Absolution - Muse > Reviews > Absolutely fine.

Author's product rating:   

Originality	Groundbreaking
Lyrics	Sublime
Quality and consistency of tracks	Flawless
How does it compare to the artist's other releases	Outstanding
Value for Money	Excellent

Advantages:	Their best album by miles
Disadvantages:	They are somehow going to have to follow it !

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

Muse have always had that cunning knack of making the hairs on the back of your neck stand up. Their catchy piano intros and electrifying guitar riffs make them by far the most exciting band to come out of the UK in years. Teignmouth's trio have done it again, and this time they have excelled themselves and topped anything that Hullaballoo's dizzy heights may have ever aspired them to.

Absolution was their third UK album release, and by far their best. The album begins with an intrlude of trudging, marching feet, but what follows is far from mundane, with 'Apocalypse Please' bursting through the speakers, Matt declaring that 'this is the end of the world'.

The anthemic 'Time is running out' follows, and you already have the feel that this album is going to be a classic. Matt crying out 'How did it come to this?' as if personally berating all that is wrong in the world today. The desperate, almost soulful 'Sing for absolution' follows and increases the apocalyptic mood, before 'Stockholm Syndrome', the bands earlier internet only single, raises the tempo into a frenzy again. The beautiful, simplistic 'Falling Away', a rocky ballad, which builds to a crescendo of powerful guitar, caresses you, before Matt's scratchy interlude sets the tone for 'Hysteria', one of the most powerful and energetic guitar anthems I have ever experienced.

The album then surprises you again, with the excellent 'Blackout' and then the absolutely fantastic 'Butterflies and Hurricanes' exploding from your speakers, the latter, a dramatic mix of classic piano and trashy guitar massaging each other to produce an extraordinary result.

'The Small Print' follows with its catchy riff, before another almost ballad like track, 'Endlessly', begins to bring the curtain down. As the curtain falls, you still have the inpression that Muse are clinging onto the stage, hogging the limelight, their fingernails dplintering the boards as they are dragged kicking and screaming in one last attempt to get their message across with earsplitting reality. 'Thoughts of a dying atheist' is the penultimate song, a splendid, reflective, mood driven track which sways one way and then the other, before 'Ruled by Secrecy', a slow, piano influenced piece, quite out of context with the rest of the album, closes.

As a consequence, the album in its entirity is far greater than the sum of its parts, even though several of the tracks are already etched into rock folklore. Matt Bellamys dark lyrics complement beautifully his fierce guitar and melodic piano, all driven along frantically by Dom Howard's drums and Chris Wolstenholme's bass, to produce an absolute masterpiece.

The presentation also complements the mood of the album, with you not being entirely sure whether the poor soul on the front cover is waiting for absolution, watching souls fall from heaven, or watching them rise from the earth. The album leaves you feeling exactly the same - what was that all about? what have I just experienced? what is gonna come next? and at the end, you feel exhausted, fulfilled, yet still don't quite feel they have opened up and told you everything.

Fantastic with a capital F.

Absolution by Muse (Mushroom Records)
Available from £5.99 at all good record retailres (and probably all the bad ones too), supermarkets, and online.