Absolution
Muse (2003)
Tracks
- Intro
- Apocalypse Please
- Time Is Running Out
- Sing For Absolution
- Stockholm Syndrome
- Falling Away With You
- Interlude
- Hysteria
- Blackout
- Butterflies & Hurricanes
- The Small Print
- Endlessly
- Thoughts Of A Dying Atheist
- Ruled By Secrecy
The third album by British band Muse.
This is music to listen to as you watch the world end.
Origin of Symmetry, Muse's second album, was full of beginnings. The opener of that album, New Born, bursts with a pounding beat and melodies influenced by the type of classical music that gargoyles dance to and Dracula enjoys before dinner. It was the beginning of their own sound, and silenced critics who thought they were a little close to Radiohead to take too seriously. It also prepared Muse for Absolution. The last track on Origin of Symmetry was called Megalomania. Fitting in a way, because the first song Matt Bellamy belts out on Absolution finds him daring God to act like a god.
The album opens with the sound of a marching army. It feels like a gimmick that has been used before and, for some people, the feeling that Muse are overly dramatic and have all the volume and sway of a television evangelist will never completely leave their minds while they listen to the rest of the album. For some others though, Absolution will be a revelation. Futuristic guitars melt into distorted vocals. Sinisterly arranged strings flow over heavy tom sounds and ripple with splashes on the hi-hat. Bass lines quiver and stomp through the noise and under the floorboards. Matt Bellamy's operatic vocals are punctuated by smooth falsettos, and range from indoor whispers to mountain top proclaimations. The overall sound is thick, heavy, and complex beyond what should be possible with only three people. Monumental, or over the top, depending on who you ask, fans of musicals will like this for days when they wake up and flash a sinister smile at themselves in the bathroom mirror.