Muse - 'Absolution' (Taste Media)
5/5
By: Thomas Hannan
The word 'masterpiece' doesn't get used too often. But then again, records such as 'Absolution' don't grow on trees either. Prepare to dust off that old chestnut of a compliment, as it's a word you'll find you mutter to yourself at numerous moments through this album. So, is it difficult to get your head around - challenging, bordering on impenetrable even? That's not even the half of it.
Back in 'Nam, (or the 'new acoustic movement' if you want to suck the fun from a poor joke), the idea of an 'Absolution' was something of a thought-crime. A record so chock full of ideas, dense sound and dark omens that it has the capacity to wipe the slate clean. But Muse, even in the Radiohead comparison days (when was the last time you heard one of them?) weren't ones for scenes anyway, always leaders in a field of one - a field covered in crop-circles, at that. Whether its aliens who've kidnapped Matt Bellamy and implanted some unworldly musical vision in his brain or just a terrifying skill he's had since birth, it's something we wish more young musicians would share. We need more records like this.
Yet this isn't a friendly album - even glaringly confrontational in places ('Sing for Absolution' or 'Apocalypse Please'). And placing the latter examples near the start of proceedings was no accident - there is a lot here to be feared, much to be contemplated, action that needs taking. Deep breaths: advised.
It's a record of pretence and pomposity, needless 'Intro's and 'Interludes' and grandiosity in excelsis. There's variety, ballads such as the touching but ominous 'Falling Away With You' sitting uncomfortably near the crushingly heavy likes of the ludicrously flamboyant 'Stockholm Syndrome'. Bellamy still doesn't quite know whether he wants to be Mozart (the piano playing in places such as 'Butterflies & Hurricanes' is frankly incredible) or Tom Morello (the guitar work being not bad either), but here's hoping he never makes up his mind. The thing that makes 'Absolution' so enthralling is that expectation we all harbour that it won't work, and the joyous relief when Muse pull it off stunningly.
Amongst the ensuing madness, 'Absolution' does contain the Devon trio's best ever pop moments - 'Time Is Running Out' and 'Hysteria' to name but two - and where previous Muse albums either seemed like a collection of great ideas that didn't quite fit (their 'Showbiz' debut) or excuses to show off their incredible talent (the otherwise wonderful 'Origin of Symmetry'), 'Absolution' works as a whole, far superior to anything that's preceded it. Dismiss them as prototypes.
If it's not signalling the end of the world, it's suggesting a climax to something quite monumental. When apocalypse comes, 'Absolution' is of huge enough proportions to be one of the few things that survive it. It spends much of its time predicting Judgement Day, but, if this is to be the end - what a way to go.
Artists in this article: Muse
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