I’ve been awaiting Muse’s newest album anxiously, but I have to say I’m disappointed. The album is unique and daring, but for a Muse fan who loves their over-the-top orchestra and bombastic sound, it’s just not the same. But with each listen, new layers of “The Resistance” can be appreciated, so my qualms aside, let’s take a look at this ambitious and futuristic album.
“The Resistance,” like any other Muse album, is very smartly organized. This enables Muse to experiment with many musical styles without the album becoming too disjointed. “Uprising,” which opens the album, is one of Muse’s most pop-sounding songs.

The album was announced as being symphonic, so it came as a surprise with its electric quality and hints of Blondie. Track 2, “Resistance,” continues Muse’s us-versus-them theme with a paranoid call to arms. Matt Bellamy, lead singer and songwriter, has written a catchy chorus starting with the lovely idealist line, “Love is our resistance.”

The middle of the album is more reminiscent of Muse’s past work with some harder rock, but this is also where Muse’s borrowing becomes apparent. Muse has not been able to shake off comparisons to Radiohead since the group’s 1999 debut album “Showbiz.” So why Muse would decide to borrow from so many bands in “The Resistance” is beyond me.  The out-there “United States of Eurasia Collateral Damage” has stepped far into Queen territory, and I started singing ABBA’s “Lay All Your Love on Me” during “Unnatural Selection.” Bellamy told Spin magazine in the September issue, “We’d like to be remembered amongst the best bands in history. But we’ve got a lot of work to do.” I would love that to happen, but the borrowing is only increasing the work.

The album finishes with a three-part modern symphony, which Bellamy has been working on since 2006’s “Black Holes & Revelations.” It’s excessive and hedonistic, but also fantastic. This piano-driven “symphony” has a splendid combination of sweeping romantic strings, touches of Dominic Howard’s drums and Bellamy’s piercing, melancholy falsetto.

Muse should be commended for the chances they take with their music in trying to create something larger than their usual sound. Their control in their experiments is evident, but whether it succeeds is up for question. It could be deemed wildly brilliant and at the same time an unsatisfactory departure. If you have never listened to Muse and would like to, I would suggest starting with “Absolution” and “Black Holes & Revelations” to get a better sense of their overall sound, a sound that is soulful, liberating and ever maturing.

For fans of: Placebo, Killers, Franz Ferdinand
Tracks to download: ‘Resistance’ and ‘Unnatural Selection’

3.5/5 stars