NEW BORN MUSE (Origin Of Symmetry - Muse)

Member Name: C_Padd

Product:	Origin Of Symmetry - Muse
Date:	14/02/02 (156 review reads)
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Muse have had a huge amount of pressure on them in the music business. Being compares to several top bands, most notably Radiohead and a superb debut 'Showbiz' meant that they have a lot to live up to in the future. 'Origins of Symmetry' received a lot of publicity, and if all the pressure could have cracked them, it really does not show. Still a great second attempt, if not up to the standards of the first, this is a great piece of music.

'Origins of Symmetry' is the second album from Muse, a trio from pretty close to me down here in sunny Devon, they are South Devon bouys from Teignmouth. Matt Bellamy is the lead singer as well as pianist and guitarist, bass with Chris Wolstenhome and drummer Dominic Howard. Their first album Showbiz won them a lot of praise and are currently signed to Maverick Records. This is only their second album, thought their music is progressing well and winning them a lot of fans.

Muse are very popular with live audiences, they like to tour and worth going if they are local. I have not had the pleasure of this yet, though some of the songs off this have been played live. The singles of New Born and Plug in Baby are both here, possibly recognizable.

New Born is the first track on the album, a nice work to start off the album. Builds up to a real guitar song and a great end after a long wait. Bliss is a is a great song as well, one of the best on the album for its short and sweet rock style with real strong guitars. Space Dementia is more piano based, Matt is really good on this, as on others and the result is a powerful song. Hyper Music is a really loud song, as is Plug in Baby. This was the first single to come off the album, not one of my favourites there are better than this though a good enough loud song with some good guitars yet again.

There are some very big songs in here. When I say big, I really mean long, true epics in music. At least they try to be, I do get t
he feeling that they can try too hard, and the result is often drawn out and does not work. In particular Citizen Erased, Micro Cuts and Meglomania. There are some real examples of the clashes of classical, opera and with an added twist. Not really for my taste, though there are not too many slow or quiet songs on the album. Screenage is the most obvious of this, much more acoustic and is good quality adding a real feeling into the track.

The whole album is a full of some great songs. Though not all totally to my tastes, there is a great mixture of styles and influences. Experiments in the science lab often ended in disaster for me at school, though this is a nice change and some good music comes as a result. The piano is used to great effect at times it carries songs and adds some real power and feelings to songs in a way that other instruments could not. Matt Bellamy's vocals are great again, there are some good moments with guitars and despite some tracks that are too long and too epic this is a great album. For this I could not give it full marks, but still a high rating and overall a decent album, still top music if a little drawn out. I prefer their first work, but well worth getting hold off.

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