Absolution
by Muse

It’s a really good rock album with a concept that works from start to finish. Unfortunately, for me, it lacks a bit of emotion and sincerity

Everything is well-produced and sounds pretty good but it's just 2nd rate Radiohead, and that bothers me, I can't past it. Absolution probably sounds the best from what I heard, but again, it's just wanna-be Radiohead, and nowhere near as good. They don't veer too much from the OK Computer sound on their albums. When they do try to go in another direction they just end up back in the same place because the sound they ripped off is the only good sound they make.

When they were in their glory days and had hit their stride. 'Origin of Symmetry' was good but this is another level. Bombastic, grandeur, grandiose. An absolute joy.

The last really really good Muse record, after this it went down. Particularly love the energy in this. The strong guitar sounds and the emotional voice.

From Jboy56 05/10/2022 07:12 | #285164

I almost liked this as a whole.. Strong songs...

Obviously I’m not the first to think that Muse has an element of Radiohead in their music, but I actually think that most of the comparison comes thematically. Both bands wrestle with Big Ideas in their songs, but Radiohead comes across a bit more learned.

The other comparison that comes to mind is after hearing song after song with huge, dynamic choruses like Queen or My Chemical Romance. There is a theatrical element here that makes you wonder whether to fully take them seriously.

All the same, no other band sounds quite like Muse and they embrace the wholly positive sound of a bass guitar played to its practical extremes. Fun record to listen to, albeit slightly exhausting after each and every dramatic chorus.

There are some real highlights on this album - Hysteria, Stockholm Syndrome and Time Is Running Out. But most of the album is fairly unremarkable.

As strong and energetic as earlier albums - love these guys

This album is filled with amazing songs that you will see yourself coming back to, time and time again. This is because of the amazing composition of music they have created which blends so many fantastic features. This includes mainly the guitar riffs and the drum work which are both so vibrant and consistently great throughout. The songs Butterflies And Hurricanes, Hysteria and Time Is Running Out display Muse at their peak and really bring the group up to a new level. Despite this, I do think the ending does drop off and I always find my attention wavering by the closing tracks. Overall, this album is amazing and without the few filler tracks and the dip in quality at the end it would be one of the greatest ever made.

From teague 09/27/2021 22:11 | #274300

If this was the first rock album I discovered on my own, this might have blown my mind. As it stands, I'm too old to fully enjoy any of this. And I'm only 22.