Muse - Black Holes and Revelations

Muse are a funny band, aren't they? Just when you think you know them, they go and change just about everything it is possible to change. I'm just surprised they haven't yet changed, say, their own names, intermarried and had the ugliest children the world has ever seen. Let's be honest here, it's the only surprise left for them. The new album can be described as the mix of pre-symbol Prince or Marilyn Manson on helium with some sort of Prodigy/Queen hybrid. The end result is something of great beauty and a continued haunting infatuation with war and global destruction. That said, Matt Bellamy is certainly taking us somewhere new.

Opening track, 'Take A Bow', takes over where 'Absolution' left off with dark space age synths and Matt's "2000 AD"-like preacherish declarations of sin and hell fire. From here, we're suddenly thrown into a tangent of tracks like 'Starlight' (an Abba gig on the moon) and 'Map Of The Problematique' - a dance-floor electro impersonation of a Bond theme. 'Supermassive Black Hole' brings a turn into space funk with their lead single. Already tearing up the airwaves, it sounds even more like the pure pop genius it undoubtedly is within the confines of the album. Hardcore fans scared off by the single take note; it'll all make sense when you hear it in context.

Every Muse album is jam packed with brilliant songs, as we know, but there's always one track which stands out completely, one song which you just know the boys sat down with for 40 minutes before even writing anything down. 'Showbiz' had 'Cave', 'Origins' had 'Bliss' (in my opinion, though you can argue 'Plug in Baby' and 'New Born' too), at the helm of 'Absolution' was 'Hysteria', of course. So what about 'Black Holes and Revelations'? Will it be 'Supermassive Black Holes', 'Map of the Problematique' or 'Knights of Cydonia'? Hard to say, really, they all have the makings of a track synonymous with the other leading examples. But in the end, it's 'Knights of Cydonia' I keep coming back to time and again, when the monk like chanting and a falsetto that will send canines running for cover kick in. Backed by a brass section and completely crammed with a maddening amount of vibrato, it's the first ever space western; the kind of song that would be great in post-River-awakening Firefly. A shootout at high noon for three minutes before we get a Muse-come-Queen Bohemian Rhapsody of harmonies. Mix in a good amount of an AC/DC sized riff and the world promptly ends.

The sad thing is, the whole album is going to scare off a lot of hardcore fans who won't grasp that change is good. Whereas 'Absolution' viewed the world in helplessness at the subjugation of humanity by corrupt world leaders and encroaching environmental or galactic disasters, 'Black Holes And Revelations' calls for nothing short of a global revolution. Yet again, Muse have shown us there is no end to the change they can reap upon themselves and their fans. The music in the 60's really didn't inspire the hippies to stage a world uprising (being that stoned leaves little room for action). Muse, however, have a shot at it. The time has come and the New Muse Order is on the rise.

8/10

Martey <3