Ever since the incredible performance at Wembley, the world has been pondering what an earth will Muse do next! Will they create the rumoured one track album idea, regress to earlier times, or continue along the Muse vector of surprise and awesome. Yes, it seems obvious now that Muse decided on the surprise and awesome.
The Resistance is due for release on the 14th of September 2009; however, I am very fortunate to get my hands on a copy prematurely. Now, I realise I have been slightly cheeky by playing the album before the release date, however, this puts me in the unique position of being able to review the album for you song by song. I will of course make up for my naughtiness by buying The Resistance when it is released by the Muse Gods.
01. “Uprising”
The first song of The Resistance, “Uprising” is much simpler than Muse’s usual. Matt Bellamy’s voice is deep and serious, as is the overall sound of the song. Something Muse fans will recognise right away, are the themes of conspiracy and rebellion. Matt sings about how the public are kept in-line by paranoia, drugs and red-tape. The song unfolds to reveal a unification and a revolution/resistance against the higher powers.
With all the green belts wrapped around our minds
And endless red tape to keep the truth confined
02. “Resistance”
An opening piano and drum sequence that sounds almost 80’s! The chorus of this song is incredibly catchy, with very Queen-like backing vocals, with Matt slipping in lines of lyrics in-between. This is then followed by the lyric “Love is our resistance, they keep us apart and they won’t stop breaking us down”.
Quell your prayers for love and peace
You’ll wake the thought police
We can hide the truth inside
03. “Undisclosed Desires”
Along with Unnatural Selection this has to be one of my favourite songs of the album. In fact you can’t go wrong with any song starting with “U” on The Resistance! The combination of Matt and Chris’s vocals works perfectly together and remind me of when Muse perform TSP live. The lyrics of this song are beautiful:
I want to reconcile the violence in your heart
I want to recognise your beauty’s not just a mask
I want to exorcise the demons from your past
I want to satisfy the undisclosed desires in your heart
04. “United States Of Eurasia (Collateral Damage)”
When I first heard this song I had to say the different sounds like Chopin, Queen and Lawrence of Arabia confused me, but it works! Matt’s magical falsetto makes a few appearences, particularly noticeable near the end where “Eurasia” is chanted time after time. Powerful lyrics talk about the hopelessness of war.
You and me fall in line
To be punished for unproven crimes!
And we know that there is no one we can trust;
Our ancient heroes, they are turning to dust!And these wars, they can’t be won
Does anyone know or care how they begun?
They just promise to go on
And on and on
But soon we will see
There can be only one
05. “Guiding Light”
No matter how often I listen to this song I picture people singing Christian Rock around a campfire – Not to say that it isn’t a great song, however! The snap back to guitar solos is very apparent after listening to the first four songs. Sway and sing these lines slowly and you will have some idea of the overall sound:
Pure Hearts and stumble
In my hands they crumble
And fragile and stripped to the core
I can’t hurt you anymore
06. “Unnatural Selection”
After listening to the album only half a dozen time or so, I don’t want to choose a favourite song at this stage, however, this is definitely a contender! The song begins slowly with the infamous church organ, which is followed by an explosion of guitar, drums and lyrics of epic proportions. Once you think you know where this song is going, it surprises you again by adding another level of pure Muse. The ending of the song is a perfect example of this, and is one of the best song endings I have heard. If the HAARP and Absolution tour had a bastard song child – this would be it!
They’ll laugh as they watch us fall
The lucky don’t care at all
No chance for fate
It’s unnatural selection
I want the truth!
07. “MK Ultra”
The songs name “MK Ultra” is from the code name of a secret mind-control and chemical interrogation research program, called “Project MK-ULTRA” run by the Office of Scientific Intelligence at the CIA in the 1950s. Drugs were given covertly to members of the public with the aim to manipulate the mental states and brain functions of individuals. This song is a combination of rock, metal and electric.
How much deception can you take?
How many lies will you create?
How much longer until you break?
Your minds about to fall
08. “I Belong To You” (Mon coeur s’ouvre à ta voix)
This song is like sprinting in to a patch of wet tarmac, and is one of the slowest points in “The Resistance”. A quick Google reveals more information about the song title. The most surprising part of the song is the clarinet and French lyrics, the combination of which prompted me to tweet:
“There are some crazy synth and French woodwind sounds going on in I Belong To You! No I haven’t gone crazy!”
EDIT: This song has grown on me tremendously since listening to the album several times! There are some truly stunning lyrics in this song. An combinations of instruments that no other band could pull off!
09. “Exogenesis: Symphony Part I” (Overture)
Exogenesis is a hypothesis that postulates that life on Earth was originally seeded from elsewhere in the Universe, hence, the name of the next part, “Cross Pollination”. Imagine Radiohead and Chopin locked in a room with Muse controlling them like string puppets.
10. “Exogenesis: Symphony Part II” (Cross Pollination)
Part 2 changes genres during the song, with the middle section being an awesome surprise!
Spread, our codes to the stars,
You can rescue us all.
11. “Exogenesis: Symphony Part III” (Redemption)
Part 3 builds and builds until it errupts with an explosion of Bellamy’s and Wolstenholme’s vocals.
Let’s start over again
Why can’t we start it over again?
Exogenesis has been mentioned by the band several times as a “15-minute space-rock solo” in 2008. However, in 2007 Matt called it “a few bits and pieces that we kind of set to one side that were…a little bit too progressive and symphonic for [Black Holes and Revelations]“. Read from that what you will but to me that sounds like it was an idea from 2005. The orchestral elements of Exogenesis are by organised by Matthew Bellamy. He said that he wanted to do this because he “never wanted to collaborate with a string arranger as they may make it “theirs”.
There is no other band on any planet, doing anything like Muse; not even Muse themselves! The Resistance is a perfect example of a concept album so surprising and experimental that it is just plain majestic.
Related Posts
Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.
2 Responses
[...] If you haven’t read my review of “The Resistance” yet, you can do so here. [...]
Great article!, you explain the songs perfectly. I agree with you that not even MUSE stick to a genre, as all of the songs on “The Resistance” differ completely, It’s a fantastic idea, might get people that are normally interested in another genre into MUSE.
Jack.