Muse: they DO have their own twist on alternative

I Began listening to Muse today for the first time really. I was at the MyCokeFest concert in Cape Town a few months ago, and they were there, and I didn’t catch a moment of their show.

I saw Korn, Chris Cornell, Thirty seconds to Mars, Keiser Chiefs, but I didn’t see a second of Muse, I bet if I had been at the stage during their performance, I would have grown very attached to them straight away.

Instead I was outside the building of the VIP area. I was trying desperately to find an open window somewhere around the back. There were gaurds at the front door, and I had managed to get this far by turning my blue braclet tag inside out to make it appear white.

I roamed up and down, seeking a way in, found a window ajar, but alas it was across from the staircase, not level with the ground on which I stood. I tried to climb, but my drunk body gave in all too quickly. I had no chance.

I found my way around to the far end of the building, there were multiple levels that were accessible. This time I climbed, and well, as I scaled two floors. I lurked along proudly, discovered a sequence of betting windows, as this was by day a horse racecourse.

I poked the glass, in hopes I’d find a hole I could crawl through. Nothing worked, and as I turned back out the doorway, there was a flashing red motion detector of sorts that had been triggered by my movement.

I panicked and ran, swung back down to ground level, and made my escape. By the time I returned to the golden circle, two solid hours had passed and I had missed Muse altogether.

Matthew Bellamy of Muse

Now that I’ve sat down for a couple of albums, I’ve really fallen for their sound. Their underlying message bugs me a little, as vocalist Matthew Bellamy seems to whine about his feelings, but not in such a clever and subtle way, as Tom Yorke might do. His words reflect his imature attitude, as he prematurely jumps into blame. He names the object of his affection as the bain of his life. He doesnt ever get to the part about how he learned to live with himself, as I’d love to know.

So he speaks vaguely of his self loathing and how he cant get over these obstacles. At least I can detect his true intent in the lyrics because I could have written the exact same things. I wont however, as I’ve acquired some sense that tells me others don’t really want to hear my sobbing rants, but rather my valiant attempts to break my introspection and look for a physical route through the problem.

Matthews lyrics seem to dance around the facts, I urge to smack him out of his poor sag-shouldered state some of the time, yet still really dig the tunes. He puts effort into sounding intelligent, spectacular and philosophical, but takes no time in covering up his self hatred. His every perspective seem to route from this emotional place. I suppose if you embrace that hate and express it in song then thats fine, thats who you are. I’m just kinda sick of hearing the same overly-self-analytical things I say to myself every damn day.

That aside, the melody and rhythm really break ground in music. All three albums, “Absolution”, “Black Holes and Revalations”, and “Origin of Symmetry” are sonically up to scratch. When I hadn’t heard them, I thought they were a Radiohead wannabe that were of lower quality, but what I discovered was a band capable of putting out rocking riffs, that sound like bits of 80′s synth, dragged through the 90′s grunge scene and twisted violently into modern stylish alternative.

Wikipedia describe the genre as alternative rock, classical and electronica, I say yes, and its a fraction more than that too. Greater than the sum of their parts I’d say.

If you have a rocking indoor venue that gets too hot under the collar, try calling Iceboys in the UK as a decent portable air conditioning option.