Absolution

Well here's one similarity to my Coldplay albums dive, One of the most praised albums from the band is slightly underwhelming to me. That album was A Rush Of Blood To The Head, and I guess it's Absolution for Muse. This feels like the band taking what makes them work and compromising in places that makes the music suffer and overall album suffer. But by all means, still a good album. "Apocalypse Please" is a pretty cool opener that lays out the change in production and style to this album very well, it sounds more polished and clean but something about the song and the whole album overall feels more obvious and bland to me than "Origin Of Symmetry". I don't really like to lambasting or criticizing artists or bands who try to make their music more universal and approachable to get a bigger audience, if you look into Coldplay's albums I think it actually comes across that ever since their first album they've had the ambition to be a truly universal and huge band. But I can't lie to myself and say that when I notice or feel those aspects in music I inherently enjoy it less in almost every case, maybe it's because it's Muse and I expect more them now after hearing OOS. "Time Is Running Out" is the big hit off the album, and honestly I do think it's solid it's a song I enjoy more as the song goes through it's runtime, I do appreciate that that music behind the song keeps building and building, the first verse sounding pretty minimal and then the second verse getting harder drums and guitar, it fits with being about obviously, we're getting closer and closer to a disaster. "Stockholm Syndrome" is the heaviest song on the album, has a lot of good moments I like, The song becoming extremely heavy right before the relatively light and pretty chorus, the monster fucking riff the song returns to it at the very end of the song, and also "I WISH I COUUUUUUUUUUUUUULLLLDDD." Great song yeah. "Hysteria" is the best song on the album, point blank period. I honestly did over-hype the song a bit for myself cause I knew this was one a lot people considered their best song. I remember actually getting curious enough to listen to the song like a minute in and realize how good it sounded and I was "No I have to earn this" and waited for the full album listen to listen to it in full. It isn't a 10/10 song for me but damn it's really fucking good, the bass line: incredible, the riffs: incredible, matt's fuckass distorted voice singing over it: bothers me a tiny bit but still incredible. Unfortunately everything after "Hysteria" kinda goes in one ear and goes out through the other even though I DO like these songs, except for "Thoughts of a Dying Atheist" that song is somehow even more obvious and bland than the rest of the album, probably because I just hate the song title and it somehow makes the song worse. I just can't imagine myself personally going back to most of these songs by themselves, and also I don't really like how sequencing feels rushed, "Falling Away With You" being right after "Stockholm Syndrome" and "Blackout" being Directly after "Hysteria" just doesn't feel right at all to me there it feels like whiplash to have those two songs next to each other and it doesn't feel intended at all. Overall, wish I felt more positive on it but at least I still like it. Good album but I have my notable gripes with it. Great album cover though it feels like a pretty evocative image of what the rapture would look like.

Best Tracks: Time Is Running Out, Stockholm Syndrome, Hysteria
Worst Tracks: Endlessly, Thoughts Of A Dying Atheist