It's pretty simple. I'm going to listen to my entire library. It's a lot of shit, and I still haven't gotten to all of it. In order to not get bored of listening to extended discographies of one artist, I'm doing it in alphabetical order by album. First thing that pops up is Absolution by Muse. Here's my review below:
Muse is my favorite band. This album has my favorite song on it. If this review's a little too glowing, don't hold it against me. Absolution is often referred to as Muse's "heavy" album. I can see that, but I feel like it's much more than that. It's a really important album in the development of the band, the stepping stone between the earlier way-too-radiohead-influenced (never REALLY a bad thing) Muse to the epic-stadium-filling Muse we know today. I feel like the classical influences come through VERY strongly in this album, particularly in songs like Apocalypse Please, Stockholm Syndrome, and Butterflies in Hurricanes. Overall, it is a very mature album, possibly their most mature; although BH&R and the Resistance have more concise songwriting, the overt stadium rock moments of those albums definitely take the albums in a different direction. Absolution contains some of my favorite baselines from fellow bass tone whore and effects junky Chris Wolstenholme, including what I honestly feel is the most badass bass line of all time: Hysteria. Loved by bass players, hated buy Guitar Center workers (though not as much as Sweet Child O Mine, I'm sure), it's a kickass line, and the tone Chris achieves on it has been the subject of heated discussion on many a bass forum. As a bassist, it's a small wonder that this is my favorite Muse song by a longshot.
The strongest element in this album, to me, is the interplay between the bass and the guitar. Many of the riffs on this album are constructed such that if you remove either element, the song falls apart. I love this style of writing; while there's something to be said for songs that can just be hammered out with an acoustic guitar and a singer, all of my favorite bands write songs which require different elements working in harmony to create music. I feel like that's the ideal situation for a band to be in: bass and guitar playing different but complementary riffs to form a badass combination. A prime example of this to me is Thoughts Of A Dying Atheist, where Chris's straight roots baseline allows Matt Bellamy (guitar/vocals) to do a more interesting arpeggiated guitar line on top of it.
Anyway, I warned that this review would be glowing. Hopefully I didn't blind you with my fandom.
PS I'M SEEING THEM ON SATURDAY IN NYC FUCK YEAH.
PPS Peace out bitches.
