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The Independent - Muse: Nice album – shame about the concert


Riveon

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I think the writer may have missed a fairly subtle element when it comes to Muse set lists. Usually there is zero anticipation for a good set list. We all expect them to play repetitive, formulaic set lists. So when we hear that they will be doing something new, even if we know exactly what that is, the novelty of it will only serve to increase to excitement.

 

Plus, it's Origin of Symmetry. No Muse fan would care if they knew it was coming, I think we all understand why this album is important.

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I think the writer may have missed a fairly subtle element when it comes to Muse set lists. Usually there is zero anticipation for a good set list. We all expect them to play repetitive, formulaic set lists. So when we hear that they will be doing something new, even if we know exactly what that is, the novelty of it will only serve to increase to excitement.

 

Plus, it's Origin of Symmetry. No Muse fan would care if they knew it was coming, I think we all understand why this album is important.

 

Yeah, even at Wembley (which don't get me wrong, I thought was great) I could anticipate pretty much every song coming, the biggest surprises were probably playing Ruled by Secrecy and playing MK Ultra third but besides from that you could almost completely know what song was coming, its more like they have slots than rotate in a fixed setlist mostly.

 

Obviously we know what's coming at Reading and Leeds in terms of playing OOS but never in a million years did I think I'd have the chance to see Screenager, Hyper Music, Dark Shines and Megalomania live.

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But surely the purpose of the retrospective gig is to take the fans back to that moment in time and pay tribute to what was a landmark in music. You can't really do that when the band in question is still creating similar-sounding albums

 

I don't think the last two albums were similar to the first three at all.OoS was the album that got me into Muse, not sure if I'd have been as much of a fan if SMBH and TR had been their only album releases.

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I don't think the last two albums were similar to the first three at all.OoS was the album that got me into Muse, not sure if I'd have been as much of a fan if SMBH and TR had been their only album releases.

 

I agree with you. I read the "similar sounding albums" bit and was like "WTF! Your ears need cleaning out".

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I get told by friends who don't like Muse that "all their songs sound the same" is one of the main reasons they don't like them. I usually recommend they listen to Showbiz and then The Resistance one after the other and see how they feel then, but this rarely works as they don't like Muse and therefore refuse to listen to them.

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I think that to decrease the problem of a predictable set list slightly they could just play the songs of OoS in a different order and/or intersperse them amongst songs off other albums.

 

This was what I thought when I first heard about them playing OoS in its entirety, because I think the first half of the album would be better played later at a gig, and I especially don't want the anti-climax of Feeling Good after hearing the likes of CE and Bliss.

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I get told by friends who don't like Muse that "all their songs sound the same" is one of the main reasons they don't like them. I usually recommend they listen to Showbiz and then The Resistance one after the other and see how they feel then, but this rarely works as they don't like Muse and therefore refuse to listen to them.

 

I don't get this at all. One of the main reasons I fell in love with Muse was that all their songs were different.

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I get told by friends who don't like Muse that "all their songs sound the same" is one of the main reasons they don't like them. I usually recommend they listen to Showbiz and then The Resistance one after the other and see how they feel then, but this rarely works as they don't like Muse and therefore refuse to listen to them.

 

I have the same thing. Really gets on my nerves when people are like that, they've only heard about two songs from the recent albums and claim they sound the same :mad: But then I do agree with LyraSilvertongue, that the reason I fell in love with Muse was because their songs sounded different. I could listen to all the albums without getting bored, and I hadn't had that with any other band. It just gets boring listening to the same thing for an hour.

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Plus, it's 10 years on from what the band regard as their first 'proper' album - surely two shows devoted to it and waving it goodbye is something to be celebrated?

 

Hear Hear ! i think a little induldgence doesnt hurt at all. And quite frankly i couldn't give a monkeys if they're at their peak or not (by whose definition anyhow).. the more obscure or unpopular they become means that the band are trying new things out.. kudos!

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I get told by friends who don't like Muse that "all their songs sound the same" is one of the main reasons they don't like them. I usually recommend they listen to Showbiz and then The Resistance one after the other and see how they feel then, but this rarely works as they don't like Muse and therefore refuse to listen to them.

 

You can always get new friends.

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When I hear people say that their songs sound the same I point them to Butterflies & Hurricanes

 

 

then Dead Star

then Blackout

then Undisclosed Desires

then Supermassive Black Hole

then Citizen Erased

 

etc.

 

 

Although, when I read about them saying that their albums sound similar, my immediate reaction was naaaah, but then I compared TR and OoS in my head, and realised that New Born and Unnatural Selection obviously share resemblances, and then Micro Cuts and MK Ultra (both 7th track on their albums) start off with some guitar thing, before drums and bass are introduced, some falsetto vocals and ending in drop D riffs

 

Although still overall each album sounds a lot different to each other

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When I hear people say that their songs sound the same I point them to Butterflies & Hurricanes

 

 

then Dead Star

then Blackout

then Undisclosed Desires

then Supermassive Black Hole

then Citizen Erased

 

etc.

 

 

Then Hysteria, then Micro Cuts, then Exogenesis, then Unnatural Selection, then Unintended, then City of Delusion, then Fury, then Apocalypse Please, then Cave, then Sunburn and so on and so on and so on.

 

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I think even though they announced a full album play there is still some unpredictability. OK so yeah people will know Muse will play all of OOS at the show, but that's the thing: They're playing all of OOS at the show. I don't think anyone could have predicted this during the rest of the tour when they were playing practically the same sets over and over.

It says this will take away from favorites from Absolution and Showbiz, but I think those favorites weren't really played anymore to begin with (only a few times in rarity).

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Hear Hear ! i think a little induldgence doesnt hurt at all. And quite frankly i couldn't give a monkeys if they're at their peak or not (by whose definition anyhow).. the more obscure or unpopular they become means that the band are trying new things out.. kudos!

Unfortunately, fans seem to be afraid of that, or don't like them trying new things (even though that's practically in the definition of Muse) Look what happened to The Resistance. I think its a shame that that's the way it is, because I think TR is a great album, but it doesn't have to be my favourite. Thus my signature... which is kind of ironic in this thread... anyway! haha!

 

Basically, the writer is trying to compare apples to oranges in many different ways. First, between Muse gigs, which you just can't do. Comparing an OOS setlist to their last tour, don't even talk about predictability. People going to those shows didn't wonder "I wonder what they're gonna play" because thats not why they went. And the R&L is not supposed to appeal to fans like that. 90% of the crowd will be diehards flying in from the Antarctic just to hear these songs that never get played. Even TR tour... people who had heard their radio singles came to check those songs out and whatever else they play. Yes, I enjoy that spontaneity at shows, but that just can't be a key element in everyone's show. And comparing two gigs of OOS to a giant reliving tour just doesn't make sense.

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Lupus. I like your signature.:happy: I didn't notice it until you pointed it out in this thread. :)

 

People don't want to relive the past all the time, well not most people, but there's no harm in doing it once in a while. This journo has no understanding of the significance of this at all and is not worth bothering with.

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I think the writer may have missed a fairly subtle element when it comes to Muse set lists. Usually there is zero anticipation for a good set list.

 

To be fair, the writer may not have written the article with the diehard Muse fans who attend multiple shows and follow setlists on the internet in mind. Most people at any given Muse concert would probably have little idea what setlist to expect.

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