Turkeyleader Posted November 7, 2009 Share Posted November 7, 2009 Well Absolution is my favourite album of theirs, with Origin trailing not too far behind that so I suppose I prefer the older stuff but that's not too say I haven't enjoyed their recent efforts either. Black Holes had some killer moments (Knights, Assassin, Map, Hoodoo, City of Delusion) but I think was let down by a couple of boring moments (Starlight, Exo). The Resistance I think is amazing for the most part but just seems to be missing a certain something I can't put my finger on to make it as good to me as Origin or Abso. I guess Guiding Light being my most hated album track from Muse ever doesn't help. So in order: Absolution, Origin, Resistance, Black Holes/Showbiz. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
funkadelic Posted November 7, 2009 Share Posted November 7, 2009 I read this, and it interested me a lot. I think that jumping between genres is actually a good quality instead of a nuisance. To me, that is actually more experimental than anything. That is also one of the things I love about Muse - that they are experimental and don't lock themselves down in one genre. In my opinion, that shows true musicianship, classing them as musicians and artists instead of just rock band members. I guess I've always taken for granted that everyone else thought this, but apparently they don't? I wonder how many people share this way of thinking, and how many would simply prefer that they locked down on a single genre, and stayed in that? But maybe that is for a thread in itself... Now I wonder if I should actually start it. I agree with you. The fact that Muse dabble in other genres and blend them in with their own sound is one of the aspects which make them my favourite band. Some Muse fans are simply more partial to the less in-your-face approach of the first couple of albums, which is understandable because BH&R was a mess and rock is arguably what their best at. I've got a wide range of music, personally, Muse doing Muse is more interesting than Muse being *insert genre* when I probably already have stuff from that genre anyway. See, I'm the other way around. It's because of Muse that I've become more open minded to other styles of music and have in turn discovered a lot of great bands in those genres. I do agree about Muse being Muse though. That's what I like about The Resistance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
haze015 Posted November 7, 2009 Share Posted November 7, 2009 I agree with you. The fact that Muse dabble in other genres and blend them in with their own sound is one of the aspects which make them my favourite band. Some Muse fans are simply more partial to the less in-your-face approach of the first couple of albums, which is understandable because BH&R was a mess and rock is arguably what their best at. That doesn't make any sense. OOS has a lot of genres mixed in, but crucially, sound like Muse while mixing them in! Absolution onwards, it gets a bit messy. I won't put the last 3 albums on and listen to them, if I want genre hopping, I'll leave Itunes on shuffle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
funkadelic Posted November 7, 2009 Share Posted November 7, 2009 That's what I was trying to say. They used elements of other genres but did it in a more clever way. Sorry, I'm just not very good at putting my thoughts into words. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raiko Posted November 7, 2009 Share Posted November 7, 2009 I read this, and it interested me a lot. I think that jumping between genres is actually a good quality instead of a nuisance. To me, that is actually more experimental than anything. That is also one of the things I love about Muse - that they are experimental and don't lock themselves down in one genre. In my opinion, that shows true musicianship, classing them as musicians and artists instead of just rock band members. I guess I've always taken for granted that everyone else thought this, but apparently they don't? I wonder how many people share this way of thinking, and how many would simply prefer that they locked down on a single genre, and stayed in that? But maybe that is for a thread in itself... Now I wonder if I should actually start it. I'm loving the multiple genres the band are experimenting with at the minute, but it gets a bit too much when you put them together on a single album. The variation in styles destroy the flow of the last two albums. They should really pick a genre and go with that for a full album and then pick another genre and do the same with that. It means we get a fresh sound with each album rather than two recent albums that are comparable to each other. Imagine an album with United States of Eurasia, City of Delusion, Hoodoo, Soldiers Poem and Exogenesis, or another with Uprising, Starlight, UD, Supermassive and Knights?. They'd be two completely different albums with better flow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
futurophu Posted November 7, 2009 Share Posted November 7, 2009 perhaps they could genre skip on b-sides Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoodoo? Youdoo! Posted November 7, 2009 Share Posted November 7, 2009 I think you need that mixture of genres to make the album more interesting though. For instance, many fans had an issue with 'undisclosed desires' but the album is made better for having this mixture! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wingardium LevioSIA Posted November 7, 2009 Share Posted November 7, 2009 like you said i hold a lot more respect for albums like showbiz and OOS which are based more on their rawer 3 piece sound, rather than crazy amounts of synth to support the songs, i do like their more recent stuff and the classical additions and stuff are nice but it would be nice if they were just plain simple awesome. I agree with this. I do respect the earlier albums more, because in general, I like when a band performs everything themselves rather than getting in loads of extra musicians. This is why I find some "solo artists" so annoying, as they take credit for so many people's hard work when all they do themselves is sing a bit. If I was a successful musician, I'd do as much as possible myself, and then make a special point of it when somebody else is involved. So if I wrote Exogenesis, then the titles would be even longer than they already are, with a big personnel list. I still think what Muse do with extra musicians is fantastic of course. On the genre-hopping argument, I must say I like it. It's a different type of experimentation compared with OoS, but it still works really well. The Resistance does go overboard in a way, trying too many new things rather than expanding on styles they tried out previously, but then it is a very overboard album, so it works to its advantage. Next time I'd like to hear them develop some of the ideas from The Resistance and do some different stuff using the same influences. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ella Posted November 9, 2009 Share Posted November 9, 2009 How about just Absolution? It's my fav. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
museyness Posted November 9, 2009 Share Posted November 9, 2009 I became a fan after BH&R came out, and those were the first songs I heard from muse before I looked into them a bit more...but I'm totally in love with OOS, so I'd say that I'm more of a Absolution-and-before lover But at the same time I really like quite a bit on BH&R and the resistance as well!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockwellumrocks Posted November 9, 2009 Share Posted November 9, 2009 Before Absolution IMO. Showbiz, Hullabaloo and Absolution are just too good. Muse really have changed a lot from Absolution onwards so I quite like the older albums. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lensip max Posted November 9, 2009 Share Posted November 9, 2009 Absolution and prior. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mizutsu Posted November 9, 2009 Share Posted November 9, 2009 I have listened to Muse ever since Absolution came out, and that is my favorite album of course. However it seems to me that even though their style has varied greatly throughout the years, they tend to have that "You know it's Muse" sort of style consistent, which is why I love them so. It's not subjective as to whether Absolution is their 'marker' for noticing how they've changed since then, but as to how their styles were in each album. Showbiz is marked for its driving piano, guitar, and basslines. Origin of Symmetry is marked for its guitar riffs, sound effects, and use of synthesizer. Absolution is marked for its prominent use of piano and bass. Black Holes and Revelations is marked for its guitar parts, growing symphony lines, and use of voice layering. The Resistance is marked for its prominent use of symphony pieces, piano use, stylization of drums, and driving guitar riffs. It's a matter of what you like and dislike from each album. I am personally more fond of Muse's use of piano and piano parts, hence why I like Absolution and The Resistance more than the others. However, if someone was to stumble upon Origin of Symmetry with no previous encounters with Muse, but with a great liking of guitar manipulation and low bass parts, they would find that this album would be magnificent, but doubting the others because of their different styles. No, Absolution isn't the marker from "good to bad", seeing as each album has a distinct noticeable style from each other, creating the selection of music 'progression' in which we all love so much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SlaveToTheGrave Posted November 9, 2009 Share Posted November 9, 2009 No, Absolution isn't the marker from "good to bad", seeing as each album has a distinct noticeable style from each other, creating the selection of music 'progression' in which we all love so much. Agreed. I don't buy into this 'Muse has gone mainstream' rubbish that people are piping on about. Absolution and The Resistance are my two favourite albums, but I also adore Showbiz. Like Mizutsu said, the question is so difficult to answer because a marker can't really be put down (as of yet) as, in my opinion, Muse's success has remained fairly consistent. I have been listening to Muse since Showbiz, and the only album I failed to relate to was BH&R - but then Assassin and Supermassive Black Hole are two of my favourites. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dead_Star_Danni Posted November 10, 2009 Share Posted November 10, 2009 I can't believe im saying this... but AFTER. I can't help what my ears like lol. xoxo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
haze015 Posted November 10, 2009 Share Posted November 10, 2009 I'm loving the multiple genres the band are experimenting with at the minute, but it gets a bit too much when you put them together on a single album. The variation in styles destroy the flow of the last two albums. They should really pick a genre and go with that for a full album and then pick another genre and do the same with that. It means we get a fresh sound with each album rather than two recent albums that are comparable to each other. Imagine an album with United States of Eurasia, City of Delusion, Hoodoo, Soldiers Poem and Exogenesis, or another with Uprising, Starlight, UD, Supermassive and Knights?. They'd be two completely different albums with better flow. This In a way they've ended up repeating themselves without having to repeat the music. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nuvemroxa Posted November 11, 2009 Share Posted November 11, 2009 well, i ADORE the pre-absolution rock sound (and unnatural selection is totally my fave song on resistance , but i really like the direction they've taken, as well. even if I've always thought of "old muse" including absolution, that's some kind of a transition between old and new style, i guess. and "new muse" is black holes and after. but that's most likely cause i turned a fan in 2006. edit: and I agree totally with Raiko ^^ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KockAnders Posted November 12, 2009 Share Posted November 12, 2009 I'm loving the multiple genres the band are experimenting with at the minute, but it gets a bit too much when you put them together on a single album. The variation in styles destroy the flow of the last two albums. They should really pick a genre and go with that for a full album and then pick another genre and do the same with that. It means we get a fresh sound with each album rather than two recent albums that are comparable to each other. I think having to be genre-specific for an entire album (assuming an album is ~12 songs, 50 minutes of music) is quite a tall order, and wouldn't leave much to experimentation because of the time it makes to make one of those. However, Matt was speaking, sometime in the past, about going away from the idea of albums, and simply just produce a lot of no-album singles (like Dead Star/In your world), then have a "best of" collection now and then. Maybe they could merge both those ideas, and make singles with 3-4 songs that all share the same influences/genres, then begin on a wholly different chapter on the next single. Maybe they were planning this all along? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
haze015 Posted November 12, 2009 Share Posted November 12, 2009 I think having to be genre-specific for an entire album (assuming an album is ~12 songs, 50 minutes of music) is quite a tall order, and wouldn't leave much to experimentation because of the time it makes to make one of those. Lots of people manage it. There's nothing to suggest that there won't be any 'experimentation' either. Having different genres for each song isn't necessarily experimentation, you could quite easily pull 12 genres out of a hat and make a song within that genre based on cliches. Fortunately Muse aren't doing that. Yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Apocalyptic Gerbil Posted November 12, 2009 Share Posted November 12, 2009 How about just Absolution? It's my fav. This! OoS is my favourite album but Muse were at their peak during the absolution days, especially live performances! Just look at this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JSNyIK1C8V8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heavy_Cross Posted November 12, 2009 Share Posted November 12, 2009 I prefer pre, just because I really like that old rock sound and weird experimantation (Plug In Baby intro, Micro Cuts,..). Although when I listen to the albums fully BHaR is my fav, simply because it's like the only album that really tells me a story. The other ones rather seem to tell an event in different perspectives or just talk bout different themes. So BHaR would score the best in my "concept album" category:p I grew up with Muse (they were ALOT on the telly) and they formed my music taste, especially with OoS and Hullabaloo (not by any coincidence my fav albums), their action on stage was also much more vital in those days:happy: I still like them, but Resistance sounds like a new Muse, totally different from any previous work. I still loved BHaR, because of more (hard) rock songs (think KoC, MotP and such) and Absolution was quite a disappointment to me even though it has some pearls on it. Long text, but I could talk bout Muse for AGES!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hat Posted November 12, 2009 Share Posted November 12, 2009 I prefer pre, just because I really like that old rock sound and weird experimantation (Plug In Baby intro, Micro Cuts,..). Although when I listen to the albums fully BHaR is my fav, simply because it's like the only album that really tells me a story. The other ones rather seem to tell an event in different perspectives or just talk bout different themes. So BHaR would score the best in my "concept album" category:p I grew up with Muse (they were ALOT on the telly) and they formed my music taste, especially with OoS and Hullabaloo (not by any coincidence my fav albums), their action on stage was also much more vital in those days:happy: I still like them, but Resistance sounds like a new Muse, totally different from any previous work. I still loved BHaR, because of more (hard) rock songs (think KoC, MotP and such) and Absolution was quite a disappointment to me even though it has some pearls on it. Long text, but I could talk bout Muse for AGES!!! Doens't TR tell a story through the whole album? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wingardium LevioSIA Posted November 12, 2009 Share Posted November 12, 2009 Doens't TR tell a story through the whole album? That's what I thought! It's the most concepty concept album they've done! And I wouldn't call BH&R a concept album at all... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ally101 Posted November 12, 2009 Share Posted November 12, 2009 I prefer Absolution and the work prior to that but I do love BHaR but The Resistance lets it down. I think the earlier albums, including BHaR have an energy, more so in the earlier albums. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hamfluff13 Posted November 12, 2009 Share Posted November 12, 2009 Its hard cuz I love them all and Map of the Problematique is my favorite. But Showbiz is my second favorite and Citizen Erased. I guess I like the first ones best tho Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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