The Resistance - One Year On

[Shannon.]

It's been nearly a year and it's still at number 28 in the album chart.

[Raiko]

Well, isn't that the case here?

 

I guess what I meant by popularity was more to do with how successful the album had been, compared to something that might get great reviews and sell next to nothing.

[croekk]

01 Exogenesis: Symphony, Part 1: Overture

02 Exogenesis: Symphony, Part 2: Cross-Pollination

03 Uprising

04 I Belong to You / Mon cœur s'ouvre à ta voix

05 Undisclosed Desires

06 United States of Eurasia / Collateral Damage

07 MK Ultra

08 Resistance

09 Unnatural Selection

10 Exogenesis: Symphony, Part 3: Redemption

 

That's how I listen to the album. For some reason it's much better that way in my opinion. I like The Resistance but it's still probably the worst Muse album. Apart from the brillant Exogenesis there is no real standout song. They're all more or less the same quality with Eurasia a bit better and MK Ultra a bit weaker than average. Overall I like Muse to be much darker and less poppy. I really hope that's not the direction that the band is going in the future although recent setlists might be an indication of that. I want them to write more songs like Hoodoo, Ruled by Secrecy, Space Dementia and the likes!

 

Oh and Guiding Light has been erased from my memory.

 

7/10

[Bestbandever]

I've gotta say, but overall, my opinion on The Resistance hasn't changed all that much. What I thought was, "Oh, it'll grow on me," which is only partially true. For some unbelieveable reason, Guiding Light has grown the most on me. It's like I listened to the cheese so much I like it. Which I do. Here's a quick best/worst two songs

Best: USoE

Worst: I Belong to You

 

And I AM SAYING GUIDING LIGHT IS A 8.5/10. Go on, flame me

[forevermusic]

I think I'll give a track by track

 

Uprising: I like it. Very nommy bass groove and guitar flourishes that make the new series Dr. Who theme tune sound like crap.

Resistance: The drums sound good but I find the intro and outro as overdone and the chorus as a bit shit - only the 'could be wrong's save the chorus from being too Starlighty. I prefer the single edit - more compact and to the point.

Undisclosed Desires: Better live with more haunting keyboardy noises, the keytar and the light-up drums. On record it just feels like a reject from Depeche Mode's Violator.

United States of Eurasia: Better recorded with the Harry Potter-style strings and the SIA vocals sound so much better. Feels oddly flat live. The Collateral Damage bit is unneccessary.

Guiding Light: I like this on studio - it sounds bleak but powerful, particulary on the drums. But live its just flat. Neutron Star Collision is a better song.

Unnatural Selection: It's alright but the riff feels too much like New Born. The breakdown is fantastic though.

MK Ultra: My favourite song when it came out and still is. And it is a good rocker live (from YT and the Turin vid).

I Belong To You: Made me laugh out loud a lot on release. Find it a bit dull now... apart from the Delilah cover. Still better than the godawful New Moon remix.

Exogenesis: It is an amazing piece of music. But one I've gone off a bit - I didn't like Cross-Pollination that much and I couldn't listen to Redemption during times I was down as it is a song that brings tears to my eyes. Overture is the only part I play regulary but live is a very weak track.

 

So overall I like it less then I did at the start of the new year - then I still really liked the album but since then its gone downhill and both Origin and Black Holes have overtaken it in my preference, and Showbiz is much closer. On some tracks Showbiz is indeed a better record - the Cave/Showbiz double-header is so much better than the USoE/GL double-header.

 

Album Order:

1. Absolution

2. Origin

3. Black Holes

4. Resistance

5. Showbiz

[Dangerman]

I am the only one who would rate BH&R the lowest?

 

Though back on topic i would give TR as a collection of songs a 7.5/10 or as a album about the same as pitchfork scored (not the same reasons just because of consistency really).

 

But i would rate the albums as (C for rating as a collection of songs and A for rating as an album):

 

1.OOS: C9.5/A8.5.

2.Absoultion: C8.5/A7.0.

3.TR:C7.5/A6.0.

4.Showbiz:C7.0/A6.5.

5.BH&R:C6.0/A4.5.

[croekk]

I am the only one who would rate BH&R the lowest?

 

Though back on topic i would give TR as a collection of songs a 7.5/10 or as a album about the same as pitchfork scored (not the same reasons just because of consistency really).

 

But i would rate the albums as (C for rating as a collection of songs and A for rating as an album):

 

1.OOS: C9.5/A8.5.

2.Absoultion: C8.5/A7.0.

3.TR:C7.5/A6.0.

4.Showbiz:C7.0/A6.5.

5.BH&R:C6.0/A4.5.

 

Well it has been discussed at length how Black Holes suffered from poor mastering/the loudness war. But musically it's just brillant. Probably my favourite Muse album with OOS a close second.

[datastorm]

What's left of Resistance:

 

Uprising

United States of Eurasia

Unnatural Selection

MK Ultra

 

+

 

Exogenesis

[bruce57]

I think its time to stop opening with Uprising. Its alright, but there have been much better openers I think theres already been a thread about this

[musse]

I can't believe it's been almost a year

Is till remember the hunting game.. I love Muse for their originality

Regarding the album, I absolutely loved it at the beginning, and although I may not listen to it so frequently I still love it.

Uprising, Resistance, MK Ultra and Undisclosed Desires were my favourites since the first time I'd listened to them

It took me a while to get into the Exogenesis Symphony, and was stucked into Part 2 for a while.. then moved on to Part 3.. which is my favourite song in the album. Part 1 is OK

USOE, I was not very fond of it until I saw the guys live, it was amazing..

Guiding Light and IBTY are fine, I don't hate them..

Unnatural Selection is a mix of feelings, there's something about it that I don't like (not sure what it is!), but love the chorus, especially the "We're not droplets in the ocean"

[naomithegreat]

Wow it's really been almost a year. Lol.

 

Ok when it first came out, I liked it but wasn't ecstatic. Then I really didn't like it after analyzing it. Now, I appreciate it but it isn't my favorite.

 

MK ultra has to be one of my favorite muse songs ever. I think UD is fabulous and sexy. US is like a modern "new born", but I like it. Exo is just too immense for me; I can't listen to it all at once. But it's amazing. USoE = decent. Uprising = fun and I like dancing an jumping to it live. Everything else doesn't hit me enough to comment on.

[shadowkay]

I am the only one who would rate BH&R the lowest?

 

Though back on topic i would give TR as a collection of songs a 7.5/10 or as a album about the same as pitchfork scored (not the same reasons just because of consistency really).

 

But i would rate the albums as (C for rating as a collection of songs and A for rating as an album):

 

1.OOS: C9.5/A8.5.

2.Absoultion: C8.5/A7.0.

3.TR:C7.5/A6.0.

4.Showbiz:C7.0/A6.5.

5.BH&R:C6.0/A4.5.

Nope, it is their worst album

[Zdarlight]

Woah.It's already been a year?

[Hanchey]

Exogenesis was worth the purchase.

A lot of the songs on the resistance didn't have the same raw emotion or don't have the same musical contrast that their early stuff had. Not to say it didn't have those qualities it just goes in a whole different direction.

[Frakkles]

I really need to do this, if only to slag off Exogenesis.

[Tofu]

Uprising - I've been almost schizophrenic on this one since it came out. I either love it or can't stand it and it still depends on my mood.

Resistance - I loved it then, now it's okay.

UD - I love it on the album more and more every time. I find it boring live, though.

USoE - I was completely obsessed when it was first released, then I went through a period of meh, and now I love it all over again.

Guiding Light - I was actually hoping and trying really hard that this one would grow on me, but no, still hate it. It's fun as hell to sing along with, though.

Unnatural Selection - I hated it on the album, and even live videos didn't do much for me. Hearing it live really change my opinion of it, though. Thought it was incredible after that, though I still don't like it much on the album.

MK Ultra - This one grew on me in a very similar way to how TaB builds up...

IBTY - I thought it was fun then, though was overall meh. It's currently my favorite song on the album, though a large part of that has to do with Mon Cœur S'ouvre a ta Voix... which technically wasn't Muse... so... ololol.

Exogenesis - My first thought was actually massive disappointment at this one. I was expecting something... with a bit more orchestra. And not just a glorified string section with regular Muse. But the more I listen to it the more often I find moments that just "click" with me and I get overwhelmed with emotion. As a whole, though, I don't think it's Muse's best.

 

overall... I generally like it less than Absolution and Showbiz and more than Origin and BHaR, which doesn't entirely make sense because I like BHaR and Origin more than Showbiz... I think, excepting Absolution, Muse albums have a bit of a rock-paper-scissors relationship in my head...

[Beibi]

I still like it as much as I liked it when it was released. It’s the only album I’m able to listen from start to finish without skipping a song. However, ironically, I don’t think it worked as well as they expected, I mean, for example, I don’t think the singles were a massive success and NCS was a complete fail. Moreover, this is the album in which more songs have been left out in their live shows: MK Ultra, I Belong to you, Exogenesis II, III ...

 

As I said, I like it quite a lot, but I think they need a rest; they need to refresh their ideas and think carefully about what they want for the next album.

[spark_]

I won't rate, but I'll do a track-by-track.

 

Uprising ~ a solid stock-standard pop song. Nice to listen to, but I tend to find it... unmemorable. I suppose it's a good live staple but, y'know, nothing earthshattering.

Resistance ~ promising intro, really nice little bridge/ending with the drum work and synths, and the verse has a dash of intrigue to it. Pity then, the chorus and pre-chorus are quite shockingly bad, they rather spoil the song.

Undisclosed Desires ~ a very, very, very, very cute song to listen to instrumentally. Very clever. Lyrics are a let down though and since there isn't a huge amount of instrumentation happening at once this kinda grates.

USOE ~ Lot of weird but interesting things happen here. Some very cool harmonies happening at the beginning. The piano/strings bridge is excellent. Could've done without the Queen moment, and the second verse feels like a "holding pattern" kind of thing. But given the lyrics this is clearly not a song to be taken particularly seriously (and they have said as much) so it's a fun song. Wish he could've sped up CD though, no idea why he had to play it so lethargically.

GL ~ It has a nice solo, but way too simple and way too short. Other than that - the lyrics are very cheesy (but that is to be expected and besides you can ignore that sort of thing). What really wrecks the song for me though is the synths which DOMINATE huge parts of the songs but just sound terrible matched with the fact that Matt's voice is not very suited to singing long notes in his non-falsetto at all. I don't know if it's the vibrato, but it doesn't sound right at all.

Unnatural Selection ~ Solid rock song, not the most insightful lyrics in the world but they aren't meant to be. Nice riffs. Does anyone feel that something about the way it's produced lacks... punch? I dunno, just a feeling.

MK Ultra ~ Best single song on the album by far. Lots of little subtle things which really make this an interesting song to listen to (along with the synth-string melody which I love following), It's a really good song, really good.

IBTY ~ Quirky. Best way to describe it. Cool song to listen to, don't really feel like analysing it though because there are so many little bits and pieces which individually make no sense at all.

Overture ~ I like without loving the strings. It sounds very nice, but where this track hits home is with the distorted guitar section during and after the solo. The vocals, backing vocals, distorted guitar and string all coming into one is a very, very, very good thing.

Cross-Pollination ~ The intro is by far my favorite piano "bit" they have ever written, definitely higher than the RBS chorus, the B+H solo or the CE ending. The second part of the intro is mesmerizing. Suffers from a serious "continuity" issue, first when the vocals are introduced and then when it rather "steps up" with the guitars and everyone else coming in. Climax redeems it somewhat.

Redemption ~ When the vocals come in with the piano and strings this is a beautiful song and the ending is sublime. But goodness me it takes its time getting there.

 

So yeah... 6-7/10.

[Spectrum IV]

I decided to make another review and elaborate on my thoughts for each song. Here goes...

 

1. Exogenesis III: Redemption — Sublime ending with the orchestra utilised to beautiful effect.

2. Exogenesis II: Cross-Pollination — Delicious build-up to one of their strongest choruses.

3. Undisclosed Desires — Stroke of genius. Nobody but Muse would come up with this idea.

4. Exogenesis I: Overture — Powerful song, with a nice.guitar solo and beautiful falsetto.

5. Resistance — Catchy, progressive romp. The only part I don't love is the chorus.

6. Guiding Light — Very difficult to get into. I used to hate this song, but my mum listened to it all the time loudly, and now I really enjoy it.

7. Uprising — Muse at their simplest. Synths, conspiracy theories and lots of cheese. Nothing really new here.

8. United States of Eurasia — Shameless copying from Queen and Chopin. What happened to integrity?

9. MK Ultra — There's something about it I strongly dislike. The breakdown is absolutely beautiful though.

10. Unnatural Selection — Enjoyable in small doses. It's too repetitive and familiar to replay it more than a few times.

11. I Belong to You — Cheesy, repetitive melody with an interlude that seems designed to give your ears a rest... with more cheese! Like US, small doses.

 

Overall — 6.5/10

 

Two comments from reviewers I strongly agree with:

 

"It’s symptomatic of ‘The Resistance’ as a whole: conceptually impressive but musically all too familiar. And while not their best, it’s decent enough to ensure there’ll be more – even though the truly off-the-wall moments are either rare or misguided, meaning the record feels slightly anonymous. So next time, guys, can you just go nuts?"

 

"It’s bonkers – hilarious, maddening, ridiculous and slightly shit – yet never dull."

[deborafraga]

I loved since the first time I heard and I still love after one year! Unnatural Selection became my favourite Muse song!

The only song that I didn't liked that much was GL.

It's my favourite Muse album side by side with Absolution, I can't choose between them

[kreisky]

It's been a long year. I can't hear Uprising, UD, US and MKU anymore (although I used to like them), still not very keen of Resistance and I still hate Guiding Light. And USOE is such a joke. After hearing IBTY live I don't listen to it very often either. Still love Exogenesis though. But now I can see that it's really by faaaar their worst album.

[essee]

I don't love it. But I don't hate it.

It has some good songs on it but over all it's not that good. I used to like it more but meh, not so much anymore

[WutDaFucksy]

Guiding Light shouldn't be anywhere above 11th on peoples lists, it is still diabolical.

[Zaphod Chizzlebrox]

I won't rate, but I'll do a track-by-track.

 

So yeah... 6-7/10.

 

[MattXXI]

Guiding Light shouldn't be anywhere above 11th on peoples lists, it is still diabolical.

 

No.