Brob Posted August 31, 2011 Share Posted August 31, 2011 Review on MUSE performance at Reading. (Hope you can read the text - my scanner is too small for NME!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heartofsaturdaynight Posted August 31, 2011 Share Posted August 31, 2011 cheers for posting that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super Sammy! Posted August 31, 2011 Share Posted August 31, 2011 Fucking NME. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riveon Posted August 31, 2011 Share Posted August 31, 2011 Spend the entire year hyping the performance on every chance they get, and then they slag it off? This isn't the NME I'm used t- oh, I see. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dee3Dee Posted August 31, 2011 Share Posted August 31, 2011 Hating on Origin and hits saving the day? Fuck NME. Incompetent people. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryoma-kun Posted August 31, 2011 Share Posted August 31, 2011 NME can s*** my d***. OoS was performed to almost perfection at Reading while hits were good, but sloppy as hell. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CarpetBomber Posted August 31, 2011 Share Posted August 31, 2011 cheers for posting that. +1 Means I don't have to buy the pretentious drivel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pip Posted August 31, 2011 Share Posted August 31, 2011 Thank you for posting, now I know not to give the NME any of my pennies for this ridiculous article Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dan. Posted August 31, 2011 Share Posted August 31, 2011 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
forevermusic Posted August 31, 2011 Share Posted August 31, 2011 I bought it and reading it it seemed to balance it better than the nobend who wrote a blog review on their site at Leeds - it was a dream set for the hardcores, for the casuals it was probably confusing, but they are true in saying that the less-heard stuff was more interesting. Even if they did go in typical NME style and be as annoying as ever. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tofu Posted August 31, 2011 Share Posted August 31, 2011 Just noticed on the second page they say "Christ Wolstenholme". I thought this article was pretty fair, anyway. Annoying, but I didn't outright disagree with anything either…from a casual fan's perspective. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tofu Posted August 31, 2011 Share Posted August 31, 2011 transcript, for the hell of it: IMPERFECT SYMMETRY To play their second album in its entirety was a brave way to mark 10 years since its release, and Muse just about got away with it—but it was the greatest hits that really shot for the stars MAIN STAGE, LEEDS, FRIDAY From Muse's point of view, coming off the end of an album that's now almost two years old and with one eye on getting into the studio to record its follow-up, there was no compelling reason to headline Reading and Leeds this year. If they were going to do it—so the reasoning must have gone—it would have to be something special, something seminal, something people hadn't seen at one of their umpteen previous engagements at the festivals and football stadiums that have become like homes from home. Even so, the announcement that their 'something special' would be to play the whole of their second album—10 years old last month—was a bit of an eyebrow-raiser. The current vogue for playing classic albums in their entirety is not one you'd expect Muse to embrace, if only because it acknolwedges—however subtly—a certain sort of regression, a coming-to-terms with the fact that you're not quite as good as you used to be. However great the album in question, however triumphant the gig itself might prove, these shows can still feel like a celebration of Sick Boy from Trainspotting's unified theory of life: had it, lost it, gone forever. Given their habit of making each new endeavor more ambitious and outlandish than their last—not to mention the fact that they're still very much in their prime—such nostalgia seemed out of character. 'Origin Of Symmetry', too, is a strange choice of album for a gig like this. It wasn't their debut (although playing 'Showbiz' from start to finish is hardly the stuff of which great festival sets are made), their biggest-selling (that's 'Black Holes and Revelations') or even their best (it's all subjective, but 'Absolution' gets our vote). In terms of their career, however, it's probably their most important, standing out as the Muse-iest Muse album, the template for what they'd later become. But for the entry-level fans who hopped on the bandwagon after the last two albums—ie, the people who repeatedly fill Wembley to see them—it's a hard sell. Tonight, then, is an oddity: a curate's egg of a set from the biggest band in Britain, not in a small one-off venue, but to 50,000 people. And we'd be lying if we said it was entirely successful. Credit where it's due, though: the show looks back-to-front, top-to-bottom, balls-to-the-wall spectacular. The set-up is constructed behind a vast curtain that is raised in tandem with the twinkling piano line of 'New Born' to reveal a physical recreation of 'Origin…''s cover, with those distinctive esoteric antennae-cum-giant tuning forks erected all over the stage. They promised to push the envelope of what was possible at a festival, an given that the whole thing was thrown up in 45 minutes, we'd say they've succeeded. And that's before we even get to the flame cannons that erupt during 'Megalomania', or the eye-popping visuals projected throughout. The thought that's obviously gone into the production and the attention of detail on display—even the fretboard of Christ Wolstenholme's bass is studded with LEDs—is remarkable. Musically, too, it starts off superbly, with 'New Born''s jackhammering guitar riff and the towering, ethereal 'Bliss' providing an oasis of familiarity: 'Space Dementia', however, a sprawling slice of prog-baroque barminess that hasn't been seen on a setlist since about 2006, is met politely but hardly ecstatically. The ultimate irony is that, despite a mood of ambivalence that sets in among certain sections of the crowd (three songs in, the guy next to us is already calling out for 'Hysteria'), it's the less celebrated tunes that are most interesting, at least to our ears. 'Plug In Baby' and 'Feeling Good' are great and all, but it's not like you'll never hear them live again. That doesn't apply to songs like 'Micro Cuts' or 'Darkshines'. "We're celebrating 10 years since 'Origin Of Symmetry' came out," explains Matt Bellamy for all those still wondering what's going on after 'Citizen Erased'. "We fancied playing the whole fucking thing." An acquired taste it may be, but 'Origin…' only comprises half the set; the secound hour, which kicks off with 'Uprising', is almost comically overstuffed with massive tunes, reeled off with a debonair nonchalance. If the first half was characterised by the uncertainty of its success, the second is as sure a thing as it's possible to play at this festival. 'Supermassive Black Hole', 'Time Is Running Out', 'Starlight'…it's the mother of all safety nets, and the band themselves look a little more at ease on such familiar turf; without wishing to imply that his performance is in any way phoned-in (it's not) Bellamy probably could be lowered blindfolded into a pit of bloodlusty weasels and still send 'Knights Of Cydonia' spinning into the stratosphere. The second half is everything the first isn't: populist, comfortingly familiar, and far more suited to the occasion. Not to play those songs would be about as ballsy a move as Muse could pull off, but it would also be a gross dereliction of duty. Ultimately, though, this evening was always going to be defined by how 'Origin…' played. The answer? So-so, or as well as could have been expected. For the hardcore, it was a fitting send-off to a much-cherished album. For the masses, it was probably just confusing. You've got to admire Muse's stones in playing a difficult, cultish album to a huge, hit-ravenous crowd, but thank goodness they hedged their bets. Barry Nicolson Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MartinSM Posted August 31, 2011 Share Posted August 31, 2011 It's not actualy bad review most of the time, it's just when he gets to saying the hits were better and the crowd didn't get Origin. They fucking well did. At Leeds and Reading, pretty much the entire GC was there for Origin. Undisclosed was met by a quiet cheer at best. The roar for Hypermusic was incredible. But of course, the people next to him wanted Hysteria, so everyone wanted it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lauren. Posted August 31, 2011 Share Posted August 31, 2011 Poor Muse, they must be so confused. They get slagged off because they don't do what the fans want, and when they eventually do what the fans want they get slagged off anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bs Posted August 31, 2011 Share Posted August 31, 2011 Burn it. Burn it all. To be honest NME have always slagged off Muse for everything they do. Arsehats. Poor Muse, they must be so confused. They get slagged off because they don't do what the fans want, and when they eventually do what the fans want they get slagged off anyway. They just can't get it riiii-iiiii-iiii-iiiight! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
29pearls Posted August 31, 2011 Share Posted August 31, 2011 Poor Muse, they must be so confused. They get slagged off because they don't do what the fans want, and when they eventually do what the fans want they get slagged off anyway. Naw, I know you're just being rhetorical, but they're not confused. They know they gave hardcore fans what they wanted, did it brilliantly, but have made pretty clear that it's a one-off, both in interviews and at the concert itself (saw in gigs thread that Matt said 'thanks for putting up with us' at one point during OoS). With that article's view in mind, is it any wonder that only the hits portion was shown on BBC? Face it people, even in the UK the casuals have won. Muse know it well, given the setlists for this tour. I just hope that they keep at least 1 or 2 slots in the future for rarities (coughDarkshinescough). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bs Posted August 31, 2011 Share Posted August 31, 2011 Spot on. We're just outnumbered sadly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mick4Kizna Posted August 31, 2011 Share Posted August 31, 2011 I'm afraid that publications like this will discourage Muse from doing these kinds of things again. It probably won't, but it's just another reason for them to keep playing the hits and the hits only. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
That Little Animal Posted August 31, 2011 Share Posted August 31, 2011 That's hardly a negative article. Just the title's a bit big and harsh. It makes sense to question their decision to pull one for the fans at a festival, instead of at a Muse only gig. Kind of an arrogant move from the band to assume the entire audience would be on board with it, since not all 50,000 of them are Musers who've been whining about set lists for the last couple of years. Now, from my perspective they should have gone on and played Showbiz in it's entirety after OOS, but I think what NME is saying makes sense. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MuseTheMuscleMuseum Posted August 31, 2011 Share Posted August 31, 2011 That's hardly a negative article. Just the title's a bit big and harsh. It makes sense to question their decision to pull one for the fans at a festival, instead of at a Muse only gig. Kind of an arrogant move from the band to assume the entire audience would be on board with it, since not all 50,000 of them are Musers who've been whining about set lists for the last couple of years. Now, from my perspective they should have gone on and played Showbiz in it's entirety after OOS, but I think what NME is saying makes sense. If anything, the setlist should've been OoS in it's entirety followed by Absolution in it's entirety Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
That Little Animal Posted August 31, 2011 Share Posted August 31, 2011 If anything, the setlist should've been OoS in it's entirety followed by Absolution in it's entirety Also wouldn't have minded that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pip Posted August 31, 2011 Share Posted August 31, 2011 I've never been one to get upset over 'bad' press for Muse and I'm not upset by this. I just think they've got it wrong. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dekza Posted August 31, 2011 Share Posted August 31, 2011 Poor Muse, they must be so confused. They get slagged off because they don't do what the fans want, and when they eventually do what the fans want they get slagged off anyway. They didn't give me what I wanted... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beibi Posted August 31, 2011 Share Posted August 31, 2011 I see where they are coming from, that's what I said playing OOS in order was a bad idea. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
That Little Animal Posted August 31, 2011 Share Posted August 31, 2011 I see where they are coming from, that's what I said playing OOS in order was a bad idea. It was a great idea, but an odd decision to do it at a festival. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.