Muse
"Bliss"
(Mushroom)
review by Ruth
Muse finally see sense and release arguably the best song Matthew Bellamy has
ever
written. From the opening moments of the track, the shimmering piano arpeggios
trickling
through the ether before the bassline explodes in millions of shooting stars.
Bellamy's
seductive voice plunges and pleads with the egotistical desperation of a souless
body.
Or a bodiless soul. It thrashes and pounds, sweeps and soothes. It's one of the
few
songs I've ever heard that I could ever call beautiful and truly and honestly
mean it
in every sense of the word.
5/5
|
Muse
"New Born"
review by Ruth
After Plug In Baby scratched the back of the Top Twenty, Muse step up their
campaign
for world domination by the release of this fellow long-term live favourite.
Like a
lullaby for the loss of innocence, New Born trickles expectantly above your head
before
crashing down through the ground with the scuzzy classically trained riffs of
Matthew
Bellamy trying to scratch their way through your eardrums. This is the kind of
music
that could lead little children astray from their S Club Bizkit. Just don't tell
them
that they listen to classical music.
New Born (Paul Oakenfold Remix)
Muse's record label seem to have trouble in finding the right person to remix
the band's
singles. The early remix of Cave sounded like it had been recorded in a coffee
perculator.
The Timo Maas remixes took a new spin on the darker qualities of Sunburn, but
failed
to satisfy the band completely. So for their new single, Muse send for Paul
Oakenfold,
reputed indie-hater. It's not looking good. Or is it? Oakenfold takes the
lullaby nuances
of New Born and makes them shimmer and fall like glitter around your ears.
Matthew
Bellamy's voice is given a surreally soothing quality in contrast with the
thudding
background. It's like pure magic surrounding you, or falling in love when you're
'intoxicated'. It seems that this time round Mushroom have got it right. Just
one
complaint. That timpani, man. It has to go.
4.5/5
|
Muse
"Plug In Baby"
review by Ruth
What's that I hear in the distance? Could it be a classically-influenced
electric guitar
sequence of chromatic triads backed by one of the bounciest of rubber ball
basslines?
Yeees, Muse are back with 'Plug In Baby, the first single from the forthcoming
album,
their attempt to replicate more of the energy of their frenetic live sets, as
opposed
to the polished hesitancy of the first album. Consequently we get Matt plunging
the depths
of his soft-voiced baritone and scraping the heights of his choirboy from hell
scream,
machines detroying their masters, the snake-like predatation on the cheating
one, and
giant flashing cones everywhere. Just without the people throwing roses and
crowd-surfers.
4/5
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