Have you heard of a band called Muse?
A friend at work introduced me to them the other day and I'm hooked. They're from Manchester, England, and they're awesome. He had a copy of their album Absolution on his computer at work, so he stealthily stored it on the LAN while I went to my computer, copied it to my drive, and erased all trace of its existence (the LAN is more or less off limits to non-work-related buffoonery).
Think of Radiohead's The Bends with extra shots of rock, dynamics, and instrumentation. They roll piano, strings, some electronic, and a standard rock band into a tight, cohesive package. The arrangements are there and there is no wasted space. Give 'em a try.
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Article comments
1 - Craig Lyndall
Muse is an amazing band. They play more progressive than Radiohead and definitely rock out harder. They kind of remind me of The Tea Party (canada) with a much different voice. Anyway, I have one of their albums that was released in the US called Showbiz. I would recommend it to anyone.
By the way... the other tidbit about Muse (which we can all thank them for, is their threat to the Celine Dion camp when she wanted to call her Vegas show "Muse" they threatened to sue her because it would ruin their name for a big release in the U.S. Pretty funny and anyone who lashes out at Celine Dion is a friend of mine.
2 - particleman
I heard about the Celine Dion thing and it only strengthened my opinion of them. Way to 'stick it to the man' - er, woman.
3 - Alexis
Yes I love them too. I've been listening to them for years & always looked for them to play somewhat locally (California).(info for people who are intrested) Now they finally are @ the Coachella March 1&2... With other great & amazing bands such as: THE CURE, Radiohead Pixies, Thursday, death cab for cutie, Belle & Sebastian, Cursive, Bright Eyes, moving units, phantom planet, and the [international] noise conspiracy. heres the link:http://www.coachella.com/main.html
4 - Eric Olsen
Alexis, thanks for clearing up my confusion. Imagine my befuddlement at the thought of all those bands playing some kind of benefit for chinchillas.
5 - Particleman
i'd love to go to coachella, but i need someone to go with and i sure ain't going alone. plus the whole trip would be kind of pricey with airfare and hotel. but damn, Muse will be there. I'd like to see what they can do live.
6 - Jamie G.
Hey. As a UK fan of Muse I should let you know that they're not from Manchester, they're from Teignmouth, a small town in Devon. It's about ... 100 miles from where I live.
Also what are you doing *just* listening to Absolution?? Quit wasting time and get Showbiz + Origin of Symmetry immediately! Lol.
In many ways OoS is the 'son' of Absolution; it has several elements of what they've achieved in their 3rd album but makes for startingly refined listening as an exclusive entity in its own right. Just listen to that Spanish Cordoba-edged guitar on "Darkshines"....
The other track to check out in particular on OoS is "Feeling Good", an outstanding tribute to the one and only Nina Simone, and a real refreshing treat after the go-insane madness of New Born & Space Dementia...
I was lucky enough to get 2 tickets to see them at their final show of the year, Dec 20 at Earl's Court - tickets sold out in about 15 mins! It's gonna be brilliant though. I also saw them at V Fest (Staff.) this summer and they were great ... my only regret about Muse is not having seen them in a smaller, more intimate venue ... suppose I'll never get that chance now, seeing as how they're triple A megastars. Sigh.
7 - ph.
i'm in the strange position of being both a celine dion and muse fan