After the release of 2006’s Black Holes and Revel-ations, Muse be-came globally renowned on the scale of Radiohead and U2. This lofty position didn’t surprise many of the U.K. trio’s fans, who figured the band had deserved to be huge since the late ’90s. But Muse reached this perch through unorthodox means; after all, its mix of prog-rock meandering, gnarled guitar riffs, goth-pop flourishes and dance-funk rhythms wasn’t exactly pandering to the mainstream.
The Resistance is even more difficult to digest. Alien-landing keyboards do battle with Gershwin-esque piano marches, which in turn mingle with intricate prog arrangements and nonlinear song structures. Only the glammy “Uprising” and “Guiding Light”—the latter of which features a guitar solo on par with any hair-metal heroics—incorporate Muse’s trademark thundering-hooves riffage.
The Details
At the same time, The Resistance is Muse’s most cohesive statement yet—all of its sonic ideas emerge without the jarring turns found on previous albums. That means the title track and its stacked chorus harmonies (which conjure Styx’s “Mr. Roboto”) somehow flow seamlessly into Top-40 funk-pop gem “Undisclosed Desires,” whose pizzicato strings and snapping-fingers syncopation could just as easily be a Justin Timberlake jam.
Besides “Desires,” Muse only stops to catch its breath with a three-part orchestral symphony (!) at the end, titled “Exogenesis.” And vocalist Matt Bellamy’s regretful caterwauls in this section underscore the primary problem with The Resistance. Past Muse albums possessed great humility despite their density, which made their big ideas easier to take. But The Resistance’s broad thematic concepts—involving Big Brother, government oppression and the problems associated with capitalism and globalization—are so detached and vague, they’re ineffective.
Muse tries too hard to be grandiose and universal, and instead comes across overstuffed. For a band that’s always been effortlessly larger-than-life, the extra exertion is a few notches too much. So that in the end, The Resistance feels overwhelming rather than important.
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