Muse - The Resistance review

It's been a slow year for music releases, well good music anyways. Maybe that's because I'm an elitist and am not a fan of releases by Lil' Wayne or Jay-Z. I can't say there has ever been anything beneficial to mankind that starts with "Lil." Except for maybe Lil' Debbie. Man I love those star crunches.

Finally a CD has come out that I have been anticipating for a while. Muse releases albums consistently every 2-3 years. As a fan that is much appreciated. Their latest "The Resistance" is their 5th album and has come out at the height of their popularity. Now as an elitist rule, I pride myself in abhorring anything that the general public (i.e. dumb masses) listens to. I realize that Muse fans range from 12 year old gothic girls to hack vampire fiction novelists but I still hold them in a high regard. Now that I've given you my fanboy background let's get to the review.

The Resistance promised electric prog-rock symphonies and it delivers. It is chock full (I'd hate to be chock empty) of power rock ballads that fans have come to expect. A lot of critics (rolling stone I'm looking at you) dismiss Muse as pretentious. I'm sorry, but progressive rock is all about experimental intros and symphonic crescendos. I find it funny that professional critics are calling anything pretentious. Seems redundant.

Another criticism is that Muse sounds "too much like Radiohead." These people have no idea what they're talking about. Is the last Radiohead album they heard "OK Computer? Come on!

This album has a great balance of rock anthems and melodic compositions. The cd starts out with the single "Uprising" which borrows the theme from Dr. Who and will surely get stuck in your head, and it ends with a three part symphony called Exogenesis. Matt Bellamy, lead vocalist, has a knack for composing his mini symphonies between his songs, but has now written the three part symphony. If I have any complaints it's that it does take up three tracks. And when the cd only has eleven tracks that takes quite a chunk. I wouldn't mind if it was one 15 minute track. The standout songs are Uprising, Unnatural Selection, and Exogenesis Symphony part 2.

Would I recommend this cd to new muse listeners? Yes, but I think the best cd to start with would be Absolution. Then once you get a taste of sci-fi rock you will want to indulge in this cd. My personal favorite Muse album is Origin of Symmetry. Though their entire collection is worth some serious listening.

I give The Resistance a high 4 british rock stars because it's not a perfect album but it's definitely fantastic.