Muse

Item: Absolution
Author: Brendan Boughen

Absolution

(2003)

Reviewed by Brendan Boughen

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Label Warner Bros. RecordsThe Phantom Tollbooth2004

alternative rock art rock progressive rock

Here's a direct quote from an interview with Muse's frontman, Matt Bellamy: "Although unsure if God exists, [Bellamy] hopes to inject a similar passion and other-worldly feeling into his own music. "I do love rock music, but when I hear that Romantic stuff, it sounds like the meaning of life," he says, passionately. "It's as though the composers were using the peak of their intelligence to express the deepest of emotions. And this gives me hope. When I hear choirs singing that Palestrina stuff, I think, there is a God - there is a heaven!"

Hail the new kings of agnostic rock!

Sounding like equal parts Radiohead, Coldplay and Jeff Buckley but with a distinctively bombastic classical bent, Muse are the latest Brit-rock export sensations alongside The Darkness to dazzle international audiences. However, while the latter band drains the 'camp' barrel to the dregs, Muse manages to weave a decidedly serious philosophical thread through their complex, Romantic compositions. The regular use of exuberant classical piano amidst the fuzzy guitar and bass raises the music to greater heights.

And believe it or not, Muse are a trio. How they can get this much texture and depth to these songs with such aplomb astonishes me. In concert, Bellamy reportedly jumps from instrument to instrument to achieve the massive sounds, and it is perhaps this urgent, plate-spinning musicality that also demands that the pauses in between his lyrics are desperate gasps for air, rather than gentle breaths. Indeed, lyrically, Bellamy is a terrified paranoid prophet screaming in the wilderness that the end of the world is nigh. This is certainly prefigured in the vision of the biblical Rapture depicted on the cover. (I suspect Bellamy imagines he would be left behind in such an event.) Nevertheless, he screams his message loud and clear:

Declare this an emergency
Come on and spread a sense of urgency
And pull us through
This is the end of the world

It's time we saw a miracle
Come on, it's time for something biblical
To pull us through
This is the end of the world

Proclaim eternal victory
Come on and change the course of history
And pull us through
This is the end of the world
("Apocalypse Please")

With the pounding piano and soaring vocal of this opening track, Bellamy also begins a manic conversation with the divine. As an admitted atheist, it's fascinating that his obsession with religion and God is so prevalent. Through almost every track, clues are laid down to the tumultuous spiritual path Bellamy seems to be walking.

There's nowhere left to hide, in no-one to confide
The truth burns deep inside and will never die
Sing for absolution
I will be singing and falling from your grace
Lips are turning blue / A kiss that can't renew
I only dream of you my beautiful
Our wrongs remain unrectified
And our souls won't be exhumed
("Sing for Absolution")

It's bugging me, grating me and twisting me around
Yeah I'm endlessly caving in and turning inside out
'Cause I want it now, I want it now
Give me your heart and soul
And I'm breaking out, I'm breaking out
Give me your complete control
And I want you now, I want you now
I'll feel my heart implode
Escaping now, feeling my faith erode
("Hysteria")

After describing himself as "the priest God never paid" in "The Small Print", Bellamy drives the album to its penultimate song "Thoughts of a Dying Atheist", in which a deathbed conversion teeters on the brink of a lifetime of rationality.

Eerie whispers trapped beneath my pillow
Won't let me sleep, your memories
I know you're in this room, I'm sure I heard you sigh
Floating in between where our worlds collide
I know the moments near and there's nothing we can do
Look through a faithless eye
Are you afraid to die?
It scares the hell out of me
And the end is all I can see
("Thoughts of a Dying Atheist")

Musically, this is a truly stunning album that incorporates grand classical impressions against a backdrop of postmodern grunge-pop. It is utterly unpredictable, as intense metal riffing gives way to lilting piano arpeggios and then drops to the floor again with massive crunching chords. It will survive many, many listens and never bore. Lyrically, it is a bright glimpse of a seemingly tortured soul that glories in the passion of life as much as it writhes in existential turmoil. This gives the music a vitality that, in my mind, contemporary Christian music never comes close to matching for all its surety. So, muse along with Muse and challenge yourself to struggle along with them. I guarantee it will be a rewarding trip.