THE RESISTANCE (E)

Muse are a stadium act for a few years now, so Matt Bellamy, Dom Howard and Chris Wolstenholme don’t need any further introduction. The Resistance, their fifth studio album by this trio, is a very special album, because this time they practically did everything themselves. The accompanying DVD The Making Of The Resistance, in case one considers to buy the limited edition, is not reviewed. The opening song Uprising is already a worldwide hit and also for me this tune belongs to the best songs recorded this year. A nice mid-tempo synthesized bass and an awesome groove combine influences of Jean MIchel Jarre, Depeche Mode, Space and all those famous other synthipop acts from the eighties. This would have been a big hit in the eighties and fortunately it’s a song also appreciated by a wide variety of fans today. The chorus shows influences of Midge Ure and Ultravox. In the last part the future audiences can yell their hearts out. The title track starts mellow and electronic and has the same kind of atmosphere as in the song I lIke Chopin by Giorgio Moroder. The chorus is more in the vein of the modern pop rock by bands like Green Day: catchy but with a subtle contrast between chorus and verses. Bellamy’s vocals are emotional combining the feel of Bono (U2) with the sensuality of Midge Ure’s voice. Add his distinctive vibration and you have one of the best voices in ‘progressive pop’ as I would like to describe the music by Muse. Undisclosed Desires contains many elements I recognize from Ultravox during their heydays, also driven by electronics. Bellamy is known to have an admiration for Freddie Mercury and Queen and in the track United States Of Eurasia both the guitars, the close harmonies and the music itself, show the same features as We Are The Champions. A tribute to a truly great band in rock history, but definitely with a ‘Muse-twist’ to it, also because of the Oriental influenced interludes and the simplified version of a section from Chopin’s Nocturne In E-flat Major. Unlike Queen there are some tasteful orchestrations added too. In Guiding LIght we can appreciate a mix between Ultravox’ Vienna - the rhythm and the atmosphere - and works by Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark. The guitar solo is heavily inspired by the guitar techniques of Brian May (Queen). An organ with a telephone voice singing is the opening of Unnatural Selection but right after this smooth opening, there are more heavy guitars and a genuine rock sound with a delightful riff, suitable for an enthusiastic stadium audience. There are some slightly classically oriented interludes and a much more slow piece in between with a more bluesy character. MK Ultra is also a combination of up-tempo guitar oriented rock with a more progressive keyboard-driven piece. A nostalgic feeling comes over me in I Belong To You, which reminds me of Sparks but also of pop music from the fifties. The piano, some lines sung in French and an orchestral operatic piece, adapted from works by Saint-Saëns, make this track one of the most memorable ones. There’s a remarkable contribution by a (bass)clarinet. The grand finale is an orchestra-driven little symphony in three parts. Carefully arranged bits and pieces originally played on piano solo, Bellamy had lying on the shelves. The orchestra is opening in the first part of Exogenesis, then drums, bass and synthesizers join in and Bellamy sings with a high-pitched voice a slow bombastic and majestic piece. The second part features the piano in a piece of mid-tempo rock, partly orchestrated and again with references to Queen. Part 3 is a nice melody on the piano, maybe inspired by Ludwig von Beethoven, partially with the orchestra and just a few lines with vocals, building up a climax but in the end fading away like melting snow and you find yourself wanting to hear this music over and over again.

For me is The Resistance Muse's best album so far, because they did it all themselves, no boundaries and no interference by a producer from the outside. Lyrically the focus is on love and politics. Although the production is good but not perfect - but when is something really perfect for everyone? -, it’s Muse at their very best, exploring new grounds and taking up new challenges. In this sense they are truly progressive and although The Resistance is mainly pop-music, still a lot of fans of progressive and/or symphonic music will like this album a lot.