British bands tend to have only two degrees of success. There are some who sweep the nation by storm and rise to the top of the charts as mainstream friendly trend setters, yet fail when the question is asked of them on foreign shores. And it's an important question. The music landscape is no longer based in Central London and bands are nowadays judged on their ability to shift records worldwide. Then you have your Coldplays of the world. The bands who rise to the top of the charts domestically as well as across the pond and on the international scene. Where do Muse fit in to this? Somewhere in between, you might say. They're a stubborn little gem of a band who refuse to be categorized.

Here is an incredibly talented British trio who possess the rare trait of being more popular in mainland Europe than they are in their own country. As young men who grasped the French and Italian audiences in their tender 20's at the turn of the millenium, Muse never really made the same kind of impact on English soil. Surprising indeed, given that they're quite possibly the finest band this country has produced since Radiohead themselves. Their fourth album, Black Holes and Revelations, rose to the top of the charts - albeit for a short lived stay - and ranks above the rest of their outings as the most mainstream friendly so far.

Will the Devon trio finally obtain the crossover success that their undoubted talent seems to command? We will find out over the course of the coming months. But if Black Holes and Revelations is anything to go by, they stand a fighting chance.

Their last album in 2003, the aptly named Absolution, received a great deal of critical acclaim and swept the board in the awards stake. A beast of an album with epic operatic sounds, BHAR takes a step back and reconsiders its stance. Muse clearly hold no qualms as far as producing pompous rock music goes. They're a headline act on the festival scene and rightly so. There isn't a band in the world that can lay claim to match the sheer energy which these three twenty-somethings launch in to their every song. But how does Black Holes rank against their previous work?

It's certainly different. While i would stop short of branding it as endearing as their previous releases, there can be no doubting the significant steps that Muse have taken since they arrived on the scene in 1998. My first impressions were that in fine-tuning the songs with much greater precision in the studio, a certain ammount of energy had been lost in the process. Origin of Symmetry was a particular outstanding album based on its raw aggression and relentless - if not always accurate - guitar racketing. To truly appreciate Black Holes and Revelations as a long standing Muse fan, you have to throw your ideals out of the window and let the band guide you through their new landscape. If you haven't yet stumbled across Muse, congratulations. You're in for a treat.

||| The Track Listing |||

Take A Bow - 9.5/10 - (Burn / You will burn / You will burn in hell )

Muse faced a slight conundrum when they organized the play list for BHAR. Where to start the journey? With Take a Bow as the opening track, they've opted for where they left off with Absolution. This is a song which could so easily have slipped on to their last LP and nobody would have noticed the difference in time. An epic to sap the energy before you've even stepped away from the play button. Swirling vibrations of space rock clatter and rise through the speakers as the band take a simple melody and crank it up chorus by chorus until Bellamy is quite literally paying for our sins beneath what can only be the raging demonic sounds of Hell. The song which closes their festival sets and sends the fans home breathless...is here to introduce you to the world of Muse.

Starlight - 8/10 - (Hold you in my arms / I just wanted to hold you in my arms )

Every Muse album has a poppy element thrown in somewhere. Absolution had the mainstream friendly Time Is Running Out to fall back on. Black Holes and Revelations has Starlight. A song which offers the necessary ingredients to become a minor mainstream hit. An overpowering bass line is met moments in to the track by a wishy washy piano melody that whisks us away. It's a feel good song. The sort of track that you can instantly enjoy with a relatively obvious purpose to serve. The lyrics wont win any prizes for the philisophical thought put in, they represent a "Wish You Were Here" pine of love so far away. The singing is all well timed and Bellamy puts in a strong performance with his trademark falsetto. At the time of writing, Starlight is due for release across the nation as the second single from the album, and it will likely prove to be the biggest hit across the board.

Supermassive Black Hole - 8.5/10 - (Glaciers melting in the dead of night / And the superstars sucked in to the supermassive)

The madness ensues. Originally leaked across the Internet as the opening single of the new album, Supermassive Black Hole divided Muse fans straight down the middle. One half took offence to what essentially sounds like Prince with the bass cranked up, and the other half were too busy grooving out to it. Four minutes of pure unadulterated dirty disco rock, this is the alarming new sound which Muse threatened to mislead the public with before Black Holes was thrust on the store shelves. Falsetto is the name of the game as Bellamy and the bassist, Chris, whine their way through an electro piece which is simply dripping in sleaze. It's a strangely captivating piece and if Absolution was the band's stab at epic stadium rock, this is their metamorphosis in to the realms of disco superstardom. After a couple of listens, it'll find its way to the back of your head. And unfortunately or not, it won't be coming out for days.

Map of The Problematique - 8/10 - (Fear and panic in the air / I want to be free / From desolation and despair )

Depeche Mode would be proud. Fantastic guitar work drives the heart of the song as a swarm of melodious vocals take the album in a completely different direction. It's not the usual sound that you'd associate with Muse, and it sounds somewhat measured. Perhaps one of the rare entries on the LP where the boys sound in control, as if their vast sound isn't going to devour them whole. And then we reach a huge drum solo to rattle the senses and send us flying in to another disorientating verse of Bellamy's dystopian fixation. He'd hate to be branded as a pessimist, but there's certainly an overflowing political tone to the album and a hint of entrapment. At the same time, it would be ridiculous to analyse Muse on the quality of their lyric, given the bombastic nature of their work.

A Solider's Poem - 7/10 - (There is no justice in the world / And there never was )

Here one moment, gone the next. This is an interlude which can so easily be overlooked for all of its floaty grace. At just over two minutes, it never truly hits off and defines itself, but that's not to say that it's a forgettable track. Muse turn the volume down briefly and produce a fine little ballad which happens to be brimming with political suggestion, and quiet discomfort. The song of a disillusioned soldier far far away, set amidst a dreamy underwater piano section with vocals entwining together to produce a truly "Queen" sound. It's a shame that the song never progressed beyond it's purpose of splitting the album in to two prominent sections, but as an interlude piece, it settles the listener and provides a much needed rest ahead of the rollercoaster blitz that's about to follow.

Invincible - 8.5/10 - (During the struggle / They will pull us down / Please, please, lets use this chance to turn things around)

A military drum beat grows to become the backing sound of what can only be described as a grandiloquent "Us Against The World" ballad. This song was an outside tip to become the anthem for a nation if England were to reach the World Cup Final this summer, and as strange a choice as it would have been, the unleashing of emotion is certainly there. Starting off with a controlled Bellamy singing over a measured beat and resounding military organs, it picks up steadily and grows in to an enormous piece. The bridge plays host to a fine retro guitar solo, and as Bellamy finally finds his microphone once more, he ascends in to a truly overwhelming plea of togetherness in the face of the adversity. Never has the lead singer spat a chorus with such lust, and that says something when you look back at their previous work. Not an instant hit, but a sure fire grower with time.

Assassin - 7.5/10 - (Whatever they say / These people are torn / Wild and bereft / An assassin is born)

Think Knight Rider, then forget about it. Muse have sampled the opening and turned Assassin in to a furious riot which would classify as metal had the studio version not been "dumbed down" slightly. I had the pleasure of listening to Assassin when it was doing the rounds on the band's tour set way before recording for BHAR had gotten underway. In its early stages, the song featured a gigantic middle section where the melody lost itself in a Space Dementia-esque clatter of guitars. The revamped album version is much lighter and to my ears, a little over produced. The middle section has been dropped completely and the vocals are pined with unflattering control. The obsessive fans will try to cast this as a damning political masterpiece, but it doesn't quite make it. What had the potential of putting Stockholm Syndrome to shame, falls short as the boys try to create something that isn't too heavy for the songs that it finds itself surrounded by. A missed opportunity, but a strong song in its own right.

Exo Politics - 9/10 - (When the zetas fill the skies / Will our leaders tell us why?)

A guaranteed single if it wasn't for the band's disinterest in playing the song live. Exo Politics is a stand out track and a hugely recommended download if you're looking for something that encapulates Muse in the space of four minutes. A huge drum beat from Dom sets the tone and mis-matching guitars jag against the tune, almost cutting it in half as Bellamy spits the lyrics loud and clear. You'll be humming this one all day, and the chorus packs one hell of a punch. Besides Starlight, Exo Politics would have to rank as one of the most mainstream friendly tracks on the albums. It zips along with a spooky howl in the background that absolutely reeks of X-Files uncomfort. The drums break away and Bellamy provides the fuel with a mighty vocal performance to raise the hairs on the back of your neck. It's big. It's cool. It's slightly eccentric. It's Muse.

City of Delusion - 9.5/10 - (Destroy this city of delusion / Break these walls down)

Ahh, the famous trumpet solo. Muse have threatened to ascend to such a height that only the accompaniment of a fully fledged orchestra could possibly pull off their sound. City of Delusion is the perfect example of it. What starts as a mild spanish flamenco tune, roars to life and encompasses violins, trumpets, and just about everything the Devon trio can lay their hands on. A masterpiece which is so layered that they haven't even thought about performing it live, there is simply nothing that compares on the rest of the album. The lyrics are wholly forgetable, but they're also irrelevant. Wild operatic surges of instrumentation guide this song further and further in to the echelon of their greatest hits and a classical overtone will undoubtedly please the more traditional listeners in the band's fan base. Muse have always been an eccentric band, and never has that been more evident than in the outrageous trumpet solo that emerges to steer this epic to its conclusion. Outstanding.

Hoodoo - 6.5/10 - (I've had recurring nightmares / That i was loved for who i am)

A traditional spanish introduction makes way for one of the quietest pieces on the album. Hoodoo is understated in the same way that Megalomania was on their second album. It doesn't quite rise to the lofty heights of that particular song, but it breaks away in the same fashion. The untold Radiohead formula emerges to the surface once again and Muse use a quiet verse to climb towards a clattering crescendo of noise and cymbal rush, which arrives out of nowhere actually. Bellamy croons of mournful regret, that he's tire for who he is, and we fade gently in to the abyss. While this stands out as one of the weaker songs on the album, it provides the exhausted listener with three minutes to prepare themselves for the ride of their lives in the grand finale.

Knights of Cydonia - 10/10 - (Come ride with me / Through the veils of history / I'll show you the God falls asleep on the job)

Intergalactic space surfing meets Clint Eastwood riding through the west. This is the definitive song of Black Holes and Revelations, and the one which people will refer to when the Muse of 2006 is remembered. How to describe it? Well, if i tell you that the introduction features the stomping rampage of approaching horses, merged in to Star Wars esque laser-ball and howls of battle readying to commence, you should have a rough idea. Cydonia is the much discussed region on Mars where it's believed that a coastal area may once have existed. An unsual concept in itself, but perfect to play fiddle for the grandiouse finale in Muse's creation. Distorted cries from the band in tandem signal their intentions, and we're off with a commanding drum beat that perfectly resembles riding horses through the desert. The sound rises and rises with some offbeat vocals before it spirals in to a gigantic chorus. Muse morph in to Queen and we travel back in time as stadium rock reignites somewhere between the mid-west and outer space itself. Bellamy pleads that it's time to fight for our rights, and we gallop off in to the sunset with the riff of the century.