"Absolution" Album Review
Alpha101 Ahhh, Muse. Possibly the most underrated and overrated band in history. Why? I'll get to that in just a second. Not going to name all the tracks, and I'll get to that as well."Apocalypse Please" started this off album well. It's a great song, and it was the first that I heard from the band. It sounds kind of off-putting, which was their intent, and I must say that it worked. Whenever I heard it, my adrenaline spiked up dramatically. "Declare this an emergency! Come on and spread a sense of urgency!"
"Time is Running Out" is another pretty good song. It creates a sense of urgency (sorry for the pun), and I can't help singing along with the chorus. "You're something beautiful, a contradiction."
"Sing for Absolution" is my second favorite off of the record. It's starts off slow, and sound beautiful. Then, it picks up a little bit at the chorus, though it's still a pretty slow song. "Lips are turning blue, a kiss that can't renew."
"Stockholm Syndrome" is another pretty good song. It's chorus is beautiful, with it's exceptional use of pianos. "This is the last time I'll abandon you, and this is the last time I'll forget you."
"Falling Away With You" is my third favorite off the album. It's another very slow song, but things to pick up a little eventually. "Staying awake to chase a dream. Tasting the air you're breathing in."
"Hysteria" is most recognizable for it's riff, which, I might add, is amazing. It's one of my favorite riffs that I've heard, and I can't help myself from jamming along to it. It's distorted sound really adds to it's uneasiness. "I want it now! I want it now! Give me your heart and your soul!"
"Blackout" is my favorite off the album, and also, one of my favorites in music generally. It starts off so well that it makes me want to cry, it's lyrics are perfect, his voice is perfect, it's ending is perfect, hell, the whole song is perfect. I also love the message behind the song, for I do this a lot, and it really helped me see what a fool I was. "This life could be the last, and we're too young to see."
"Thoughts of a Dying Atheist" is another exceptional song. I always used to fear death, which I still do, but to a lesser extent, so this song really helped me cope with my feelings. I could really put myself into the shoes of the person. After all, it still "scares the hell out of me!"
Now, let me account for my actions. Yes, Muse is a very underrated band. Possibly the most underrated, in my opinion. They are often overshadowed by other Alternative bands such as Radiohead, and it's really sad, because this is a great band! But, their fan base is one of the two things that not only make this album overrated, but the band itself as well. Most hardcore Muse fans (I call them Musecians) claim that Muse is the best band to ever walk the Earth, and that is plain out wrong.
The reason I didn't list all the songs off the album was, most sounded too similar to the others. Whenever I hear an album, I want each song to sound dramatically different from the other, which the band failed to do. I seriously had to listen to the song I was reviewing at the time because I would mistake it for another. "I absolutely love 'Stockholm Syndrome!' Wait, I'm thinking of 'Hysteria.' " Don't get me wrong, it's a great album, it's just that some songs are very good, and others shouldn't even belong on the album, because they could be duplicates of the other songs. It might just be me that thinks this, but whenever I listen to the album, I sometimes look at the back of the case to discover that the song has transitioned to the next. Really, I haven't even noticed!
Overall, it is a great album, and an underrated one, but it's no where near perfect.
9/10 - Great Album
Comments
What about Butterflies & Hurricanes? This is probably my second favorite Muse song! - visitor