Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3 in Digital Music Album
• Published on: 2009-09-03
• Released on: 2009-11-30
• Running time: 3256 seconds

Customer Reviews

Resist no more ....
A couple of years ago `Prog' celebrated its 40th birthday. While The Beatles was never a Prog band, their Sergeant Pepper's album was perhaps the root from which it would later flower. It showed us that rock could sally beyond 3 minute pop singles, that there was a big wide world of music and technology out there waiting to be explored and manipulated.

Muse also operates in this middle zone: while falling short of Prog with all its grand pretentions and 'virtuosity', it is a band that reaches out beyond the ordinary, invariably extending just a little bit further than an average rock or pop artist. The Resistance goes further than ever before, their most accomplished and varied album to date. Existing fans will find the band's sense of operatic drama still intact, but now enhanced almost to excess with more carefully crafted arrangements full of light and shade, hatred and love. The whole is dressed in a clean uncluttered mix that adds to the music's vitality and driving energy while enabling each instrument to breathe in its own space.

Despite a general preponderance of thunderous power-chords and pounding drums, the band has reigned back a little on bombastic anthems, heavyweight riffs and electronics, while adding a liberal sprinkling of subtler acoustic textures from piano and string ensemble - with a dash of pipe organ as a welcome bonus. We are taken on a boundary-busting journey from conservatoire to Casbah, from sweaty mosh-pit to Parisian Vaudeville, yet never far away from the 02 Arena or Wembley Stadium as singer Matthew Bellamy delivers his powerful exhortations against the mind-control of fat-cats and corrupt authorities that are tearing the planet apart. Even his love songs are bitter-sweet! It may be an emotional roller-coaster, but it is a rewarding experience.

Is it a masterpiece? Only time will tell, but all in all The Resistance is a very fine album that effortlessly marries an unerring sense of a good pop melody with some of the most inventive rock-music-plus around today.
Highly recommended!

Something Else Entirely
I mean WOW!

The change between Absolution and Black Holes And Revelations was quite a leap to be honest. But this tops it all. Think about stepping stones and that's what we have here. BHAR was merely a stepping stone from Absolution to this.

The album opens with Uprising, a punchy pop/rock song with a blast of goldfrapp-esque rhythm. It drives you along as you listen. A very well written song that will have you returning to it quite often. 8/10

Second is Resistance, the title track. Opens with a slow synthy build up and then cracks in this little piano riff that'll make your spine shiver and your insides go all funny. It's a beautiful opening complimented by a catchy bridge and a heart felt chorus. The ending cools down again from the rest off the song to a synthy end. An awesome song 9/10

The third track, Undisclosed Desires really closes in on more chart music than before. It has many loops and doesn't have a complicated structure. The lack of guitar work in the song gives it a different feel to other Muse songs, and the lyrics are glorious. A well written winner 10/10

United States Of Eurasia. Slow piano to start, with an intense build up which hits into an awesome, arabic sounding pentatonic melody/riff. It's powerful and thrilling. The before the chopin piece at the end, the repetition of the work eurasia just makes this track an epic masterpiece. 7/10

The fifth track is Guiding Light. This is a typical power ballad in the sense it has a massive snare sound. Other than that, it's another muse song. It has an epic solo in the middle and a lot of synth. It doesn't build much, but everything you need is there. It's a nice song 7/10

Unnatural Selection. Just wow. Opens with organ and vocals with a radio effect on them. Then everything kicks in with a driving build up to a massive riff. This riff will have you wanting to hear it again and again. The vocals are mega catchy in the verse. There is a nice slow section before the chorus which you will be singing along to. The chorus sees the return to a loud, epic section. After the second chorus, everything breaks down into a sinister middle section, that is dark. This then build towards the end, where metal riffage comes in and will leave you remembering the days of past. Massive tune 10/10

MK Ultra is another return to the heavy side of things for muse. It has a sweet little riff with the verse and a nice use of synth. The chorus is quiet at first, but builds. Then there is a mega riff of doom that'll make you want to mosh to. This song is yet another winner 9/10

I Belong To You is a fantastic example of their writing power as a band. The song is beautiful and might leave you speechless after your first listen. Beautiful piano playing with an awesome mid section, which is sung in french. There is a crazy solo in it that you will just have to wait to hear. It will bring a smile to your face 9/10

Exogenesis, the last three tracks, a symphony. I'm not going to say anything about this other than it tops the album off in a way that you would not believe and i won't rate it either.

Overall, this album is a fantastic collection of musical varieties that you will listen to again and again. 10/10

So Different ; So Good
I have never been tempted to listen to a Muse album before, expecting a poor man's Radiohead - how wrong I was. I love this album as it offers so much in a fusion of styles that will never be found anywhere else - from the opening 70's glam homage to the 80's Celtic rock (Big Country meets the Icicle Works / Then Jericho)to classic Queen to classic(al)symphony. Blew me away