Muse, 'Absolution'

It’s hardly a state secret to claim that Muse singer Matt Bellamy is keen on Radiohead and a fan of Thom Yorke’s voice. But while the majority of British bands look to Radiohead for inspiration for their next projects, ‘Absolution’ rejects the Oxford band’s ambiguous doodlings on ‘Kid A’ and the like and delves into the past for a blunt, brash update of ‘The Bends’. If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, Muse are “doing” sincere better than any of their peers.

Their third album proudly harks back to a bygone era: its considerable length could, and possibly should, have made it a double album. The band were finally allowed to take their time recording ‘Absolution’ and an abject lack of pressure from the men in suits pays dividends. Not only were the band clearly calm and considered themselves but this translates to the music. A not inconsiderable five singles were culled from ‘Absolution’ and they resemble the heart and soul of the record. ‘Stockholm Syndrome’ and ‘Hysteria’ redefine passion with the by now trademark grinding guitars in place and Bellamy provides a modern day update to the late Jeff Buckley’s dulcet tones. ‘Sing For Absolution’ tugs at the emotions but it’s the twin juggernauts of ‘Butterflies And Hurricanes’ and ‘Time Is Running Out’ that linger longest. ‘Butterflies…’ is almost prog-rock in nature and you imagine that Freddy Mercury would nod in approval. And no matter what else is in store for the trio, ‘Time Is Running Out’ will surely go down as their bona fide classic. Though it starts out serenely enough, literally using a click of the fingers for an intro, it quickly merges Radiohead’s talent of making long words sound cool (“asphyxiated”) with a pummeling riff over its post-punk paranoia subject matter. If this is what the end of the world will sound like, Armageddon out of here.