Muse
The Resistance

Warner Music UK Ltd    2-521130  (2009)

Rock/Pop
CD, 11   Tracks, 54:18  Length
01 Uprising Matthew Bellamy 05:03
02 Resistance Matthew Bellamy 05:47
03 Undisclosed Desires Matthew Bellamy 03:56
04 United States Of Eurasia - Collateral Damage Matthew Bellamy 05:48
05 Guiding Light Matthew Bellamy 04:13
06 Unnatural Selection Matthew Bellamy 06:55
07 MK Ultra Matthew Bellamy 04:06
08 I Belong To You - Mon Coeur S'Ouvre A Ta Voix Matthew Bellamy 05:39
09 Exogenesis- Symphony, Pt. 1-Overture Matthew Bellamy 04:18
10 Exogenesis- Symphony, Pt. 2-Cross Pollination Matthew Bellamy 03:56
11 Exogenesis- Symphony, Pt. 3-Redemption Matthew Bellamy 04:37
Music Details
Product Details
Packaging Jewel Case
Sound Stereo
Musicians  &  Credits
Guitar Matthew Bellamy
Bass Christopher Wolstenholme
Drums Dominic Howard
Musician Muse
Producer Muse
Engineer Adrian Bushby
Personal Details
Index # 2319
Owner Dave
Tags Alternative Rock, Art Rock, Prog Rock, Symphonic Rock, Space Rock
User Defined
Purchased Used
Notes
With its titanic guitar solos, symphonic suites, and multi-layered melodies, Muse's fifth album operates under the assumption that bigger is better. This is the very definition of a super-sized album, an album that takes its cues from Queen, its lyrics from science fiction novels, and its delivery from rock opera. It's also the first time that Muse has truly sounded like Muse, as few bands since Queen have so readily explored the intersection of bombast and extravagance. The Resistance is most certainly extravagant -- there are snatches of classical piano entwined throughout, not to mention bilingual lyrics, concert hall percussion, coronet solos, and song titles like "Exogenesis: Symphony, Pt. 2 (Cross-Pollination)" -- but it's also quite beautiful, capable of moving between prog rock choruses and excerpts from Chopin's "Nocturne in E Flat Major" within the same song. Presiding over the mix is frontman Matthew Bellamy, a man who seemingly aspires to be both Brian May and Freddie Mercury. He plays guitar, pounds the piano, and composes the album's orchestral parts, but his strongest asset is his voice, a sky-scraping tenor dripping with so much emotion that it's almost lewd. He croons, whispers, annunciates, and belts with confidence, a combination that makes him one of England's most dazzling singers in recent memory. And since a virtual mountain of voices is better than a single voice (remember: bigger is better), Bellamy also multi-tracks himself, creating towering stacks of harmonies during songs like "Resistance," "Undisclosed Desires," and the colossal "United States of Eurasia (+Collateral Damage)."

The band's tendency to pile excess upon excess doesn't always yield strong results, and there's a fine line between, say, the anthemic beauty of "Guiding Light" and the bizarre Timbaland-meets-Depeche Mode ambiance of "Undisclosed Desires." Even so, The Resistance is by and large a fantastic record, culminating in a three-song suite that finds the group jumping from classical movements to guitar fretwork to sweeping, swaggering, operatic rock. Those songs occupy the final 16 minutes of the disc, and while they'd likely make a bigger impact earlier in the track list, their mere presence indicates that Muse is finally growing comfortable with its own aspirations. Black Holes and Revelations may be a more commercial record, but The Resistance is Muse's most realized effort to date.

-- Andrew Leahey (allmusic.com)