The Album Review Club - Week #141 - (page 1860) - JPEG Raw - Gary Clark Jr.

[Black&White&BlueMoon Town]

What was the point of the intro.No need for that to be on at all.

Are we feeling the same way this week for Muse? ;-)

 

[Coatigan]

Sorry all, work has been manic for the last few weeks so I've not had time to listen to anything so apologies to those who've nominated and I've not been able to score!

I found this a tricky album to score again simply because I can't get away from the fact that Muse sound like Radiohead in about 1998. But they aren't as good. I think as well, the other thing is that Muse don't seem to have changed their style too much either over the years, it's pretty much they have a style and aren't going to change it much. That's fine if you've got the ability of AC/DC, The Rolling Stones or Status Quo but I don't quite think they have. Part of me thinks when I want to listen to something like Muse, I'd rather slip Radiohead on.

All that said, this is a pretty good album. I like most of the tracks on it but it just sounds like Radiohead and I just can't get away from that. If you sound like them, you will be compared to them. There's no disgrace in that though - personally, I think Radiohead are one of the greatest bands of the last 30 years. I think what they do have, what Muse don't have, is that ability to make the album and move on to something new. Blur had that too and I have a lot of respect for bands who can do that (and I also love the ones above who don't change!).

I feel I've been a bit critical of the album and spent most of the review talking about Radiohead, but this is a good solid album with enough twists and turns and although I'd not heard this, I will put this on again.

7/10

That's like 5-6 mentions of Radiohead in one post alone, so if that doesn't bring Fog back to the thread, nothing will!

As I mentioned earlier, I disagreed (with that comparison) back in '99-01 and I disagree now. But you obviously are not the first to make it.

While I do see surface level similarities - whiney singer, shite haircuts, skinny somewhat nerdy brits etc, (in the way Rob thinks all uk indie bands sound the same if the play guitars and have a singer that doesn't wail;) ), I've always found them quite different bands doing pretty different things. And a part of me thinks, if they Did sound that alike, I would have got into Radiohead a lot more than I could manage. If anything, I would go as far as arguing that it was Radiohead that made themselves sound more like Muse, than the other way round. Because they actually largely changed 'evolved' their sound in the early 2000s, after Muse came onto the scene, and started adding influences that Muse began with. I do agree that one did over time vary it up and the other didn't. Ironically both seemed to piss off their main fan base with that. Radiohead certainly seem to have kept their claim and name over the years though, where as Muse at best seem to be that band that some folk liked a couple decades ago. Although their sales and chart positions maybe make that last comment a bit wrong.

The rest of your post I can well see all of that fwiw.

 

[journolud]

I have quite liked what I have heard on the radio but always thought, whilst liking, that they were abit bombastic and the Bellamy was a bit "up himself"...

Bombastic is a good word but I found myself enjoying the earnest grandiosity of it. Also found it strangely uplifting and liberating but that might be because I’ve got a rare day off from the current onslaught at work and have gone a touch carefree, or something. Strangely also found it exhausting in places and imagine it being exhausting for the band to play. And in yet another twist there were moments it risked becoming turgid but it’s almost like they knew what they were doing and were always going to employ the tricks to raise it.

 

[BlueHammer85]

 

[bennyboy]

Muse Interlude.
Another pointless intro then I thought the music was on the whole very good bar the singers voice.
Spoiled every song with those high falseto's in what seemed every song bar Thoughts on a Dying Atheist the only track that his voice never annoyed me.
Fair play to them for putting in another pointless piece half way through as well with Interlude.
With a singer that did not annoy me i would have voted this a lot higher. Musically the only tracks that i did not like were Blackout and Falling awayWiith You but due to the singers part in this i have to go with a 6.

 

[Coatigan]

Muse Interlude.
Another pointless intro then I thought the music was on the whole very good bar the singers voice.
Spoiled every song with those high falseto's in what seemed every song bar Thoughts on a Dying Atheist the only track that his voice never annoyed me.
Fair play to them for putting in another pointless piece half way through as well with Interlude.
With a singer that did not annoy me i would have voted this a lot higher. Musically the only tracks that i did not like were Blackout and Falling awayWiith You but due to the singers part in this i have to go with a 6.

Think that kinda half a decade or so was particularly forgiving for vocalists. Muse was one, Radiohead too but others as well. I had to work hard to get over Molko's singing while liking Placebo overall. People tolerated Coldplay, Fred Durst couldn't hold a note for shit but audiences somehow saw past it all. With Matt Bellamy it wasn't so much his pitch or the falsetos, as his intake big breath gasps that I found hard to get over.

 

[LGWIO]

Quite song, quiet start then boom, quiet song, quiet start then boom...and repeat

My thoughts exactly....and you start listening to the quiet song and are just waiting for that big crash.

Two listens in and besides bombastic I think @journolud is right, "Grandiose" is a great way to desribe them. I almost felt like they were trying to create some sort of anthem with every track. Asif trying to make a "Bohemian Rhapsody" of their own.

Some great singles of course but I did start to wonder why Bellamy has to sing in the way he does. Its like he is trying to draw out everything, because it all means so much to him, so heartfelt.

So far, "Time Is Running Out", "Hysteria" & "Endlessly" would be my picks.

 

[Black&White&BlueMoon Town]

Muse Interlude.
Another pointless intro then I thought the music was on the whole very good bar the singers voice.

With two pointless tracks, I expected at least another point to be docked, so I'm curious on your views this week over Doves a couple weeks ago? Vocals better there but musically not as much?

Spoiled every song with those high falseto's in what seemed every song bar Thoughts on a Dying Atheist the only track that his voice never annoyed me.
Fair play to them for putting in another pointless piece half way through as well with Interlude.
With a singer that did not annoy me i would have voted this a lot higher. Musically the only tracks that i did not like were Blackout and Falling awayWiith You but due to the singers part in this i have to go with a 6.

While not exactly the same, I'm going to note that musically, Muse isn't too far away from another three piece Canadian band a few on here are known to be fond of, so I will ask if the reasons you aren't overly fond of each band are the same for the singers' voices?

Honest question from me not knowing the overall reasons on those Canadians.

 

[bennyboy]

With two pointless tracks, I expected at least another point to be docked, so I'm curious on your views this week over Doves a couple weeks ago? Vocals better there but musically not as much?

While not exactly the same, I'm going to note that musically, Muse isn't too far away from another three piece Canadian band a few on here are known to be fond of, so I will ask if the reasons you aren't overly fond of each band are the same for the singers' voices?

Honest question from me not knowing the overall reasons on those Canadians.

How do you know i never took points of for two pointless tracks.
Doves musically not as good as this.
Same with Rush,i take it that's who your talking about.
It is just an opinion,nothing to take too seriously.

 

[RobMCFC]

Absolution - Muse

This got a few listens in a few locations over this last week: in the car on the way to work, on a plane and whilst having a rest in a hotel room in Lisbon.

After the opening two numbers, which were fairly average, "Sing for Absolution" brings a change of pace with its hypnotic piano. "Stockholm Syndrome" goes for the loud-quiet-loud approach and when the guitars arrive in full force, they’re furious. Listening to this and a few other songs on the album, I’m convinced that Muse would have had a good shot at Eurovision had they entered.

"Falling Away with You" has a lovely lilting melody, and I love the fact that you can hear the sound of the fingers on the strings at the start of the song. “Hysteria” sees a return to the fast and furious and it’s a great “punch-the-air” song, whilst the use of strings on “Blackout” makes for another beautiful song.

"Butterflies and Hurricanes" has an upbeat Eurodisco sound that features a stunning classical piano interlude. Whilst the best songs are in the middle of the album, I enjoyed the low-key (compared to what had gone before) “Endlessly” which had a French feel to it, and “Thoughts of a Dying Atheist”.

One thing I really enjoyed about Absolution was that it managed to mix a range of tempos and instruments that grabbed my attention without having to use banjos and fiddles! The piano was well utilised and had a deep, sonorous feel without ever sounding like a plinky-plonky Chas and Dave.

On the negative side, Matt Bellamy’s voice was good in parts but sounded a bit thin in others for the range that he was trying to cover. There were also a few too many average songs and those that sounded similar to others on the same album.

Whilst it's not a typical sound that I’d go far, it’s several rungs above your average indie fayre (obviously it’s somewhere between indie and hard rock), and I enjoyed a lot of it. Great nomination @GornikDaze. 7/10.