a hugely heavy bass line & beat to it contrasting wonderfully with the drawn out vocals layered on top of the backing vocals talking of 'glaciers melting in the dead of night'. It's strange but you can't help but be absorbed by it all.
Then there's the impossible heaviness of the guitar riffs & drum rolls to 'Assassin', yet again with those weird but wonderful multi-layered vocals which are simply haunting.
But then take songs like 'Hoodoo'; the song starts with a spanish guitar intro, only to morph into a soft verse followed by a grand piano-driven chorus... yet somehow it fits beautifully.
The album is closed by yet another change in direction; 'Knights of Cydonia' goes into the kind of madly progressive territory that you'd usually expect of a band like Tool. It starts off sounding like some kind of cosmic western theme tune, shoots off into Matt Bellamy's lone vocals echoing out of your speakers before, quite unexpectably, ripping into an explosion of guitars & drums - it just sounds so huge!

And what's amazing is that, despite Bellamy throwing literally everything he has at his disposal into the mix & creating such inventive & challenging music, it's so accessible to the point that it's completely absorbing & utterly addictive. There's always a thin line between genius & complete insanity, & it's hard to say which side of the line Bellamy has stumbled. Either way, 'Black Holes...' is stunning.

This is a masterpiece to lose yourself in & never find your way out of.

In “Butterflies and Hurricanes,” on the Absolution album, Matt Bellamy sings, “Best… you’ve got to be the best… you’ve got to change the world and you use this chance to be heard.” He certainly heeds his own advice, as is evidenced in the politically charged lyrics of “Take a Bow,” opening song on the new Black Holes and Revelations album. He tells our current leaders that they will “burn in hell for their sins.” The question is whether he is speaking to the unnamed American leader whose name starts with B, or maybe it’s the one in Muse’s native United Kingdom. Probably both. As harsh as this message might sound, it pales in comparison to the call to arms in “Assassin,” where “the time has come for you to shoot your leaders down.” Ouch. At any rate, Muse has become a worldwide phenomenon, selling out three consecutive nights of shows at Wembley Stadium, and they do not take their popularity lightly, utilizing the opportunity to inspire their fans to do something.

“Supermassive Black Hole,” has been both praised and criticized. Its inspiring of opposite reactions is undoubtedly due to the atypical sound. Synthesizers boom in a low register while Bellamy’s voice floats above in falsetto. The cliché is tongue in cheek, “I thought I was a fool for noone, but ooh baby, I’m a fool for you.” I dare you not to groove along with this song. The use of opposites makes for a delicious theme in “Starlight” as well. “I just wanted to hold you in my arms” shows a yearning for closeness, but there is a great sense of desolation: “this ship is taking me far away, far away from the memories of the people who care if I live or die.” The music and the lyrics are so bittersweet, as in “Map of the Problematique,” which opens with “fear and panic in the air.” While there is an apocalyptic theme throughout the album, it is most pronounced here. These lyrics echo those in great apocalyptic literature, where the final survivors struggle with their finality in isolation.

The voice of the hero is never so pure as in “Soldier’s Poem.” It sounds like an Elvis Presley ballad, but beneath the sweet harmonies lies an acerbic depiction of someone serving their country yet challenging those defended to question the rationality of war and the actuality that there is no justice. It is so angry, yet wrapped in pretty paper, that it makes you giggle at the absurdity of it all. Don’t doubt that this is the intent. We are laughing with Muse, not at them.

“Knights of Cydonia” runs on a beat like the pace of a horse’s gallop. This nicely calls attention to the four horsemen in the cover art. It is such a phenomenal way to end the album (as well as live concerts), with octave-spanning accapellas and heavily rocking guitar riffs. It also ends the apocalyptic theme with a statement of fortitude, not at all going quietly into the great night.

The genius of Muse, and of Matt Bellamy in particular, is head spinning. If he were only the lyricist he is, the vocalist, guitarist, or keyboardist, he would be a major talent, but the quadruple threat amplifies his genius to an unheard of level. Was this boy genetically engineered (as the puppies in “Plug in Baby” on Origin of Symmetry), bred and raised by a Mensa society, or spat here by God himself as a gift to music lovers? He is his own four horsemen, isn’t he? If he is heralding the end of the world, then, yeah, that sucks, but at least now I have that one album I’d like to take with me.