Album Review: "The Resistance" by Muse

Well Muse is back at it again with another gloriously over-the-top album. While less stylistically diverse than 2006's Black Holes and Revelations, The Resistance is perhaps the most musically impressive release by Muse due to the widespread inclusion of orchestra parts. This album channels influences from glam rockers like Queen and composers like Rachmaninov and Tchaikovsky. Lyrically, this album is political, as singer Matt Bellamy runs through the familiar fist-pumping rap we've been hearing since 2003's Absolution. Here are foot-stopping anthems about freedom and overthrowing oppression but overall the lyrics are too vague and generic to be truly impressive. Indeed, like many Muse albums, the most impressive thing at work is the music.

The album opens with the first single, "Uprising". UFO synths and hand claps are laid over a thumping bass-driven beat before bursting into a guitar and synth arpeggio-laden chorus where Bellamy lays out his revolutionary campaign promises of "They will not force us/They will stop degrading us/They will not control us/We will be victorious". If you listen hard you can hear Bellamy reaching impressive high octaves on the background vocals, much in 2006's "Knights of Cydonia".

The next track, "Resistance", is a lot more urgent, relying less on crunchy riffs but on galloping drums and echoey pianos. Originally an off-shoot of Black Holes and Revelations' "Map of the Problematique", this solid title track draws lyrical inspiration from the love affair in George Orwell's "1984".

"Undisclosed Desires" is the album's first stand-out track. Featuring a pizzicato string section, this song sounds almost like a straight-forward pop song, almost so much that I can imagine Matt Bellamy doing some sort of Justin Timberlake dance while singing it.

The glam rock really comes out in "United States of Eurasia/Collateral Damage (Excerpt from Nocturne in E-Flat, Op.2 No.9)" as well as a number of classical influences. Bellamy cited Maurice Ravel and Peter Tchaikovsky as influences, which definitely shows in the dramatic post choruses. The pre-chorus sounds like it was ripped straight from a Queen song, as Bellamy belts over a screaming guitar. After an operatic climax, the track settles into Frederic Chopin's Nocturne in E-Flat, played on piano with a string accompaniment over sounds of children and then sounds of warfare.

"Guiding Light" proves to be the only low point on the album, a tribute to 1980's stadium rock that's just too cheesy for it's own good. "I Belongs To You/Mon cœur s'ouvre à ta voix" brings some pop quirks to the album with a solid groove and some silly circus songs. An excerpt from Saint-Saens' opera Sampson and Delilah is included in the middle of the song and the whole thing is wrapped up with a playful bass clarinet solo.

The last three tracks are a three-part symphony inspired by Rachmaninov, Strauss, Chopin, and Pink Floyd. Part 1 sounds like a more melodic version of the Smashing Pumpkin's "The Beginning Is the End Is the Beginning". Part 2 starts out like a softer throw-back to their 2003 track, "Butterflies and Hurricanes". Part 3 provides a sweeping climax before quietly cooling down in a reflective resolution.

Overall, this is an ambitious and exciting album. I bought the iTunes LP for $12 and it was definitely worth the price as it came with lining notes and bonus videos.