Muse
Table of Contents
- Albums
- Absolution (2003)
Albums
Absolution (2003)
- [Intro]
- “Apocalypse Please”
- “Time Is Running Out”
- “Sing For Absolution”
- “Stockholm Syndrome”
- “Falling Away From You”
- [Interlude]
- “Hysteria”
- “Blackout”
- “Butterflies and Hurricanes”
- “The Small Print”
- “Endlessly”
- “Thoughts of a Dying Atheist”
- “Ruled By Secrecy”
“It’s time for something Biblical.”
The term “Radiohead rip-off” gets tossed around a lot these days, probably unfairly since it seems to be defined as “ripping off the same people Radiohead did.” Just ask Coldplay, who, like Radiohead, rip off Jeff Buckley’s vocal theatrics and the Edge’s chimey, minimalist guitar but only end up sounding half like Radiohead because they didn’t also rip off Queen’s spacey arrangements or Pink Floyd’s bummer lyrics. So I want to establish that, yes, I know I’m working with devalued currency when I say that Muse is a big, fat Radiohead rip-off and that anyone who thinks this album is amazing should get a copy of The Bends and play it until they wish it was the sixties. Mind, Absolution is still a good listen, with its rousing, bigger-than-Jesus choruses and loud attack of wimpy, minimalist guitars. It’s a good formula that’s so much a sum of its influences that it doesn’t lose much from its constant distillation except, you know, conviction. Actually, it’s unfair to call Absolution a rip-off of The Bends since it also cops the synth orchestras, haunting atmosphere, and paranoid lyrics of OK Computer to great effect, giving the work a convincing (though pedestrian) apocalyptic feel. Since Radiohead isn’t going to remake those albums, Muse at least have something to offer, but it’s more of the same at best.
Last modified on Sunday, December 5, 2021.