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Black Holes & Revelations - A Concept Album?


5clone

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I don't normally like making threads because of anything negative I may accidentally make but anyway back to the point.

 

Me and my friend have been thinking that BH&R's is a concept album albeit a muddled up one, as if Muse have done this on purpose to hide the meaning, and it sort of makes sense if you read the lyrics, but finding the right order is tricky and according to this friend, Muse played the album in full at a gig but in the right order so what do you guys think?

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elaborate please .....

 

Right, if you look closely at the lyrics each one has a main theme and it's politics (apart from starlight but I'll move on to that later) and it's almost always from one person's point of view not several, such as City of Delusion, Soldiers Poem, and Assassin, it's clearly the same character because they are all about soldiers, then you can tie that with Invincible which is about a soldier again making a speech, and then there's KoC which is clearly the soldier making another or voicing his opinion, now Starlight is the beginning of the album from a concept point of view, the other songs I've yet to read into any detail.

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and according to this friend, Muse played the album in full at a gig but in the right order so what do you guys think?

 

They did for one gig, but plenty of bands have done that. Doesn't mean anything, otherwise the Chemical Brothers are about to release a concept album by that logic.

 

Muse have never done a concept album to be honest, just a general theme. But some fans like to read into it all and make their own stories, which is more fun than any intended purpose.

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They did for one gig, but plenty of bands have done that. Doesn't mean anything, otherwise the Chemical Brothers are about to release a concept album by that logic.

 

Muse have never done a concept album to be honest, just a general theme. But some fans like to read into it all and make their own stories, which is more fun than any intended purpose.

 

Well I think Absolution was the start of a general theme for me and I suppose your right and thats your opinion, but it does seem that way the album, and maybe that gig was nothing maybe it was a rumour they played it in a different order.

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Well I think Absolution was the start of a general theme for me and I suppose your right and thats your opinion, but it does seem that way the album, and maybe that gig was nothing maybe it was a rumour they played it in a different order.

 

Concept albums have a story running throughout.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deltron_3030_(album) - Pretty funny example.

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They did for one gig, but plenty of bands have done that. Doesn't mean anything, otherwise the Chemical Brothers are about to release a concept album by that logic.

 

Muse have never done a concept album to be honest, just a general theme. But some fans like to read into it all and make their own stories, which is more fun than any intended purpose.

 

BHaR in order live didn't work at all, sounded so disjointed and stop start. If it is a concept album it's a bad one :LOL:

 

Chemical Brothers worked ok if only because the visuals were so interlinked.

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Yeah i heard of that one, but not all concept albums necessarily have a story as such, and I do think if you put the lyrics together they do create some kind of story.

 

Well songs about the same theme would mean a lot of albums are concept albums.

 

Could write 12 love songs for example and claim it's a concept.

 

If you were to write a few different songs about love; falling in love, breaking up, meeting someone new and then breaking up and put that into an order, say starting out in a relationship falling apart, then breaking up, feeling like shit, then meeting someone new, falling in love with them, then things start going sour and then breaking up and then you have a concept album :)

 

BH&R doesn't appear to work as one when you start trying to draw similarities between say, KOC & Supermassive.

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BHaR in order live didn't work at all, sounded so disjointed and stop start. If it is a concept album it's a bad one :LOL:

 

Chemical Brothers worked ok if only because the visuals were so interlinked.

 

Well no wonder it's in the wrong order:)

 

Well songs about the same theme would mean a lot of albums are concept albums.

 

Could write 12 love songs for example and claim it's a concept.

 

If you were to write a few different songs about love; falling in love, breaking up, meeting someone new and then breaking up and put that into an order, say starting out in a relationship falling apart, then breaking up, feeling like shit, then meeting someone new, falling in love with them, then things start going sour and then breaking up and then you have a concept album :)

 

The "Britpop" Blur albums were concept albums but without a story, but yeah that is the basic definition of a concept album.

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Well no wonder it's in the wrong order:)

 

Why would you write a concept album and then jumble the tracks up? and then go out and play it live in the order you settled on. Makes absolutely no sense.

 

I fail to see how a concept album can have songs about assassinating political leaders and taking revenge on the state alongside songs about wanting a hug and being love struck (possibly in some sort of night club).

 

Not to mention the aliens.

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I'm torn between whether it is, or it isn't to be honest.

 

Muse write, or used to write (in the good old days ;)), about space, the apocalypse and the same sorta themes again and again and again. It's not a concept, just a subject Matt seems to be really into.

 

Half of Muse's lyrics don't mean anything.

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Why would you write a concept album and then jumble the tracks up? and then go out and play it live in the order you settled on. Makes absolutely no sense.

 

I fail to see how a concept album can have songs about assassinating political leaders and taking revenge on the state alongside songs about wanting a hug and being love struck (possibly in some sort of night club).

 

Not to mention the aliens.

 

I did say before that Muse put them in that order to hide the true meaning, and it doesn't make sense unless you look it like that.

 

Starlight mentioned "the ship is taking me far away" remember? that's just the beginning and Exo Politics sort of links with Assassin and Invincible because it's almost as if the "character" is making a speech.

 

There was a thread similiar to this before. I think the person had a good argument as to why BHAR was a concept album in their mind.

 

I searched but i couldn't find it damn, every subject's been done before!

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The resistance works pretty well as a concept album.

 

1) The big brother government takes over / battles start in Uprising.

2) It continues and worsens in Resistance, two people find love amidst all the chaos

3) Develop their love In Undisclosed Desires.

4) USoE has the conflict going global, the lovers are seperated and or captured

5) Guiding Light is one or both declaring love after being seperated presumably thinking they face death.

6) Unnatural Selection sees one nation come out strong, but everyone else has nothing left after the war / conflict / event.

7) MK Ultra has the nation employing sinister methods to ensure this never happens again, regardless of morality.

8) I Belong to You has the two finally reconcile after surviving it all.

9) Exogenesis can either be its own seperate story or a continuation that the world does finally fall due to mankind's influence.

 

 

Or at least that's how I envision it

 

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Art school kids, so they would say they were making concept albums :LOL:

 

No they didn't personally say that as far as I'm aware.

 

1) The big brother government takes over / battles start in Uprising.

2) It continues and worsens in Resistance, two people find love amidst all the chaos

3) Develop their love In Undisclosed Desires.

4) USoE has the conflict going global, the lovers are seperated and or captured

5) Guiding Light is one or both declaring love after being seperated presumably thinking they face death.

6) Unnatural Selection sees one nation come out strong, but everyone else has nothing left after the war / conflict / event.

7) MK Ultra has the nation employing sinister methods to ensure this never happens again, regardless of morality.

8) I Belong to You has the two finally reconcile after surviving it all.

9) Exogenesis can either be its own seperate story or a continuation that the world does finally fall due to mankind's influence.

That is actually very good, it does make more sense than Black Holes, but Exo-genesis is more seperate but you CAN put it in as the same story.

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When did they play BHAR in order?

 

Nottingham Arena and second Wembley Arena dates in 2006

 

Then an encore of:

 

Sunburn (Piano)

New Born

Plug In Baby

Feeling Good (Wembley only)

Bliss (Wembley only)

Hysteria

Time Is Running Out

Stockholm Syndrome

 

so yeah.....Nottingham got done over :LOL:

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Nottingham Arena and second Wembley Arena dates in 2006

 

Then an encore of:

 

Sunburn (Piano)

New Born

Plug In Baby

Feeling Good (Wembley only)

Bliss (Wembley only)

Hysteria

Time Is Running Out

Stockholm Syndrome

 

so yeah.....Nottingham got done over :LOL:

 

I felt it was at Wembley but I wasn't sure.

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Concept albums are only so if they're written to be a concept album.

 

I think it's difficult to apply that logic retrospectively to an album, or to an album that simply features a prominent theme. Muse have never produced a true concept album, thematically or musically.

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Concept albums are only so if they're written to be a concept album.

 

I think it's difficult to apply that logic retrospectively to an album, or to an album that simply features a prominent theme. Muse have never produced a true concept album, thematically or musically.

 

I swear Matt's discussed it as having an overarcing story in a couple of interviews.

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