| It’s loud. It’s pretentious. It’s overblown. It’s ridiculous. It’s.....really damn good. Origin Of Symmetry is one of those albums that you’ll either outright love or hate for loving so much. Personally, this reviewer just outright enjoys it. If you’re going to hit your audience over the head with the biggest imaginable assault of musical excess, you’ve got to do it right. And Muse do it right. The opening track “New Born” is one of the best examples of Muse’s penchant for theatrical, enormous, self-absorbed tunes. A simple keyboard melody opens with vocalist Matt Bellamy almost whispering the lyrics before all the music drops out and the loudest, most extravagant bassline crashes through leading the listener into an unrelenting barrage of noise. It’s such a typical setup (a soft introduction leading up to a very loud song), but it works so perfectly the listener really won’t care about its predictablity. And this isn’t even the beginning. “Space Dementia” features sweeping pianos, Matt’s unreal falsetto, and a calm sweeping chorus of keyboards and spacey noises. Think of some otherworldly glam-rock band fronted by the late Jeff Buckley. In fact, Matt sounds so much like the late Buckley at times that it’s downright frightening. But Buckley never did anything this bombastic or potentially absurd, and Matt is able to use his twistable, stretchable vocals to astounding effect. Muse aren’t necessarily concerned with creating a particular mood. They just hit the audience right over their head without remorse. Even if the previous descriptions of musical excess might frighten you away, Muse pull it all off with grace. Hey, there’s nothing wrong with big, fun, loud rock & roll, and Muse are aware of this. They pull the album off with a straight-face, incredibly enjoyable melodies, and a go-all-out attitude. That’s what makes Origin Of Symmetry successful: it’s accessible, yet clever; verges on unlistenable pretension, but never crosses that line. The majority of the album (really all but one song, the surprisingly subdued, jazzy “Screenager”) is seeped in grandiose, intense sentiments. Every instrument is utilized in the most outrageously blaring sense: the guitar, bass, and drums hit with the subtlety of a garage band practicing in a library, the pianos and keyboards are all climatic, and Matt is never afraid to show off vocally. “Citizen Erased” is a seven minute epic that jumps from loud-to-soft in the most dramatic sense. “Plug In Baby,” the first single, is probably one of the more accessible tunes, yet Bellamy’s screaming falsetto ties it in easily with the rest of the album. If all of this sounds a bit overwhelming, the only time the album becomes almost unlistenable is with the track “Micro Cuts,” which sounds just a little-too ludicrous to take seriously, but even this track sounds particularly catchy upon the fifth listen. The U.S. seems to be the only country not hip to what Muse have to offer (the album has yet to be released over here although their debut Showbiz is available), although this album is huge in the U.K., Australia, etc. With the groan-inducing excesses of teen-pop and nu-metal in the States taking hold, it’s a tad surprising that Origin Of Symmetry is all but unknown over here. Of course, Britney Spears and Limp Bizkit don’t seem to have a thing for falsetto, space, and orchestral-theatrical rock. Whatever the reason, it’s still a good buy despite the import price-tag, and the Radiohead comparisons slapped on Muse early in their career are all but gone. Origin Of Symmetry might be the most ridiculously enjoyable album you’ve heard in a long time. |
| by Paul Haney |
| Artist: Muse Album: Origin Of Symmetry Year: 2001 Rating: |
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