Alternative Weekend: Focus on ‘Muse'

I have been posting most weekends using @detlev’s #metalweekend tag, but my main love of music is progressive and alternative music. Some of my posts have included these songs, but I feel they are not keeping with the spirit of metal.

I will continue to post article’s using #metalweekend occasionally but feel I have more to offer regarding these other genres that I am more familiar with.

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Introducing #alternativeweekend. Post an article that highlights THREE great songs that are either progressive or alternative and use the tag #alternativeweekend or use the ‘Focus on’ series if you like. There are no rules, just make your own!

If you have a short story or something to offer regarding an opinion on your songs, then share it with us!

I was very late to realise that this band from Devon, England do have something special. 2010 was the year that I started listening to the Absolution album and was wondering why and how I had missed them.

I owe part of the band advertising to the Guitar Hero III game on the Xbox 360. One of the songs was ‘Knights of Cydonia’ and it struck a chord.

By this time, Activision had begun to buy the rights to the original recordings, so I was presented with the real thing and not some shoddy rip-off.

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My knowledge of the songs of Muse are really from the Origin of Symmetry to the Black Holes and Revelations albums.

After listening to The Resistance and hearing that Queen nonsense I no longer gave them a chance. I mean Queen with their unique voice harmonies are simply that; Queen.

Personally, I feel that the band should stick with what they are good at, which is Space Rock. Who else creates Space Rock besides Muse? I can’t think of anybody and maybe that’s why I was attracted.

They have their own sound and are different enough to distinguish from the rest of the thousands of three and four-piece bands trying to make it. Here are my picks

Muse – Time is Running Out (Absolution – 2003)

If you want to have a listen to Muse, then start with the Absolution album. The reason is accessibility. The first FIVE songs on this album are so easy to listen too.

Absolution spawned SIX singles, FOUR of them being part of this FIVE that I mention.

When I listen to the start of ‘Time is Running Out’ I always think of Sly Cooper from the video games. He’s a stealthy thief and the initial twenty seconds are just that, sneaky and sly.

Muse – Fury (Absolution – 2003)

Why is that Japanese releases get these extra songs that we don’t? Fury is a fantastic driving track and yet westerners will never hear it unless we dig around. It’s omitted from both the UK and American release of Absolution.

I want to include something that you may never have heard for various reasons, and this one hits the spot.

Muse – Knights of Cydonia (Black Holes and Revelations – 2006)

I can’t really omit this anthem and the song that bought the attention of Muse to me. I had heard Hysteria somewhere before, but this crowd pleaser is something special.

Like City of Delusion, I feel there is a touch of Arabia in this song with the horses galloping at the start and the Knights theme. (though the video depicts the Wild West!)

Black Holes and Revelations is another Muse album which I feel is accessible, and not at all like the next one I will mention.

Muse – Space Dementia (Origin of Symmetry – 2001)

If anything epitomises that Space Rock I mentioned, it’s this song. That echoing piano that explodes is quite typical of Matt Bellamy unitising his many talents as an outstanding musician.

When I first started listening to Origin of Symmetry I simply couldn’t understand why it wasn’t hitting me. Unlike the other two albums mentioned, this one is quite inaccessible and yet it seems to be the hard-core fans favourites.

I preserved and eventually it did sink in. This album is simply outstanding, and any prospective listener should persevere with it. How he manages to sing and play with that all that fury, I cant comprehend.

Matt Bellamy is the heart and soul of Muse. His vocal range is incredible, and he regularly sings in falsetto without any fear or quivering of his voice. I wonder if he will be able to use those talents in 30 years when he is much older?

The band have a huge following and I know I am missing some gems from the later albums after casually listening to some Glastonbury footage a couple of years back. Perhaps I should give their newer material another chance.

Other articles in the ‘Focus on’ series:
Focus on ‘Nirvana' // Focus on ‘Anathema'

Focus on ‘Genesis’ - The Collins Years Part One // Focus on ‘Genesis’ - The Collins Years Part Two
Focus on ‘Genesis’ - The Gabriel Years // Focus on ‘The Pixies’
Focus on ‘Sonic Youth’ // Focus on ‘Talking Heads’
Focus on ‘Blackfield’ // Focus on ‘Karnivool’
Focus on 'Tears for Fears' // Focus on 'The Cranberries'
Focus on 'Kate Bush' // Focus on 'The Smiths'
Focus on 'Radiohead' // Focus on 'Rush'

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