Muse - The Resistance (2009)

Tracklist:
1. Uprising
2. Resistance
3. Undisclosed Desires
4. United States of Eurasia (+Collateral Damage)
5. Guiding Light
6. Unnatural Selection
7. MK Ultra
8. I Belong To You/Mon Coeur S'Ouvre a Ta Voix
9. Exogenesis Pt1 - Overture
10. Exogenesis Pt2 - Cross-Pollination
11. Exogenesis Pt3 - Redemption

Irresistible – 8/10

I still remember the first time I heard Muse. I was very thrilled by their sense for catchiness and rudeness at the same time, something rarely heard in music that enters the charts. The Resistance really brought back that feeling of discovering Muse for the first time. It’s still obviously Muse, but they seemed to have gone in a new direction, and I like it. The album has a bit of a futuristic feel to it, not only in means of music but also in lyrics and overall theme. Look at the song titles and you will know what I mean. It’s really a refreshing new album in many ways, so let’s analyze!

As I said, there is still trademark Muse on here. Great examples of that are the distortion effect on the bass guitar on “Uprising”, the catchy piano melodies like on “Resistance” and the classical outro to “United States of Eurasia”. Actually all the songs totally have a Muse-feel to them. The whole album does have a different feel than predecessors of The Resistance though. Where Absolution and Black Holes would use a mysterious instant epic to open the album, here we have “Uprising”. A laid back upbeat song with a relaxing drum rhythm throughout the song. With this the album is being entered in a more relaxed ambience than on Absolution for example. The more traditional commercial side of Muse returns on “Resistance”, with an intro consisting of a firm tom-tom-drum rhythm and a catchy piano tune, reminding slightly of Black Holes’ “Starlight”. With the song exploding a bit near the chorus we have an instant Muse classic. The relaxing ambience created by “Uprising” is being continued by “Undisclosed Desires”, having a laid back rhythm all through the song, nicely accompanied by some stylish bass guitar during the chorus. Having shortly discussed the album’s three singles, I think it’s time to go and discuss the real deal. Because, in contrary to other commercial bands that I like such as Coldplay, with Muse it’s not the singles that are best, but the true album songs. That’s where they get progressive.

What comes to notice immediately on “United States of Eurasia” is the borrowed Queen sound at the song’s explosion. It really sounds like Queen and that’s actually quite original and nice, since we haven’t heard that sound since 1995’s Made in Heaven. The song ends with a borrowed piece of classical music by Chopin, and the whole fits perfectly well together, being Musified. “Guiding Light” is actually one of my favorite songs of this album, not only because it is entirely epic in feel, but also because this is the only Muse song ever to feature a guitar solo that actually sounds very good. The rest of the song has a bit of a hymn kind of feel to it, with an original beat throughout. “Unnatural Selection” really sounds like it could have been on 2001’s Origin of Symmetry, mainly for the heavy guitar riff that quite reminds me of “New Born”. It’s certainly as catchy as “New Born” and this one features Bellamy’s vocals with an Origin-like effect on them. Apart from that, the whole cohesion of the music is typically Origin.

The true highlight of this album and the most inventive piece of music Muse have ever written is the “Exogenesis Symphony”. Though consisting of three parts, respectively “Overture”, “Cross-Pollination” and “Redemption”, it really sounds as a unity. It also starts of like a classical symphony, with a string ensemble playing some nice melodies. The drums come flowing in a bit later and we can enjoy the falsetto voice of Matthew Bellamy as we are used to. The first part reminds me a little of “Blackout” of 2003’s Absolution and is an atmospheric instrumental part, which is very beautiful. I say instrumental here, because I don’t think Bellamy is singing any words here. Part two tends to take it where the first part left it, and so we begin with some piano tunes in classical style. This time we do have Bellamy’s voice singing actual words and so the second part starts off as a true Muse ballad. When part two is almost halfway we suddenly have the song exploding into an epic theme and this is what makes the “Exogenesis Symphony” such a success, with some notable guitar playing here. “Cross-Pollination” ends the way it started, with a classical-like piano part. The final part of this symphony is “Redemption”, and this one also begins with heavy classical influences. This time not only the piano or only the string ensemble, but both come in to please your ears. As soon as the drums roll in about halfway, we are gently swinging along with this classic Muse closing epic. The melodies are so great! It ends as it began.

In short, The Resistance is a refreshing new direction Muse has chosen. With the usual set of commercial and progressive songs present, but in a new way, this album managed to reach even a higher state than ever before, mostly thanks to the very inventive “Exogenesis Symphony”. Classical influences have made their way to Muse’s music here and that combination results in an original way of making commercial progressive rock music. Thumbs up for Muse!

Strongest tracks: “Unnatural Selection”, “Guiding Light” and the “Exogenesis Symphony”.