Muse - The Resistance

 "The Resistance" is the 5th studio album by UK rock trio Muse.  The album was released in 2009 and at that time I wasn't really into music as much and this album passed me by.  This was the first album by Muse I don't think anyone in my family owned.  It wasn't like we heard bad reviews or anything like that, we just lost touch with new releases.  Fast forward to 2022 and now I am going through Muse's back catalogue, I have been listening to this album every day for the last week.

And the result?  I think this is an album full of surprises as it twists and turns.  I think the most standout thing for me on the first few listens, is just how perfectly structured the album is.  It starts off with the standout single from the album "Uprising" which peaked inside the top 10 of the UK charts.  The bass from the off has such a great groove to it and having Matt sing the chorus with lyrics like "We will be victorious" it's like they already knew they were onto a winner.  They set out a statement with the first track, luring the listener in and making them intrigued with what was to come.  

The way the track listing works, it bounces about between songs of 4 minutes of length with songs of 6ish minutes of length.  Having this structure makes for a much more enjoyable listening experience.  I used to go on about how "Origin of Symmetry" was Muse's most ambitious album.  And at the time of release, it certainly was.  But I feel with "The Resistance", the have pushed those boundaries further.  They have used piano's more but not really in a rock way in some circumstances.  I almost feel a classical influence coming through in the way the piano parts are delivered.  Look no further than "United States of Eurasia (+Collateral damage)" as an example of this. Doing this gives Muse's music a fresh vibe. There is also a hint of influences from the likes of Queen, especially in some of Matt Bellamy's vocal delivery.

Other points of note are that "I Belong to You" Matt sings some of the song in French.  While the last 3 tracks act as one longer track split into 3 parts called "Exogenesis".  They finished the last album "Black Holes.." with "Knights of Cydonia", while it's hard to argue that, that is the best finish they have done to an album. "Exogenesis" has to be their most imagnative and creative way to finish an album.  I think though "Unnatural selection" is my favourite track off this album as I just love the guitar work in it.

Overall, I think this album is for album purists rather than single song hunters. And I think that shines through with the fact that only one single had any form of success from this album.  But judging by the success of the album, it did the trick to pull the punters in and those who did get pulled in were almightily rewarded with Muse's most progressive album up until that point.  I've still to listen to "2nd Law" and "Drones" fully again so I am stopping as far as to say it's Muse's most progressive album ever.  But I have to say this is great album and so glad I discovered it even at this stage.

13/02/22 – Boston Manor @ The Garage, Glasgow

 I think this gig was meant to go ahead following the release of Boston’s 3^rd album Glue in late 2020.  It has been rescheduled at least twice since but finally it was good to go here in 2022.  Due to the early curfew in The Garage the doors opened at 6.30pm and first band Jools took to the stage at 7pm for a half an hour set.  Jools are a 7-piece rock act from Leciester who formed in 2019. They are signed to These bloody Thieves record label and have released four singles.  I thought the music was pretty solid and the band was pretty tight.  But the vocals for me were delivered in talking style fashion rather than actually singing.  This is something that does seem to be “in” at the moment but it's not really for me.  In saying that the lead singer had everything else, the rock looks, the confidence and the charisma. 

The singer did say he had a dodgy voice but when I heard the songs on Spotify in the car on the way home it didn’t sound much different.  The set did take an unexpected turn though before the start of the penultimate track. Where the singer introduced Kate Price who is the bands lyricist. She then did a speech on how women should be allowed to walk home after a night out and feel safe. It was very powerful and captivated the audience.  She was absolutely right what she was staying. Whether you loved or hated this band, they made an impact and for a support band where you want people to remember you, that is exactly what they did so good on them and I wish them all the best.  She then stayed on the stage for the last 2 songs and shared vocal duty.

The next band, Movements got a slightly longer set, sitting at 40 minutes. These guys are American, and I did wonder whether they would be ok to come over with quite a few bands cancelling gigs over here. But they came over and I am glad they did. I have been a fan of theirs since their debut album “Feel Something” came out in 2017.  Now they have 2 full length studio albums out with “No good left to give” coming out in 2020.  As the Boston Manor and Movements mentioned, these guys are actually good friends and when over in the states where Movements are bigger, Movements headline and Boston Manor support.  If you look on Spotify Movements top streamed track has 28 million streams whereas Boston Manor’s most streamed track “Halo” has 15 million.  So, for fans of both it was basically a joint headliner such was the quality of the music.  And Movements were awesome and I reckon won a lot of new fans tonight.

Ever since 3^rd album “Glue” came out, Boston Manor have been one of my favourite bands during the course of the pandemic and it was so great to see them live.  The set list was almost evenly spread across their three full length albums and their latest EP, “Desperate times, Desperate Pleasures”.  As good as the EP is it would have been great to hear more off “Glue” where they played 5 tracks.  I say it was my favourite album in 2020. I think when you leave a gig and you start saying which songs they didn’t play; this is a sign that the band has built up a really good discography. 

The choice of songs from “Glue” was interesting playing “Everything is Ordinary” which started the set, “Class war”, “Plasticine Dreams”, “Liquid” and “On a high ledge”. Its almost the approach they took was to choose different types of song. Rather than going for one particular type.  This meant songs like “Rat king”, “Brand new kids”, “0s & 1s” and “Only1” were excluded.  Maybe one day they’ll do this album in full in tour as that’s how good an album it is and what it deserves.

I was delighted they played “Bad Machine” and “England’s Dreaming” off “Welcome to the neighbourhood”. Those songs are great live. They also dipped into their first album a bit too.  The crowd was really up for it and the boys were really excited to be back playing.  There were a few technical glitches. The end of “On a high ledge” it felt something was a bit off and then they had a delay starting “Let them in” due to guitar problems.  It was a surprise not to hear “Algorithm” off the new EP but again shows the depth of their catalogue.

Overall, this was an absolutely fantastic gig. So glad I got to see Boston Manor and Movements under the one roof. I wouldn’t go and see Jools as a headline act but would be quite happy if they were supporting an act I liked as they have such an important message to share and I hope other up and coming bands take note.

Photos by Campbell Hunter

Big Big train - Welcome to the Planet

 

Firstly, deepest condolences to the band and their friends and families following the tragic passing of Big Big Train's lead vocalist David Longdon on 20th November 2021.  "Welcome to the planet" was already complete before the passing and it must have been a difficult decision whether to go ahead and release this album which came out on the 28th of January 2022.  I am very new to this band.  In fact, I only heard of them when I saw a You Tuber called "Notes reviews" had reviewed this album.  I haven't watched the video yet, but I decided just to see what I thought of it first.  And my first impressions were that I was quite taken aback by its magnificence.  It was after a few listens I looked them up on Facebook and found out about the sad news.  To be honest I wouldn't have reviewed this album if I didn't like it given the circumstances.  However I do have a very minor critique which I will go into on what in general is sensational.

First of all, let's give a bit of background to the band.  They formed in Bournemouth in 1990, releasing their debut album "Goodbye to the age of Steam" in 1994.  There has been a lot of people involved with the band over the years with many line-up changes as well as members who just join them for touring.  For this, their 14th album, the line-up was David Longdon on lead vocals, flute, keyboards and guitar. Greg Spawton on bass guitar, guitar, keyboards and backing vocals. Nick D'Virgilio on drums, percussion, guitars and keyboards. Rikard Sjöblom on guitars, keyboards and backing vocals.  As you can see with all the members chipping in playing different instruments you can see why they need those extra members when touring.

"Welcome to the Planet" is a nine-track album sitting at 47 minutes and 16 seconds.  The album opens with the glorious sun ray of a track that is "Made from Sunshine" and you can feel the warmth coming out from your speakers when listening to this song.   The guitars, the vocals, the keyboards and the brass section combine to make such a wonderful, uplifting opening to the album.  And the guitar solo at the end of the track has the perfect tone to match.

The thing I love about this album is that every track feels so different.  It's like they put the emphasis on different people’s abilities and vary the prominent instrument on each track.  The second track "The Connection Plan" for instance, the violin is really prominent, particularly early on in the track.  The short, sharp, snappy playing makes the intro so inviting.  The third track "Lanterna" is currently my favourite track on the album. The song starts gently with David's vocals along with one of the backing vocalists intertwining to make a blissfully magic track which builds so perfectly.  David's vocals are noticeably excellent throughout the album.  You can really feel the emotion he puts into the delivery. "Laterna" is just a fantastic progressive rock song sitting at 6 minutes 30 seconds long and again finishes with a fine solo.

"Proper Jack Froster" is another classic progressive track which also features a female vocalist which again mixes things up for the album.  The way the album keeps moving in different directions and still maintaining the feel that they all belong together is one of the reasons which makes it so good and keeps me listening to this album over and over again.  This again happens on the penultimate "Bats in the Belfry" which has this great electronic vibe and finishes with a drum solo which in 2022 feels special as it feels quite rare for bands to do this these days, particularly on a studio album.  It is still commonplace I think on the live circuit for drummers to get their moment in the limelight with an extra drum fill in a song.  But to do it on an album makes it not only stand out on this album but also when comparing to other albums out at the moment.  

The album finishes with the title track "Welcome to the Planet" and it starts off amazingly and in a kind of big brass band kind of feel making a big entrance.  The song then calms down for the majority, with the vocals being delivered in a kind of freestyle type form which sounds refreshing before going into a nice climax to finish.  It is slightly strange to me closing an album with title and lyrics saying "Welcome" a lot.  It feels like a way to start the album rather than finish one. But at the same time the climax at the end does end up closing it nicely.  But that's really my only minor critique bit of the album.

Overall, this album is ridiculously good, and I mean every track is great. I hope the warmth, positivity and outstanding musicianship on this album give comfort to the people affected by the loss of David Longdon.  I have seen a statement by the band recently saying that David wished the band to continue if this event was to occur and now the band have come out and said they wish to fulfil David's wishes and continue as a band.  I wish them all the best.  And I do hope I can start working my way through Big Big train's back catalogue as if the other albums are up to "Welcome to the planet" standard. They'll be worth a listen.

Muse - Black Holes and Revelations

 

"Black Holes and Revelations" is the 4th album buy UK Devon rockers Muse.  Although I bought the first 3 albums when each of them was released.  I don't actually own this album.  The reason for this was that, at the time I was living with my parents and brother and was at uni.  In our household we didn't see the point of owning multiple copies of the same album.  And in this case my brother beat me to it.  This meant that although I was aware of the singles, I never really gave this album a listen properly as I listened to stuff from my own CD collection. But now as I attempt to review all of the Muse albums, I have been listening to this album quite a bit.

This album was released in 2006 and at this point Muse had already established themselves as a major force in rock music, not just in the UK but all over.  But I think this is the album that really propelled them and secured their status as rock kings and really their legacy was confirmed regardless of what was to come next.   "Absolution" saw them delve into topics such as the apocalypse whereas this album has much more of a feel-good vibe to it.  Also, it is noted while "Absolution" was a decent album, there were tracks which weren't quite up to scratch by Muse's standards.  With "Black Holes..." this is not the case at all.  Quality control is well and truly resumed.  Not every track is a singalong anthem, it is more of balanced album with big hits mixed with solid album tracks.

The big hits from this album though for me were the key for me for them stepping up to headline festivals and playing stadiums.  The likes of "Starlight" with the amazing piano intro and I love how it uses the "Black holes and revelations" in the lyrics and that it’s not the title of the song but is the title of the album.  It is an absolute classic song and rightly a staple of their back catalogue.  "Super Massive Black Hole" is another monster of a track and is currently their most streamed track on Spotify, sitting at 318 million streams.  I think if Matt Bellamy sang every song like he does in this track he would lose his voice pretty quickly but doing it the odd time is what makes this song so special.  The other big track is "Knights of Cydonia".  An epic 6-minute track, and the opening does actually feel like knights on horses galloping along before weaving its way into a mesmerising rock classic.  I would say where Muse let themselves down a bit on their first 3 albums was the lack of a proper album closer but they more than made up for it with "Knights of Cydonia".

To me the three tracks I have mentioned are the big hitters of the album.  But there is so much more to the album to delve into and appreciate than that.  "Soldier's poem" is a nice slow track which is much improved over the slower tracks on "Absolution".  It does feel like it's going to go off an "Everybody hurts" by REM direction from the opening notes before veering away into its own wee world.  "Map of the problematique" has a great groove to it.  "Invincible" another very strong track.  Probably the most interesting and different track on the album is "Hoodoo".  It starts of at a lower tempo, then about midway through, a really cool piano part comes in.  I like the way they played about with the song structure here.  "City of Delusion" is another great track with great strumming, giving the acoustic vibe, before plugging in for the chorus.  Mix this with some strings and you've got a really fine track.

Overall, this is fantastic album, and I would place it as one of the best albums in their discography.  In Spotify it comes out on top in the band’s popular releases section.  But is it better than "Origin of Symmetry"? For me no.  While this album has more larger than life songs, "Origin.." remains their most ambitious album.  I think "Black Holes..." while still having some tracks which are little different, are still Muse to the core, it does feel like they took the option to become big rather than go more experimental and risk their fan base.  But if you were to ask me which the better album is based on all out anthems and the strength of the album tracks, I would probably say "Black Holes...".

Muse - Absolution

 

Released in 2003 "Absolution" is rock trio Muse's third album.  This is a decent album but will also always be remembered for me as an inside joke within my family for years.  I bought the CD when it came out but pretty soon after lost it.  It wasn't until a few years ago when my dad was sorting through my CDs he found it in another CD wallet.  As I say you probably had to be there :-P.  Anyway, this album had it all to do following debut album "Showbiz" and second album "Origin of Symmetry".  Particularly "Origin of Symmetry" which was so full of ambition and potential.  They set the standard very high, and it was intriguing which direction they would take next.

Well although there are not many bands out there like Muse, I do feel they took the safer option with "Absolution".  Going for the big sounding rock songs, in general shorter tracks, mixed in with some slower ballad type songs which were missing from "Origin of Symmetry" but it wasn't to the detriment of the album. Far from it.  To be honest I don't think "Absolution" is their best album but it's not their worse either.  And I think in terms of a steppingstone to make them bigger it worked.  "Time is running out" was their first top ten single at this point and three other singles went inside the top 20 in the UK charts.

Now you have to remember that this was 2003 and streaming services weren't about.  So, singles in the run up to the album really defined the success of the album.  And 3 of the singles in particular - "Time is running out", "Hysteria" and "Stockholm Syndrome" all sound absolutely massive and are huge rock anthems and are still some of Muse's best songs.  So having released these songs as well as having 2 solid albums preceding this; They had more than enough material for a top class set list for touring.  And the "Absolution" tour was the first time I saw Muse.  To be honest I don't remember much from the gig. But I'm pretty sure I enjoyed it.

So, we know the singles really made a difference for Muse but what about the rest of "Absolution". Well, the first track is just named "Intro" and is very short sitting at 20 seconds as it acts like a step ladder into the album with the sound of soldiers marching getting louder and louder until track 2 "Apocalypse Please" comes in with the snappy, dramatic piano playing.  I think the best deep cut of this album is "Small print".  On some of their other albums this could have been released as a single but other diamonds just shone brighter in this album.

But I think the difference with this album compared to their first two albums is that there are tracks on here which I don't look forward to listening to.  Particularly "Blackout" and "Endlessly" which are just so slow and laboured.  On "Showbiz" they had tracks like "Unintended" which showed they can nail these types of tracks, but it feels the two tracks on "Absolution" take the album down a notch.  Another song which may surprise people that disappoints me slightly is "Butterflies and Hurricanes".  This is for me the most ambitious track on the album.  And when you first listen to it and the first few minutes it is great.  Good riff, good vocals etc.  But the piano bridge doesn't work for me at all. The song stops at a point during this too and just sounds a bit of a mess. It’s like it had the potential to be an amazing song but they didn’t quite pull it off.

But I think overall, there is enough on here that it is a good, passable album.  The monster singles carry the album and really secured their place as an arena sized band at this point in their career.  They were always going to reach a point where quality control was going to be tested and I feel some of the tracks on here wouldn't even have made b-sides to singles off their first album. But there you go.  Let's look at the positives though. However, you look at it, this was a key step in Muse's rise to the top.

Muse - Origin of Symmetry

 

"Origin of Symmetry" is the 2nd album by UK 3-piece rock outfit Muse.  Muse didn't waste any time following on from their debut album, Showbiz, which was released in 1999. Meaning a sharp 2-year turnaround between albums.  But would the album build on the success of Showbiz or did that come further down the line.  Well, it's obvious now.  This album for me is the best thing Muse have ever done.  The band clearly think so too. Although it is clear the songs have always been mainstays in their setlists. However, they did release a remixed and remastered version of this album in 2021. Which shows that maybe they weren't happy with the production on the original.  

It's one of those ones that people with a keen ear will notice the differences between the original and the latest remasters.  But for me I prefer to appreciate the songs as they are and would never go into such a depth to analyse the differences in production. Unless it was so bad that it made the album unlistenable.  This album definitely did not fall in that category by any stretch. Not in 2001 or 2022.  This album to me is a classic album.  The reason for this is that Muse pushed themselves even further in every way and created something which was so good and really set themselves apart from anything out there at the time.

My favourite track off the album is "Citizen erased".  This track has been my favourite Muse track for the duration and although I haven't done a top 10 songs of all-time list recently.  This song has been on that list or up there constantly.  It's a song of ups and downs where the riff actually feels like the chorus.  It is absolutely huge.  It lasts 7 minutes and 21 seconds with a wonderfully spacey outro.  It was tracks like this that nudged Muse more into prog land. Although they always managed to keep in the rock category itself.  I was lucky to see this song performed live on the "Drones" tour and it is just as good live if not better.

But this isn't the only 5+ minute track on the album. Opening track "New born" and third track "Space Dementia" are both 6 minutes each.  "New born" is such a great opening to an album.  Like on "Showbiz" where the piano driven "Sunburn" opens the album.  "New born" Similarly opens with a quirky piano part.  But then the magic starts to happen and if you see this part live it's great.  Bellamy will get up from the piano, swing round his guitar from behind his back. And launch into a mighty fine riff.  The song takes off from there and is another classic Muse track.  "Space Dementia" is another one which sees Bellamy dance his magical fingers on the piano.  A great track but I feel it's gone into the background over time due to Muse's now extensive back catalogue.

Another single which was released at the time was "Plugin Baby".  And what can you say, but another absolute banger.  More big riffs and probably the best chorus delivery on the album.  But when you start looking through this album with "Bliss", "Hypermusic", "Microcuts", "Screenager", "Darkshines" and "Meglomania".  There is not a bad track on here.  Special mention must go out to penultimate track "Feeling good" which is a cover.  I love this track as it's so upbeat and positive.  It's a real mood lifter.

I should point out that a year after this release Muse released a double A side single "Dead Star/In your World".  2 fantastic songs which clearly didn't make the album but I'm so glad the released this as they are great singles which I would recommend checking out.

Overall, this is an absolute corker of an album.  I thought that at the time with the album cover poster up in my room during my uni days and CD which I still have.  And I still think that now. Maybe as I listen to Muse albums going forward, I'll change my mind. But for now, I think this should be an entry point for people wanting to get into Muse.  This album probably turned them into an arena band at the time and set the way for stadiums later.  An iconic album.

Muse - Showbiz

 

UK rock trio Muse released their debut album "Showbiz" back in 1999 when I was just 15 years old.  Many would say the rest is history now and they would be right.  Muse have gone on to be one of the biggest rock bands on the planet and if they do headliners, only top of the bill will do.  But was it obvious back in 1999 that they would be as big as they have become? Well, I bought the CD, I think around the time the album came out and on the casing, there is a sticker with taglines from various magazines which are listed below:

"Muse will be huge" - The Guardian
"Massive angst-ridden anthems" - Kerrang
"Impressive" - Daily Mail
"The Future of Intelligent guitar music" - Melody Maker

So, there you have it, even in the very beginning of their career, Muse were hotly tipped by the music world to go the distance and my, my did they do that.  I remember at the time reading articles about Muse and many mentioned comparisons to Radiohead who at that point in their career had released Pablo Honey, The Bends and OK computer.  They definitely forged a path for offering a different type of guitar music and I have no doubt Muse had been influenced by them.  But it felt like Muse were creating their own path too.  The riffs were heavier, they had more piano and generally felt like it was more upbeat than Radiohead. Although some would say that's not really hard!

Matt Bellamy's vocal range is also something which set them apart and through this allows him to both have the all-out rock songs as well as the slower acoustic songs.  When the album came out and during that period generally, I had two favourite songs off "Showbiz" and they were "Unintended" and "Uno".  Two, totally different tracks. "Unintended" a slow acoustic number with such a nice rhythm to it.  As I make my way going back through Muse albums, I may unearth more tracks like this from Muse. But it feels like they haven't really done anything as good as this in terms of an acoustic song since, as their rockier and more experimental side has come more to the forefront. But I do hope some of Muse's later albums have deep cuts like this as it's clear to see they are capable of slowing things right down and taking it easy with fantastic results.

"Falling down" and "Escape" are other slower tracks on the album which works well.  While "Unintended" stays slower these do pick more as the songs go on.  But my other favourite track "Uno" was a highlight for me because this is Muse rocking out with big riffs. Wonderful.  "Muscle Museum" would probably have been my second favourite in terms of rockier tracks. But I think one of the key differences for Muse was combining piano with guitars within tracks.  When listening to this album recently the track which stands out for me is track 5 "Cave" which does this perfectly.  The early parts of the song are rockier with the big riff and chorus.  But the true majestic part of this song is the piano bridge before picking back up on the riff.  It is so well done and when you think of artists and songs generally there aren't many songs that have a guitar then followed by a piano bridge.  And as I say this really set them apart at the time.  They combined the two again in opening track "Sunburn" but this time led with the piano.  First tracks are so important for engaging the listener and really capturing their attention and the piano hook on "Sunburn" really does this.

The album generally goes on quite a run of great tracks and it’s not until you get to the last few tracks you feel it slightly loses steam.  But the likes of "Overdue" and "Hate this and I'll love you" still deserve and have their place on the album.  Although the latter is a decent track it doesn't really feel like a closer is my only criticism.  I.e., it doesn't really have that climax or gentle outro.  It just feels like it could have been placed anywhere in the middle of the album.

But overall, this is a very good album and even though I didn't realise at the time just what would be next for Muse and what the future would hold. It's clear many did, and they got it absolutely right.  "Showbiz" is an album which shows that Matt, Dominic and Chris are hugely talented and between the 3 of them make some mighty fine music.