MUSE! MUSE! MUSE! (Origin Of Symmetry - Muse)

Member Name: dan_da_man

Product:	Origin Of Symmetry - Muse
Date:	13/08/01 (547 review reads)
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It's rather odd that whenever Muse are reviewed, comparisons seem to be drawn... and every single reviewer points fingers at the same source. With 'Showbiz' it was Radiohead... and this was widely renounced by anyone actually listening to the album as a rather lazy comparison to draw. This time round, it seems to be Queen. I personally consider that a bit odd. Matt's classical influences are more evident in 'Origin of Symmetry' than ever before (with the possible exception of New 'Born' b-side 'Piano Thing'), which means a fair bit of piano, which Queen had as well. And Queen's success was heavily built upon Freddie Mercury's voice... Muse owe a lot to Matt's voice, but it alone far from makes the band. There are few other comparisons which could be drawn, in my opinion... so my conclusion would be that a few lazy sods have seized upon an obvious, easy and irrelevant point of comparison for the basis of commentary. Er, again. But frankly, one listen to 'Origin of Symmetry' in its entirety blasts Queen right out of your mind.

From the opener 'New Born', you know this is something different, and something just a little bit special... as the eerily bewitching intro to the song draws you steadily in, before launching into some ferocious, fast and dirty guitars, you quickly realise that Muse have not produced another Showbiz.

There seems to be some greater than usual effort towards artistic statement, here, with the bizarre artwork that accompanies the album - a series of takes on the 'Origin of Symmetry' by various artists fill the lyrics booklet. Just what the band are trying to say is something I can't pinpoint, however - the majority of the lyrics are dark, angry, bitter reflections on people and relationships - much like 'Showbiz' in that respect. Certainly, though, the music and songs are something quite distinct and special. 'New Born' is f
ollowed by 'Bliss', which opens with a soothing, rhythmic piano progression before launching into synthesised effects and subtle guitars and bass. Weighing in at just over four minutes, 'Bliss' is also one of the shortest songs on the album - and the subject matter is a rather grim statement of desire for another's freedom and happiness, which "comes naturally" - "I won't settle for less". Bellamy also later sings "Your innocence / I will consume." This is not a pop album, contrary to the band's recent appearances on weekend pop TV.

'Space Dementia' is an eerie, epic and somewhat overblown - deliciously over the top - space opera of a twisted relationship. Beautiful and painful, a draining but unmissable experience. 'Hyper Music' opens with itchy guitar and a bassline reminescent of old b-side 'Ashamed', before developing into a soaring expression of bitterness and rejection. In contrast with the melancholic vocals Bellamy provides, this is quite possibly one of the most powerful songs on the album, with guitar to match. It's appropriately followed by the infectious 'Plug In Baby' the album's first single, which fits in quite perfectly with the rest of the album, musically and lyrically.

The awesome 'Citizen Erased' provides a release after the energy of the preceding songs - and, oddly, the guitars are this time also reminescent of 'Ashamed'. Weird. Weighing in at more than seven minutes long, 'Citizen Erased' is a powerfully dark, space-age ballad, quite possibly one of the high points of the album, soaring high and low with vibrato vocals piercing alongside.

'Micro Cuts' follows in a similar vein, dark and melancholic, a cry of pain with epic vocals, giving way into 'Screenager', quite possibly the album's more delicate and dark moment. 'Screenager's meaning was clearer under its
past title, 'Razorblades & Glossy Magasines', but gentle bass and drums with interweaved finger-picked guitar accompanies the 'Bliss'-esque synth and Matt's soothing vocals, offering a less desolate escape from the subject matter of the lyrics.

The colossal 'Darkshines' has changed greatly since its first few live debuts - as have most of the songs on offer here - but the song is still recognisable, if cleaner now and the more powerful for it. The throbbing bassline hooks and draws you in, perfectly accompanied by the unbroken rhythm of the drums, before exploding into the chorus - "Dark shines / Bringing me down / Making my heart feel sore / 'Cause it's good" - a sombre comment on the tendency of the depressed to begin to find solace in their emotional pain. Of course, the same song features the aforementioned line, "So be mine and your innocence / I will consume"... the song also features some of the most powerful and effective use of classical string instruments in modern rock music.

'Feeling Good' breaks the melancholy of the previous songs; a brilliant reworking of the soul classic by Nina Simone. The music is delicate and one of the few openly upbeat moments of the album: "it's a new dawn it's a new day it's a new life / And i'm feeling good" says it all, really; a powerful expression of rebirth or renewal. By contrast, the background string section in closer 'Megalomania' offers the ideal backdrop to the black subject matter of the song. It's a world away from 'Showbiz' finale 'Hate This & I'll Love You", considerably darker and less an expression of power than a mish-mash of concepts, almost a funereal march - an image reinforced by the organ music appearing halfway through the song. It moves from malevolence to weariness, rhetoric to philosophy, comrpising a grand tapestry of concepts - indeed, the ideal grand fi
nale to an album as epic and wilfully over-the-top as 'Origin of Symmetry'.

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