September 18, 2009

Muse Album Review: The Resistance

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So being a long time fan of Muse I was excited to hear that they where coming out with a new album. In this posts I'll be looking at The Resistance song by song, breaking it down, and giving the entire album a final score.




1)Uprising

So first song of the album. Nice beat, reminds me of some of their previous work from Black Holes and Revelations. Lyrics are cool and flow well. Bellamy's voice sounds excellent in this song. Nice use of piano. Overall a very solid song and a good way to start the album.

4/5

2)Resistance

I really enjoy the introduction to this song, it seems to pull you in. Then at 1:41....wtf? Sort of ruined the song for me. At that point it becomes to electronic and poppy for me. They should of kept the original intro beat throughout the whole song. The lyrics are extremely cliche and make me cringe, it's like a bad 8th grade love poem.

2/5


3)Undisclosed Desires

Immediately I'm taken aback by the beat. Very poppy and electronic. Catchy I admit though. Still by the end of the song it becomes repetitive. So do the lyrics, they just seem to drag on. Matt makes good use of his voice here, but that can't save the song. Sounds something Timberland would produce. Nothing really remarkable about the song, it feels very unoriginal in fact.

2/5


4)United States of Eurasia

Or should I say Bohemian Rhapsody? Either way this song is horrible, probably one of the worst songs on the CD. If I wanted to listen to Queen I would buy one of their albums. Why am I listening to a pseudo Queen band. This song is crap. Only redeeming part is 1:30-1:57, and later on at 3:30, where they make good use of a cool Indian beat. Matt is trying to replicate Freddy Mercury's voice, it's annoying to say the least. Piano at the end sounds pretty at the end, but it feels like a cop out ending for the song.

1.5/5

5) Guiding Light

What is this? Has the world gone to hell? Has Freddy Mercury possessed Matt's soul? I'm tired of the pseudo Queen bullshit. This song is just slow and agonizing, not to mention boring and monotonous.Lyrics are unoriginal and crude. Make it stop please, oh God the pain....

1/5


6)Unnatural Selection

I don't know if I can take another song. Wait this one is different. Reminds me of their earlier work. Finally a guitar driven song, sounds great. 1:27-2:00 sounds absolutely stunning. Lyrics are better, beat is great, probably my second favorite song on the album. Muse needs more songs like this on their album. They've manged to incorporate elements from both Origin of Symmetry and Black Holes of Revelations to create a great song.

4.5/5


7) MK Ultra

Sounds good so far, great intro I'm really digging the piano. Matt's voice not so much sounds like a lot of mumbling with occasional falsetto bursts. Very cool song I like the dynamic change in melody around 1:20. Middle of the song feels a bit repetitive with the piano part, but then speeds up again at 2:12. Overall a very solid song. Ending is quite good.

3/5


8)I belong to you

What the hell is this shit? Just when the album was making a turn around this song has to come up. Too many electronic effects, and the piano is just painful to listen to. What the hell is this? By now Matt's voice is becoming redundant. I have no idea what they where going for here. Sounds like something I would hear at a musical, bit too theater like for me...

1/5


9)Exogenesis Symphony Part 1 [Overture]

Cool intro, interesting idea, a symphony? Very peaceful, relaxing, mostly instrumental. 1:19 sounds very familiar I've heard it in a movie or something... None the less it sounds great. Matt makes great use of his voice in this song. Sounds like a dark sad Opera, reminds of of Micro Cuts in a way. Although I definitely prefer this to Micro cuts. Cool melody, nice sound, overall a very solid first half of the three Part Symphony.

4.5/5


10)Exogenesis Symphony Part 2 [Cross-Pollination]

Butterflies and Hurricanes? Oh wait no this is Part 2, sorry I thought itunes had shuffled to Muse's Absolution album. Wow this really does sound a lot like butterflies and Hurricanes, let me check again. Nope it's still Cross-Pollination. Good song overall, nice melody, and cool vocals by Matt, but I can't shake the feeling I've heard it before.

3/5



11)Exogenesis Symphony Part 3 [Redemption]

Last song, has a nice intro. Has sort of a sad and slow tune, but I like it. Cool use of violins. I can definitely see myself falling asleep to this, sort of makes you feel like your floating. Great climax beginning at 2:00, and Matt does a Superb job with his vocals in this song. Great way to end the Album, absolutely beautiful and breath taking song. Almost sort of magical in a way, makes me happy. My favorite song on the album.

5/5


Final Summary: Muse took a risk by deciding to reinvent themselves. Resistance is unusual since it is the first Muse album that is more piano driven than guitar driven. Yes,there are most definitely a few songs on this album that are unquestionably "bad". However there are also a good number of songs which are enjoyable, and a couple of songs that just reek of pure genius.

Overall: 3/5

5 comments:

  1. Sounds better than you made it out to be. About half of those songs sound good, whereas you made it originally seem like they all sucked.

    I suppose you recommend readers look into those particular songs over the others?

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  2. Well obviously

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  3. I literally started cracking up when Resistance hit 1:41.

    I listened to it as well and here's my take: Though the first track reminds me of "Call Me" by Blondie, it's really the only one that sounds like their older stuff (to my knowledge). The three-parter at the end is good in that it's different without sucking. The rest was meh or downright bad.

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  5. Unnatural Selection is also similar to their earlier stuff, but that's about it. MK ultra is decent, and Resistance I felt had so much potential. Definitely Muse's weakest album. But nothing can purge the sound of guiding light from my mind.

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