Editor's Note: Being the huge fan of Muse that I am, I was glad to see Phil Solem of the Rembrandts mention Black Holes on his list of Desert Island Discs. Thus, I figured this would now be a great opportunity to post my comp of live versions of cuts from their Black Holes album.
I can tell you the exact moment I became a Muse fan. It was when Radiohead albums became more aural landscapes than a collection of riveting songs. OK Computer was an amazing achievement, a sentiment I share with millions of other people (which makes it no less true), but every record since seems to be more an exercise of some sort rather than a work of the type of immensely one-of-a-kind artistry for which they became known.
Enter Muse, whose singer Matthew Bellamy shares an unmistakable tonal similarity to Radiohead's Thom Yorke. What attracted me to Muse was that they were just as "out there" as Radiohead, maybe even moreso with Bellamy's fascination with conspiracies, aliens, and such, but that they still wrote great songs and put on some of the most energetic, bigger-than-life performances of any current band. They made me remember what it was I liked about all the cool bands of my youth.
To my ears, their 2003 release Absolution was their OK Computer and, quite frankly, I had not given any thought to the idea that they might ever top that record.
In 2006, though, they did just that with the release of Black Holes & Revelations, an album that went #1 in the UK and most of Europe and secured their status as one of the most popular bands on the planet.
All chart success aside, the album is solid from start to finish, jam-packed full of bouyant hooks and a production that makes each track leap from the speakers and practically grab you by the throat. For a band that made a career-defining album with Absolution, then topped it with Black Holes, it will be very interesting to see what their next move will be.
One thing's for certain, though: For once, the good guys are winning.
Take A Bow
Starlight
Supermassive Black Hole
Map Of The Problematique
Soldier's Poem
Invincible
Assassin
Exo-Politics
City Of Delusion
Hoodoo
Knights of Cydonia
1 comments:
excellent live recordings!!! thanks a lot for the music! believe it or not, there are loads of muse (and radiohead) fans in costa rica, too!
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