muse / albums

17,300,003 plays
5,336 SHARES
15,123 FAVS
1,910 fans

- The Resistance
- - 810,346 plays
  - 415 favs
  - 310 shares
Muse
Released 2009

Undisclosed Desires
03:56
97,441 plays

Unnatural Selection
06:54
71,749 plays

MK Ultra
04:06
68,854 plays

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songs

- 1
- Uprising
- 05:02
- 182,119 plays

- 2
- Resistance
- 05:46
- 101,797 plays

- 3
- Undisclosed Desires
- 03:56
- 97,441 plays

- 4
- United States of Eurasia (+Collateral Damage)
- 05:47
- 68,327 plays

- 5
- Guiding Light
- 04:13
- 63,700 plays

- 6
- Unnatural Selection
- 06:54
- 71,749 plays

- 7
- MK Ultra
- 04:06
- 68,854 plays

- 8
- I Belong to You/Mon Cœur S'Ouvre a Ta Voix
- 05:38
- 59,784 plays

- 9
- Exogenesis: Symphony, Pt. 1: Overture
- 04:18
- 34,914 plays

- 10
- Exogenesis: Symphony, Pt. 2: Cross-Pollination
- 03:56
- 31,334 plays

- 11
- Exogenesis: Symphony, Pt. 3: Redemption
- 04:37
- 30,499 plays

album review

With its titanic guitar solos, symphonic suites, and multi-layered melodies, Muse's fifth album operates under the assumption that bigger is better. This is the very definition of a super-sized album, an album that takes its cues from Queen, its lyrics from science fiction novels, and its delivery from rock opera. It's also the first time that Muse has truly sounded like Muse, as few bands since Queen have so readily explored the intersection of bombast and extravagance. The Resistance is most certainly extravagant -- there are snatches of classical piano entwined throughout, not to mention bilingual lyrics, concert hall percussion, coronet solos, and song titles like "Exogenesis: Symphony, Pt. 2 (Cross-Pollination)" -- but it's also quite beautiful, capable of moving between prog rock choruses and excerpts from Chopin's "Nocturne in E Flat Major" within the same song. Presiding over the mix is frontman Matthew Bellamy, a man who seemingly aspires to be both Brian May and Freddie Mercury. He plays guitar, pounds the piano, and composes the album's orchestral parts, but his strongest asset is his voice, a sky-scraping tenor dripping with so much emotion that it's almost lewd. He croons, whispers, annunciates, and belts with confidence, a combination that makes him one of England's most dazzling singers in recent memory. And since a virtual mountain of voices is better than a single voice (remember: bigger is better), Bellamy also multi-tracks himself, creating towering stacks of harmonies during songs like "Resistance," "Undisclosed Desires," and the colossal "United States of Eurasia (+Collateral Damage)."

The band's tendency to pile excess upon excess doesn't always yield strong results, and there's a fine line between, say, the anthemic beauty of "Guiding Light" and the bizarre Timbaland-meets-Depeche Mode ambiance of "Undisclosed Desires." Even so, The Resistance is by and large a fantastic record, culminating in a three-song suite that finds the group jumping from classical movements to guitar fretwork to sweeping, swaggering, operatic rock. Those songs occupy the final 16 minutes of the disc, and while they'd likely make a bigger impact earlier in the track list, their mere presence indicates that Muse is finally growing comfortable with its own aspirations. Black Holes and Revelations may be a more commercial record, but The Resistance is Muse's most realized effort to date. ~ Andrew Leahey, All Music Guide

more albums by this artist

See all

- - HAARP
  - Released 2008

- - The Resistance
  - Released 2009

- - Absolution
  - Released 2003

- - Black Holes and Revelations
  - Released 2006

listener reviews

- - The Irresistible
  - - By Zombie McJesus
    - 10/14/2009 03:28:21
  - All around, a hell of an ambitious piece of work. This album is seriously an accomplishment. Unnatural Selection, Uprising, Resistance and MK Ultra are amazing and the symphonies are so well composed.
  - 4 out of 5 people
  - think this is useful

- - Bad
  - - By danevati
    - 9/18/2009 17:01:43
  - I think that this is Muse's worst album!
  - 1 out of 8 people
  - think this is useful

- - The Resistance
  - - By deborahmidkiff
    - 9/12/2009 05:19:11
  - What can I say other than this album is everything Matthew Bellamy said is would be...a symphony masterpiece. Good work Matt, Dom and Chris!!!
  - 8 out of 9 people
  - think this is useful

- - Perfection
  - - By Rivera Indpndnt
    - 9/12/2009 03:43:36
  - The Resistance is one of those few albums that live up to the hype, and deliver. Not only does MUSE deliver, they go over the top, in your face, then explode. MUSE have quite a masterpiece right here.
  - 5 out of 6 people
  - think this is useful

- - What Can I say?
  - - By Double O One
    - 9/12/2009 03:10:40
  - This is very simple a brilliant album, The Resistance is the quintessential album of this decade and Muse’s magnum opus. Muse is now in the same league as The Beatles, Bob Dylan, Led Zeppelin, Oasis, and the baroque masters of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Congratulations to Matthew Bellamy, Christopher Wolstenholme, and Dominic Howard.
  - 7 out of 9 people
  - think this is useful

- - After first listen...
  - - By cs188
    - 9/10/2009 07:05:34
  - This is quite possibly a modern masterpiece. If only the Classical composers of centuries past could have lived to hear this. The "Exogenesis Symphony" in particular really captured me.
    
    This album might not be quite as hard-rocking as Black Holes & Revelations, but it has MELODY, and for that I give it a very favourable recommendation.
  - 7 out of 8 people
  - think this is useful