MUSEMuse are an English alternative rock band that formed in Teignmouth, Devon, England in 1994. Since their inception, the band has comprised vocalist, guitarist, pianist and songwriter Matthew Bellamy, bassist and backing vocalist Christopher Wolstenholme and drummer and percussionist Dominic Howard. The band are known for their progressive music style featuring arpeggiated synthesizers, alternative rock guitars and the falsetto vocals of frontman Bellamy.
Muse have released four studio albums to date. Their first, Showbiz, was released in 1999, followed by Origin of Symmetry in 2001, Absolution in 2003 and Black Holes & Revelations in 2006, the latter of which garnered the band a Mercury Prize nomination and a third place finish in the NME Albums of the Year list for 2006.[1] Muse have also won many other music awards throughout their career, including five MTV Europe Music Awards, five Q Awards, four NME Awards, two BRIT awards and four Kerrang! Awards. Their most recent release is HAARP, a live album documenting their performances at Wembley Stadium in London on 16 and 17 June 2007.
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REVIEWS
The latest savior of Brit-pop comes packaged as this volatile trio from the sleepy village of Exeter. Like most small-town lads, Muse aspire to big things. But in singer/ guitarist Matthew Bellamy's howling vocal peals, squeals, and affected cries, that big thing already exists in Radiohead's Thom Yorke. Muse take big bites out of the Radiohead songbook, but their rock is also rife with brazen hardcore riffage, feverish arrangements, and clever ethnic influences. Passionate and powerful, Muse also recall Nirvana and perhaps the Cure, but with enough class and creativity to hopefully one day create a massively dysfunctional personality of their own.
Songs such as the Eastern European-tinged "Muscle Museum," the swooning ballad "Falling Down" (Freddie Mercury fans, take heart), and the majestically pummeling slop-rock of "Uno" show fertile fingers reaching for depth beyond the power-chord melodramatics. "Unintended," with its lovely melody and acoustic guitar halo, practically out-woes Radiohead, showing that Muse can fill up a slobbering pail of soppy beauty with the best of them. Conversely, "Escape" sounds tailor-made for a WB TV soundtrack, all tremulous verses and blaring, Nirvana 101 choruses.
Showbiz ends with "Hate This And I'll Love You," a neurotic plea for stardom from a band that tries a wee bit too hard. But if Muse can work through this Radiohead jones, and keep writing those wonderfully deadly melodies, they could be more than small-town saviors.
The musical touchstone for the British trio Muse is obviously Radiohead and that fact is crystal clear from the smoldering opening cut, "Sunburn." Their John Leckie-produced debut, Showbiz, is strong on angst-filled vocals, esoteric lyrics, and dramatic shifts in sonic dynamics. Hailing from rural England, singer/guitarist Matthew Bellamy, bassist Chris Wolstenholme, and drummer Dominic Howard average 20 years of age, so there's plenty of potential for them to grow into a sound that is more of their own. In the meantime, Bellamy does an impressive job of aping the quirky, nervous vocal tic of Thom Yorke on songs like the mid-tempo, Mellotron-driven "Muscle Museum," and he cuts loose vocally on the soaring "Cave" and on the lovely, mournful ballad "Unintended." Showbiz hints at the potential in this young band, and it should be of interest to many Radiohead fans. ~ Tom Demalon, All Music Guide
Though some may still consider them Radiohead mimics, obviously Muse continue to strike a nerve with their alternative hard rock audience, here releasing their third album of heavy guitars, haunted harmonics, and paranoid musings in Absolution. Frontman Matt Bellamy and company stick to the same disturbed, and sometimes disturbing, formula that's worked in the past: the emotional intensity and style of Radiohead, a rock thunder descended from Black Sabbath, and the baroque drama of Queen. Longtime producer John Leckie sits this one out, and in steps indie uber-engineer Rich Costey. With Costey manning the desk, the music feels more polished and slick, but less epic and raw. Longtime fans won't miss a beat though, because Bellamy delivers the same Thom Yorke vocal impersonation for which he's known, and continues the same anthemic posturing he's lifted from Freddie Mercury. With song titles and subject matter fueled by fear of the apocalypse, and worries about infidelities and random murders, the subject matter is as gloriously pretentious and lovably unlovable as ever. Newcomers to the band should expect killer guitars reminiscent of jackhammers and chainsaws, bloodcurdling choruses, and, of course, tender passages of falsetto. A recurring motif of racing samplers suggests nothing less than a rock opera version of the score to Koyaanisqatsi, and then there are the occasional spooky moments where funky rhythms mingle with heavy metal guitars, suggesting a progressive Italian zombie flick soundtrack. There's little point in selecting highlights, because other than some slow moments that feel tacked on, there's not much variation in theme or mood. Many listeners will probably prefer to tackle the album in small doses, and only the most headstrong won't require a breather. Muse continue to make unrelenting hardcore art rock; Absolution is a tad cheesy, a bit too grandiose in its ambitions, bursting at the seams with too many ideas, and thus exactly what any Muse fan craves. ~ Tim DiGravina, All Music Guide
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