Muse - Absolution

Here's a great band: Muse. Muse is one of my favorite prog/ alt rock bands. They often have catchy, melodic, symphonic songs and dramatically sang vocals that remind me of opera. Their music is always unique and interesting, with each track being a new experience and each album a new journey. Their song styles range from electronic, disco esque, songs to dramatic ballads, to head banging hard rock tracks.
        This is one of my favorite Muse album covers because there is a lot to wonder about when you look at it. We can see the shadows of people who are flying overhead with some kind of divine or paranormal power and a man who is looking up at them in wonder/terror. There are a lot of ways to interpret what is happening here. Maybe this is the rapture and the "true" Christians are flying to heaven as the apocalypse is beginning, maybe some ancient power has been unleashed and has given humans the power of flight; They seem to be flying symmetrically, similar to bomber planes; maybe some advanced alien race has arrived at earth and is beginning an invasion, or maybe those they represent actual bomber planes, and are a metaphor for how humans cause all wars and all the death and destruction that results. No matter the interpretation, I think most people would agree that the artwork has a kind of apocalyptic tone, like something ominous and destructive is going to happen soon, and this is just the beginning. This works well with the apocalyptic theme of the album.
        Absolution is one of the best Muse albums, only possibly topped by the previous album, Origin of Symmetry. This album is full of creative and catchy songs, often with symphonic elements and dramatic flourishes. This isn't a concept album, but as I said earlier, it seems that a lot of the songs on this album have apocalyptic themes. My songs on Absolution are "Time is Running Out," "Stockholm Syndrome," and "Hysteria."
         "Time is Running Out" is one of my favorite songs on this album because of it's interesting lyrics and it's grand, dramatic melodies. It is kind of hard to interpret the lyrics, so I'm not sure of the songs meaning, but I think it is about a guy who is infatuated with a girl. The best part of this song is the awesome chorus. It builds up tension in the bridge until Muse lets loose a huge dramatic chorus: "Our time is running out\ And our time is running out\ You can't push it underground\ We can't stop it screaming out."
        "Stockholm Syndrome" is one of the more hard rock songs on the album. It starts with a rough hard rock guitar riff which suddenly and is replaced with a more Muse style riff. Later in the song more grungy guitars start and bubbly synthesizers play in the background, leading up to a cool guitar solo. This song is about an abusive relationship, which Muse is comparing to Stockholm Syndrome: the couple keeps fighting and leaving each other, but keep getting back together. They are so attached to each other that they can't leave the relationship even though it is bad for them. It is also possible that Muse is using a relationship as a metaphor for the relationship between a government and their people. This is possible since it kind of goes with the themes in the album.
        Finally, here's my overall favorite Muse song, and the best song on the album, "Hysteria." This song starts with one of the best bass riffs ever, which is complemented by a screeching guitar. This transitions into an awesome headbanging melody. The song also features hard hitting, but haunting vocals that cut through the melody, and a sweet guitar solo towards the end. Besides being Muse's best song, "Hysteria" is also the song that originally got me into Muse. When I heard it, I was like, "That was sweet! I have to check out this band!" The lyrics of this song are about greed and indulgence, doing whatever it takes to do get what you want and fulfill your desires, even if you know it is wrong. Doing this for too long will have negative impacts on your life and the future lives of others.
        Absolution is one of those albums that I think everyone should listen to at least once, especially if you are a fan of progressive hard rock.

Muse - Absolution

                                    1.)  Intro

                                    2.)  Apocalypse Please

                                    3.)  Time is Running Out

                                    4.)  Sing For Absolution

                                    5.)  Stockholm Syndrome

                                    6.)  Falling Away With You

                                    7.)  Interlude

                                    8.)  Hysteria

                                    9.)  Blackout

                                  10.)  Butterflies & Hurricanes

                                  11.)  The Small Print
                                  12.)  Endlessly
                                  13.)  Thoughts of a Dying Atheist
                                  14.)  Ruled by Secrecy