Music Recommendation: Muse

Every once in a while I will stumble upon a band that renews my love for music of all different flavors. Many years ago I went through a huge Moby phase, which led me to explore the world of techno and electronica. Then it was Franz Ferdinand (until I determined they really aren't that special, save for a few songs). Breaking Benjamin popped up on my radar about the same time that Metallica released their new album. Both exposed me to new and creative approaches to metal that really kept me listening, over and over. Most recently, Kelly and I got tickets to a Smashing Pumpkins date in Raleigh so I was forced to catch up on their latest album, Zeitgeist, where Billy Corgan proved, once again, that he knows his shtuff and can take on new sounds and still sound great.

Tonight, I sit here listening to a British band called Muse. I tend to trail fashions and trends far behind the curve (think Jamz shirts in elementary school, spiked hair in high school, both on the way out before I started doing it), so many readers may have already heard of them, and may be fans.

If you don't know who they are, I highly recommend checking them out. I first heard them while playing Guitar Hero: Legends of Rock, where their track "Knights of Cydonia" shows up in the later levels. It took me a while, but I finally dug into some of their stuff today. I was just looking for that familiar song and perhaps a couple more, if a few turned out to be worth the 99-cent download on Rhapsody. I ended up buying 2 of their albums, Black Holes and Revelations and Absolution. I have yet to hear a bad song.

The music is so diverse that I can't see myself getting bored very soon. I imagine I'll be playing "Take a Bow" and "Starlight" many times over, until my officemates get sick of the muffled din of my headphones. It's quite rare to find a band where the songwriting and style are fresh and new with each track, and album to album. The creativity of this band just oozes out with each new melody.

Depending on which song you're listening to, you will be able to taste flavors of some of the greats of the past, like Queen and U2. Muse's adventures in sound experiment with traditional guitar, then throw in some horns for a sense of nostalgia touching on what you might hear if you turned to the Spanish station on the radio. Some songs, like "Take a Bow," are entirely electronic and remind me of Moby when he's good. The mixing matches sounds and rhythms perfectly, as Trent Reznor has mastered in Nine Inch Nails. The vocals resonate like Bono or what you'd hear on Cold Play.

So many images are brought to mind with each song, both from the socially-aware songwriting, and the fact that the legendary sounds of so many of these classic bands are brought together and wrapped nicely with a unique bow.

Check them out...I don't think you'll be disappointed.